13 hours ago
This prawn mee stall inside Kepong Baru's morning market serves up the ultimate crustacean experience
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — Roaming around markets in the early morning often unearths unexpected finds, only known to those who live in the neighbourhood.
Every morning, except for Monday, a flood of blue roofed stalls take over Kepong Baru's streets to peddle fresh produce.
Here is also where you will also find a slew of stalls offering local eats.
One such stall is operated by Toh who has been doling out bowls of prawn mee for almost 20 years or more.
His Penang legacy, from a recipe inherited from his father, is evident in that ceramic bowl of brown broth liberally covered with orange crustacean oil.
There is a tangle of noodles inside the bowl, usually the beehoon and yellow mee combination, giving you that mouthfeel of soft thin rice flour strands and slightly bouncy mee.
Not happy with the tiny-sized prawns? One can upgrade the bowl by buying fresh prawns from a nearby stall.
Those strands are also intertwined with kangkung, a must for the Penang style noodles.
There are tiny shelled boiled prawns, blanched pork slices, bean sprouts and an easy to top up protein boost in the form of a halved hard boiled egg.
Some stalls tend to liberally top their bowls with fried shallots but here, only a pinch is used.
The stall owner recommended the tiger prawns on the right to enhance my prawn 'mee'.
In the style of Penang stalls, small sized prawns are used for this small portion sized bowl for RM8.
One can add on RM1 for a bigger bowl but I suspect it'll just be more noodles rather than toppings.
Traditional methods are fine but the glutton in me was seeking more satisfaction that goes beyond those puny prawns.
Turns out I was in luck as there's a symbiotic relationship between this prawn mee stall and another stall just a few steps away selling an assortment of fresh prawns.
The prawns are slowly cooked in the prawn and pork broth to infuse it with more flavour.
All I needed to do was buy a handful of prawns from the stall and Toh would help cook them.
For just RM8 extra, I snagged seven tiger prawns, as recommended by the stall owner.
Most stalls would just blanch the prawns in hot water to cook. Toh takes the extra step to slowly boil the prawns in that precious prawn and pork broth, infusing it with more flavour.
You will need to peel the prawns yourself but the reward is a bowl of fresh prawns to relish.
It arrives at my table—a glorious mess of orange prawns—with their heads and shell intact.
Messy fingers are a result but this is quickly remedied with a wet tissue. All that effort to peel each prawn was rewarded with those precious prawn heads, slowly relished for its sweet juices.
It was a truly satisfying meal, worth returning for this luxurious upgraded prawn mee.
Walk down the lane on the left side of Petron Kepong Baru to find this stall which is in front of Restoran Ping Kee Mee Stall.
Even though the stall's signage talks about asam laksa, Toh explained that it is on a hiatus and prawn mee is his focus.
For those unfamiliar with this area, Waze to Petron Kepong Baru, walk down the lane on the left side of the petrol station and you will find the stall on the right side.
Prawn Mee stall along Lorong Bangau 1, right opposite Restoran Ping Kee Mee Stall, Kepong Baru. Open: 7am to 1pm or until sold out. Closed on Mondays.
• This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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