Back to Malaysia and back to my favourite Malaysian dish – KL-style Hokkien Mee. Each plate of Hokkien Mee is a pleasing sight, with a dark oily black that exudes a rich, irresistible aroma. The purists would always recommend that two famous Hokkien mee stores in Damansara – Tiong 新青山 and Uptown 上城. Today, we went to Uptown.
Malaysians take pride in having such amazing and diverse cultures and delicacies that can be shared with by everyone, and one of these delicacies would have to be the famous Hokkien Mee 福建炒. There have been those who have tried to imitate the taste of this dish; however, many have failed.
Located a few shoplots away from Tiong Hokkien Mee is Damansara Uptown Hokkien Mee. Damansara Uptown Hokkien Mee began operations in 1998 as a roadside stall. They have upgraded their premises, and have also up their prices.
When you come here, Hokkien mee is a must. The Hokkien noodles we ordered was a large portion, but we finished it quite quickly and order another one. The pork lard crackling was a separate order, even though there was a bit sprinkled on the noodles. But to get the shiok factor (and the arteries clogging), you need to load it with ample cracklings.
To prepare a plate of Hokkien mee that wins the hearts of customers, every detail is strictly controlled. The skilled cook puts a suitable quantity of flavour-enhancing flounder fish powder into the hot wok. He then swiftly puts in other specially prepared sauces, ingredients and thick yellow noodles before stir-frying them over a strong flame until the gravy becomes thick and savoury. Only then is a plate of Hokkien mee with the right wokhei ready to be served.
“Moonlight” horfun 月光河粉, as suggested in the name, was just the standard KL-style horfun with a raw egg added. Here, they refer to this style as Cantonese-style horfun. The taste profile was too close to the Hokkien noodles, and we could not taste a difference between the horfun. Also the horfun lacked the wokhei.
Kamheung is a direct translation from the Cantonese dialect 甘香, which means fragrance and aromatic. It is a product of the Chinese condiments with Malay spices to produce a uniquely Malaysian sauce. The signature sauce was more flavourful than those at Tiong’s and the clams were fresher too.
Besides the tzechar of Uptown, there’s also Chef Onn’s roast duck. Unrelated to Uptown, they serve their famous roast duck in the same coffeeshop as Uptown, and when they moved, Uptown invite Chef One to come along.
Almost every table ordered their duck – we ordered a whole duck to share among four of use. The skin of the duck was crispy, and yet the meat was juicy and tender. The juice that came along was so delicious that I was so tempted to order a bowl of steamed white rice to go along. The downside would be the chilli – which was the watery version common in KL. If only they have the chilli-oil Teochew version like Singapore.
They have four more branches around KL, but this one IMHO is the best among them. Carpark is a pain here, but you can park in the mall opposite and walk over. The standard of the noodles was still good, but the prices have been adjusted. Service was non-existent.
Damansara Uptown Hokkien Mee (Uptown-HQ)
117, 119,121, Jalan SS 21/37, Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel : +60133345550
Visited Oct 2023
#DamansaraUptown #petalingjaya #福建面 #hokkienmee #KLhokkienmee
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