[Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia] KL-style wantan noodles at Lai Foong Seng Kee Wanton Noodles, Chinatown

Regional Dining Discussions Asia Pacific
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Foreigners sometimes fail to understand the significant regional variances in Malaysian cuisine. When the British wanted to relinquish their old colonies in this part of the world, they hastily cobbled together a disparate collection of states, some with little in common, to found the Federation of Malaysia in 1957. British-created colonies like Singapore and Penang (founded in 1819 and 1786 respectively) have very little in common with old sultanates like Perak, Kedah or Selangor, having lived separately for centuries, and differ significantly in terms of language, culture and culinary-wise.

Penang’s majority populace are Chinese, mainly Hokkiens (Fujianese) and Teochew (Chaozhou/ Chiuchow). Singapore has the same composition. But the Chinese in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh are mainly Cantonese, with the Hakkas a close second. Culinary-wise, there are stark differences in the food between Singapore/Penang on one hand, and KL/Ipoh on the other.

Also, Cantonese cuisine in KL and Ipoh tends to be much better than one can find in Penang - which is why I usually try and avoid Cantonese street food like wantan noodles in Penang, but will make a beeline for it whilst in KL or Ipoh. But, mind you, KL, ipoh, Penang or any other state in the Malaysian federation, even Singapore, subscribes to the Malaysian (Singaporean) style of wantan noodles which is very different from what constitutes the dish in Hong Kong or Guangdong, China.

Local Malaysian/Singaporean wantan noodles will have blanched thin wheat-egg noodles dressed in a blend of dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, shallot oil, drippings from “char siew” (Cantonese BBQ pork) roasts, sesame oil and other “secret” ingredients/condiments. A standard order of wantan noodles (called “wantan mein” in Cantonese-speaking KL & Ipoh, and “wantan mee” in Hokkien-speaking Singapore & Penang) will be topped with slivers of “char siew” and blanched “choy sum” greens. It’ll be accompanied by a small bowl of clear soup with three little wantan dumplings floating inside. The soup is very basic, unlike the complex consomme which HK-style wantan noodles (which are usually served in soup form) are renowned for.

Last Friday morning, I trudged down to KL Chinatown to try the rendition from Lai Foong Coffeeshop, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee.

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I loved how the KL-lites still serve their wantan noodles with pickled green chilis - an old tradition which used to be de rigeur all over Malaysia, even in Penang. Unfortunately, in Penang, local Penang Nyonya-influences have seen the green chili pickles replaced by incendiary spicy red chili paste.

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KL-style wantan noodles have a smoother, softer texture than Penang’s, which I absolutely love. Penang-style wantan noodles tend to be crinkly and has a more toothsome, al dente texture.

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Lai Foong Seng Kee Wanton Noodles, nearly 60 years old now, is helmed by Chong Chaw Seng, the third-generation of his family to run this business.

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Address
Lai Foong Seng Kee Wanton Noodles
138, Jalan Tun H S Lee, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +6016-393 2457
Opening hours: 7am to 4.30pm daily

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I had my first wantan mee in KL and so assumed that pickled chillis were common across Malaysia. I was disappointed to find this not to be the case when I had them in Melaka & Taiping.
I love them as an accompaniment. They help cut through the rich sauce and fattiness of the meat and lard.

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It was standard throughout Malaysia back in the 80s/90s - except for Melaka, which always have their hot chili sauce, liberally poured on top of their wantan noodles.

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Umm… a common thread that has resulted in decades of strife and wars elsewhere :roll_eyes::woman_facepalming:t2:

I’m curious where this originated - Chinese restaurants in India always have a bowl of pickled green chillies provided as a condiment along with soy sauce. Is it a Hakka thing that traveled around?

In India it’s spicy green chillies chopped up small — some people use only the (white) vinegar that is infused with the flavor and spice, others spoon out the chillies for extra heat.

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Yes, and I’d hazard a guess that the practice came from Siam (Thailand), who were introduced to chilis by Portuguese missionaries in the 15th-century. Chinese sojourners passed through the Siamese kingdom enroute to India and other parts of present-day Indonesia, and most likely brought along the chili pickles with them.

Malaysia’s Northern states (Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu) were all part of Siam, until the 1909 Anglo-Siamese Treaty where King Chulalongkorn of Siam was forced to cede these states to the British, who then promised not to advance further into Siam. Much of Malaysia’s Northern regions are similar to Thailand in terms of cuisine.

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Yes. We had a tendency to do that with no regard to ethnic/cultural differences between groups. I can just hear someone saying “Ah, yes. On the map, there’s a river. That’s the obvious place to put the border between the countries.”

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It was a bit less thoughtful than that for the Radcliffe line. (Also for Israel .)

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Discussion of that would quickly cross our “no politics” rule (at least by me). But, suffice to say, the UK bears a heavy historical responsibility, dating back to 1917.

The Radcliffe line is another stain on my country’s history. A botched job with such appalling consequences of partition. The Hindu family of the guy who owns my favourite Indian restaurant originate from Sindh province. One evening, he told us the story of them having to flee, seeking refuge in Mumbai, with the train attacked with some deaths (although fortunately in that case, not too many).

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Not about politics (or blame) on my part, but disbelief about how casually momentous decisions were made – I learned only recently (last 10 years perhaps) about the Radcliffe line (even though we were steeped in Indian history growing up, both in school and in the environment, as might be expected of a young country).

I almost fell off my chair when I found out that the guy who made the decision on where partition occurred had arrived in the country something like a month prior and had no familiarity with the subcontinent.

But the politics must have driven the haste of that process, and as we have seen globally, no colonial power losing ground wants to leave peace and harmony in their wake – not just the UK, and not just back then.

The WSJ had a fantastic pull-out maybe a decade ago with a before & after map of the middle east; I’ve been kicking myself since that I didn’t save it or take a photo at least. It was an attempt to bring historical context to present day struggles. I’d love to find something similar that focuses on each region, from Asia to Africa to Europe, because there’s so little interest anymore on teaching or propagating the history that brought us to where we are now.

For example, I didn’t know about the background of the Federation of Malaysia till @klyeoh brought it up in the OP, which led me to read more on it.

And, to bring it back to food, the pathways of food from one place to another, the overlaps it created, and the new cuisines it gave rise to. We had a bit of back & forth on the WFD thread a few days ago about the origin of the word (& dish) kheema / qeema / kyma which is entrenched across the subcontinent, but also in Greece and Turkey. Not the usual path of curry discussion, haha, though still about conquerors, conquest, and some of the positives left behind in the form of deliciousness.

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I didnt know much either. All that usually passes for its history in the UK is about the communists fighting for independence (a bad thing).

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