Thank You, Father, at Pudu of all places

"How about that Pudu Hakka Mee place?" was the response from my dear Father on Father's Day, when asked what he wanted for breakfast. Wrapped up in reckless, unwarranted grief over an unexpected disappointment, I had turned up at the start of the day of my parents' rare visit to KL sullen and unyielding, completely oblivious to the blessings for which I was so fortunate.

The established Hakka Mee institution of Chun Kee in Pudu set the pace for the major mind methamorphosis for Father's Day. Dapu is part of Meizhou City, located in Guangdong Province and where the standard Hakka dialect congregates. It also happens to be where Dad was born and raised through rough and tough means. Made perfect sense that the mention of Dapu resonated loud and proud with him.

Jalan Sayur where the stall was located was packed to the brim and we engaged in some friendly jostling and waiting to secure a table and the attention of the stall owners.

We finally landed a VIP table after a bout of waiting and Dad bowled me over with his giddy excitement of tasting the flavours of his childhood. His fever rubbed off on all of us, including my very beautiful, sceptical mother and some random boy they decided to adopt along the way.

We were in for a long wait so I sauntered over to neighbouring Yong Tau Foo stall, which looked like they knew what they were doing.

And they did. The bowl of stuffed goodies arrived a few minutes later to hearty reception. Flavour-packed and gratifying!

After about 25 minutes of waiting time, the first bowl of Da Pu Mian arrived to cheer and commotion. The dish was simple enough - egg noodles, topped with minced pork and char siew, wrapped lovingly in juices of staple Hakka - lard, lard and lard.

Father was disappointed. He suspected the noodles were finished with a machine and that just wasn't the Dapu way. I was disappointed that it didn't live up to his expectations, much the same what I didn't live up to but we live and learn.

And I learnt that whatever your roots and who you are, nothing, not the disappointments nor the failures life serve up, dictate how you move on. The lessons from my Father are precious, as is the realisation of how blessed I am.

Wah Cheong, Section 17

Previous night at the first Twestival KL, while a whole lotta fun, had taken its toll on the morning after. Needed sustenance urgently immediately after rolling out of bed and headed over to Wah Cheong at Section 17. The morning wet market mob was not easy on worn and wearied temperaments but we managed to find a park.

I had zoomed in on the Pan Mee, on account of having read about it at the very fantastic EatingAsia. It did not disappoint. The noodles were of remarkable consistency and texture and made me reconsider my persistent "pinched" noodle preference.

We had also spied the Hakka Mee stall facing the street, and I simply had to have it. The auntie operating alone took some time understandably to keep up with the healthy flow of orders but when it finally got here...

...behold! The delicate flavour of Hakka Mee is difficult to get right but this stall delivered a more than decent version. The main ingredients are lard, vinegar, white pepper and ummm... more lard, I think. The serving was just right too, perfect size for those who are looking to sample more than one type of breakfast noodles.

The infamous Florence's Nyonya goodies stall, which I had recalled from UGWUG's post was briskly selling out so I secured myself a Curry Puff to keep things interesting while waiting for the next order. The pastry was light, fresh and crunchy and the filling offered a hefty curry chicken & potato paste.

On my way back, I managed to chance the back of cool t-shirt potential. Clothes do not make the man, yes, but cool t-shirts certainly make a statement about the wearer and weed out real eye candies!

The final breakfast noodle dish finally arrived, after patiently waiting in line behind the stall's frenetic traffic of orders. And it is this rather spectacular Wantan Mee topped with decorous slices of charsiew.

The allure of this order lied in the lithe and supple egg noodles as well as the smoky perfume from the char siew juices, mixed in with soy & oyster sauces. Scent-sational!

The wantans, served separately, were not the usual drippy bambino variations either - these packed flavour and dumpling pride.

Wah Cheong had a few more tricks up its sleeves that we couldn't possibly stomach in one sitting so a return visit was guaranteed. We wiped our greasy lips, slapped our protruding guts and staggered out to nurse the fresh hangover from noodle comfort and bask in the rest of the Sunday sunshine underneath ruminating clouds.

Happy Hakkas at Ying Ker Lou, The Curve

My Hakka heritage has been attacking my tastebuds for a while, so it was opportune when my very Hakka dad and my very obliging Hokkien mom were in town to revisit some familiar flavours.

Dad had been to Ying Ker Lou at the Curve some years ago and it left a good enough impression enough for him to say, "Let's go to the Curve!" when asked where he'd like to head on the first day they arrived. My Dad is of the school of seniors who refuse to remember names of places, preferring instead to associate places to sights and sounds and more importantly, food! So that specification of a location alone augured well and dandy.

We couldn't go too heavy on the meat, in observance of "eating light in the evenings."

Hakka Minced Pork Bantiao. A slightly more upmarket version of the local Hakka Mee, this package was as light as noodles and fatty minced pork can get. Noodles were springy and toothsome, coated with the juices of pork and dare we speculate, generous lashings of "ham yue chap" (salted fish sauce).

Hakka Bamboo Shoot Dumplings. Glistening fat pockets full of bamboo goodness and more minced pork. We like our meat, even if that means shooting to hell our interpretation of "eating light."

Hakka Yam Abacus. Now my parents make this at home on occasion, and take to the tedious process of kneading yam and tapioca flour like fish to water. They conceded that this deserved a half thumbs up, which is no small feat. The crunchy texture of Chinese parsley and black fungus was a fitting finish to the substance provided by the nicely balanced yam-and-flour dough.

Hakka Chives Rice Rolls. Now, by this time, the flour and meat mixture was starting to get a bit much, so we probably could've done without this dish. It was a decent rice roll attempt, with chunky filling but just too much of the same for us to be rightfully appreciative.

Siu Pak Choy with Ginger and Black Fungus. The "eating light" comes to play. Nevertheless, this added the much needed non-dough and meat dimension to the meal. Dad was somewhat resistant though, as he felt it wasn't cooked thoroughly enough but Mom and I relished this happily.

And to wash it all down and to accompany Dad's stories of his childhood entrepreneurship back in China, Pu'Er Tea served in lovely china. I can't heap enough praise on outlets that take pride in the tableware with which they choose to pageant their food and beverages.

The meal came up to about RM77 for 3 pax. Not dirt cheap, but by no means ridiculous either, especially when I got a good, exclusive one-on-one re-telling of one of my favourite stories ever from Dad.

Breakfast noodles in the 'hood

On certain Sundays of the week, I like to throw all the caution to the wind and fill up for breakfast, despite knowing that it'll render me sluggish and spend the remaining hours of my weekend in mental and physical torpor. And during these Sundays, I like to stay in the neighbourhood, which offers more than a few choices that do the trick.

First up is Kopitiam Mr. Pau, which actually has an uncle operating a stall selling pau & dimsum who goes by the moniker Mr. Pau. It's located along Jalan Desa Bakti in the old part of Taman Desa, on the same row as Secret Recipe. The stall on the right offers Nyonya nasi lemak (with wild boar curry!) and Nyonya cakes that draw queues on lazy Sunday mornings. This visit, however, we didn't do nasi lemak.

Super thick kopi O... one sip and it made me thankful to be alive this Sunday morning...

Fat Tulip's Pan Mee - this stall isn't your average neighbourhood Pan Mee stall... each bowl comes with a pile of ingredients - minced pork meat and/or fish balls, crunchy anchovies, greens and wood ear fungus. Sure, it's no Kung Fu but it holds its own, as the queues in the morning firmly attest.

My Hakka mee - somehow my Hakka roots have been nagging my tastebuds of late, demanding for some ancestral attention so when I saw the stall here, I immediately made an effort to set things right. It was OK but it didn't really hit the spot, not even with unrestrained heaping of fried pork lard.

On another such morning, we headed to U Like It, on the corner of the Faber row of shophouse, on Jalan Desa Bakti.

Wantan mee with char siu - broad noodles, nice fat slices of char siu... made me happy enough!

He had the wantan mee with beef brisket - whined that the noodles were a little overdone, but otherwise fine.

The wantans that came in side bowls were a little pitiful though. Each of us got three of these wantans, filled with nothingness.

The well-frequented wantan mee stall at U Like It. Pity about the wantans though. The shop also has other stalls, which I intend to try in good time. Oh, I do like my Sundays!