COCONUTS HOT SPOT — Hawker food is abundant in Kuala Lumpur. One will never go hungry in this city – food outlets (restaurants, small cafes, roadside stalls) thrive at almost every street.
When folks mention “hawker food” in KL, invariably the name “Jalan Sayur” will pop up. Popularly known as “Wai Sik Kai” in Cantonese which literally means “Glutton Street”, by late afternoon vendors start laying out their tables and stools, some bring out their trays of goodies while some start firing up their woks.
Even before the sun sets, Wai Sek Kai is a thriving food haven bustling with hungry folks out for some good grub spilling with local flavours
The whole street is lined with food vendors left and right and even along the smaller lanes branching off from the main artery. Hailing their customers in loud voices, it’s quite a feat to zoom in to the stalls with the best-tasting grub.
If you start at the very beginning of the street off Jalan Pudu, the smell of frying chicken is unmistakable. That’s where the “4-eyed Boy” (meaning “Bespectacled Kid”) fried chicken stall is.
You can’t miss the pile of fried chicken carcasses and chicken feet right in front. Prices range from RM2.30 to RM4.50 per piece and I’m all for the fried chicken thigh.
Coated in a light tasty batter, the skin is crispy while the meat underneath remains tender and juicy. I like the fried chicken feet too which are crispy and chewy at the same time. As for the crunchy chicken carcasses, whack that only if you are fond of munching on bones.
Move on to the middle of the street and you can see the queue to the very popular stall selling chee cheong fun, fried noodles, yam cake and all sorts of kuih.
The chee cheong fun is served with with curry pork skin or with plain dark sweet sauce and chilli sauce. The huge trays of yam and radish cakes sell off pretty fast, so be there early.
The Lim Brothers Fried Radish Cake draws long queues, so unless you are there early, be prepared to wait. Slabs of white pasty radish cake are cut up into small pieces, then stir-fried with garlic, beansprouts and eggs, with sprinklings of chopped spring onions and doused with a good lashing of dark soya sauce.
The result is a plate of fragrant delightful fried radish cake charred at the sides and hot with “wok hei”. A small plate costs RM5 – it’s not the best I have tasted but the crowds love it.
The grilled tofu and cuttlefish stall further down is a well-known one. The pungent smell of the grilled cuttlefish is an added attraction of this stall and those pieces of thin flattened cuttlefish are really addictive.
This stall has been featured in several television programs, highlighting their grilled tofu puffs which are stuffed with shredded cucumber and yambeans and a thick gooey shrimp paste sauce poured over them. Crunchy chopped peanuts are sprinkled on top and the whole concoction is one delicious sticky mess.
Prices are not cheap though – expect to pay about RM15 for a portion of grilled tofu puffs and cuttlefish.
There’s a Char Kway Teow stall manned by a woman with an impeccable hairstyle. What tickled my interest is her Salted Duck Eggyolk Char Kway Teow.
Chopped salted duck eggyolk are added into the fried noodles for that extra bit of “oomph” and sin. The grainy salted duck eggyolks together with the shrimps, cockles and beansprouts definitely lift the noodles beyond ordinary. A plate of these deluxe char kway teow costs RM6.50 and if you are not cholesterol-conscious, go for this!
There are many more stalls along this street and it will take repeated visits to check them all out. The mentioned stalls here are the more popular ones. The next time you get cravings for some local hawker delights, you know where to head to!
Jalan Sayur (Wai Sek Kai)
446, Jalan Sayur
Off Jalan Pudu
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Chris Wan also blogs at Pure Glutton
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