Tuck Kee Sah Hor Fun: Crayfish Hor Fun: Hong Lim Food Centre Part 2 of 7
With smart, iwatch_ueat, liverpool and Damien
My father came from a small fishing village in Malaysia and used to tell me that in the old days, they used to consider the lobster and crayfish a second class substitute for prawns. The flesh of the lobster and crayfish were tougher (Teochew: "Char" meaning wooden) and less sweet compared to a nice succulent prawn. Nowadays, lobsters and crayfish come at a premium price. But really, is the flesh that much nicer then a good sized Sea Prawn? My view is that you really pay for the shell more than anything else. I don't think anyone would pay $50 for a dish with just lobster meat sans shell.
Same thing with the Crayfish Hor Fun. Hor Kua Boh Hor Chia (Good to look at, not good to eat). I find crayfish meet less succulent and sweet than prawn. But hey, its impressive and when you say you sell Crayfish Hor Fun, it is bound to get some attention, especially when you get 2 half crayfish and some big prawns for $4 a plate.
The Hor Fun came as one matted mass which was a little dissappointing cos Hor Fun should be nice, soft and silky smooth. Maybe it was because we waiting too long to mix it with the sauce as we took pictures. The sauce was quite ordinary and nothing to rave about. 3.5/5
One thing that was good was the Sui Gao. You can see that they are quite generous with the prawns. $3 for about 8 dumplings. 4/5
Conclusion
It's going to upset some people, (especially those readers who actually love the hor fun enough to queue for it) but I found that apart from the visual excitement elicited by the Crayfish, there is really nothing to draw me back to it again.
Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Ho Fun
Hong Lim Food Centre
Stall 41A
11am to 3pm
Closed on Sunday
17 comments:
I was a regular visitor to this hawker centre when I was working in Hong Lim Complex.
Tried it one day after the lunch hours when I didn't have to join the long queue for it.
The sauce is pretty good IMHO but would be nicer if it is less diluted. My guess is that most of the prawn heads go into the gravy but the gravy became over-diluted with too much water. The factory made fried onions totally spoils it.
The hor fun I actually enjoy it more than how most zi cha stall does it. Less texture but has a kind of smoothness I do not know how to describe. Perfect with the gravy.
The crayfish and the prawns? Ordinary at best. I like my prawn with their heads but yes... it's in the pot of the gravy ya? If you don't mind not looking good, try breaking apart the head of the crayfish and sucking the content out. I did and it was quite shiok.
Not too bad overall but I'll only go for it when there is no queue. There is so much nice food around there for you not take your pick.
(I'm long-winded and I have more OT stuff to say but due to the text limit for each comment, I'll say it in the next)
I disagree that crayfish and lobster meat are not as succulent or sweet as prawn. It really depends on how it is cook or done.
I've been invited by a group of traditional net fishermen to join them for barbecue last Christmas and New Year Eve. During the day they will go and pull in their catch of lobsters, crayfishes and flower crabs(St Xavier ones if you're darn lucky!) to store in the ice-box. As our teochew ah hia would proudly proclaim, they are very "chwee"!
We all know that seafood that aren't fresh doesn't taste good compared to fresh ones and I find this especially true for crustaceans. Those flower crabs that we usually eat at zi cha stalls taste horrible because they have been dead for long, frozen, thawed then cooked.
I find that lobsters and crayfishes taste better when they are slightly "undercooked". They usually taste sweeter and silky smooth with all the juices locked in. No condiments or spices necessary. Of course, freshness plays an important part too.
I once had this lobster dish cooked with chinese rice wine sauce and "gou qi zi" in Sungei Rengit and it was fabulous! Lobster meat was tender and juicy. When I think lobster, I will think of this dish. Not forgetting their ostrich meat curry which uses mash potato as a thickener instead of starch. Sungei Rengit is south-east of JB and IIRC it is about 20-30 minutes drive from Penggerang jetty. Perhaps we could organise a trip there?
I agree with caesium. All food especially sea food must be fresh to taste good. This stall standard went down a few level. Like caesium if no Q I may eat there but at Hong Lim there are so many good choice.Pls dont leave me out if you want to go Penggerang, the lobster there are swimming in the tanks!
I find personally find this stall overrated. The sauce for the noodles is bland and the noodles usually come in a cogulated mess.
Not worth the wait...
hmm... i have been to tis crayfish hor fun store for 3 times onli. i can say that the gravy has this kind of mummy taste to me. the rest of the ingredients wise is so-so...
I kinda like my food served to me steaming hot...especially seafood..did not really like the cold crayfish, the hor fun and gravy not too bad
I was waiting once to try the crayfish hor fun. But they were still preparing the ingredients - they make it en masse so that it can be served faster. So maybe tt's why not so shiok. And crayfish hor fun is just popularized in my opinion.
Personally I love the chicken and prawn hor fun much better and of course the 'shui gao'. Yup quite value for $$$.
Or if you can't be bothered to wait, and if you have a big appetite; really hungry, Ah Kow BCM is just 2 stores beside. =p
P.S: The last time I was @ Hong Lim, I noticed that the shop in between them sold pasta - Wonder how their food is? Been wanting to try...
Hi CaeSiuM,
Regarding this Restaurant at Sungei Rengit which is south-east of JB and IIRC it is about 20-30 minutes drive from Penggerang jetty.
How can i go there if chose not to drive in ? Can i take a cab n go there ? N which restuarnt shld i patronise ? Thanks
Holy Drummer:
The pasta stall you're referring to is called Pasta Express and I'm a self-admitted fan of their pasta. Great when you're not intending to burn a hole in your pocket for Porta Porta or Al Dente. Of course it's unfair to pit them against the big boys but they cook really great pastas for hawker food prices. Cheaper and better than Pastamania.
chows99:
All the information that you need can be found here :)
http://makansakan.com/wp/?p=44
I've only been to Jade Garden Restaurant when I was there but I would strongly recommend it because the food we had were excellent and value-for-money. It was recommended to us by my colleague who is a Malaysian living in JB.
Driving instructions can be found there but knowing that Tebrau highway is always congested any time of the day, the travelling time in reality should be around 2 hours.
Take heed of the safety as mentioned in the blog. Driving back at night can be scary. There are NO street lamps until you hit the main roads and DON'T DRIVE SLOWLY (You should know why..). Also don't stray from the main traffic. The last thing you would want is to lose your directions there.
Do let me know of your experience there. You can reach me via wcykelvin 'at' hotmail 'dot' com. My apologies to all for the OT.
Hi CaeSiuM,
thanks for the detailed write-up. I guess I can't go to the place using public transport.
Is this makansakan ur own website ?
Dear chow99. You can take a ferry from changi village and then by taxi to there.I believe ferry cost is S$7/per person.The taxi fare I dont know.
Dear chow99. You can take a ferry from changi village and then by taxi to there.I believe ferry cost is S$7/per person.The taxi fare I dont know.
i went there today for the very first time..maybe I was hungry..the crayfish horfun actually taste quite good but not superb. Saw a lot of people eating that so decided to give it a try.
Yes, I think the crayfish horfun has seen better days, used to be much better (meaning to say standard has dropped, was in fact crazy over it for a while, to the point of taking 15 min walk frm my old office in Raffles Place just to eat that, hee ..... Anyway I still dig their dumpling soup though, the way I like it & very generous with the prawns. If one thinks the crayfish and prawn combi is a tad too rich and high in cholestrol, try the prawn and chicken horfun combi - refreshingly good at times ....
Agreed with Liverpool, don't like the cold crayfish.
Ieat father is right, in the past, lobster was considered poor man food that North-West State of US had to passed a law that the Maters cannot feed the slaves more then 3 meals with lobsters in a week. Lobsters were also harvested as fertilizers.
It is with over fishing that it is now highly sought after.
tried tis last thursday n found tat e crayfish/prawns to be fresh.. =)
i like e think kind of "hor fun".. it's good..
other than tat, i think it's nothing to hype abt..
after e meal, one tends to find themself rather thirsty from e MSG
Ordered the medium size ($6.5) set today.
Medium size plates will contain a whole crayfish, 1+1/2 large prawn.
Agree that the crayfish was not warm as I would have preferred, but u have to be accommodating to the fact that they got tonnes of customers to serve during lunch hour.
Other then that, I thought the sauce, horfun and the seafood blended well together. :)Definitely value for money!
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