Taiwanese Snacks in Kuala Lumpur's 'Little China'

Sorry for the silence. Chalk it up to our moving house (for the fifth time in less than five years - we don't recommend it) and a few days' wait for phone service. I'm still surrounded by boxes (two are serving as a temporary desk), but with a substantial backlog of tasty tidbits to share I'm closing my eyes to the chaos around me so I that can get back to writing about what really gets me out of bed in the a.m.

Fun Taipei Kafe sits at the edge of what I call KL's 'China Strip' - the short stretch of Changkat Thambi Dollah between Jalan Pudu and Shaw Parade. It's here you'll find delicious and authentic northern Chinese food and a couple of Sichuan restaurants, and hear people speaking as much Mandarin as Hokkien, Hakka, or Cantonese. With it's Mandarin-speaking staff and distinctly non-southern Chinese menu, Fun Taipei fits right in.

Though Taiwan is known among Chinese food enthusiasts as a glutton's paradise, we've yet to go (it's a shameful admission, really, for two food lovers who found their obsession in China). Still,  FT's interior is reminscent of Taiwanese style xiaochi ('small eats') and tea houses we've visited in Shanghai and Hong Kong: cute and spare, with a tile floor, white walls, and a tiny 'reading corner' featuring bookshelves laden with Taiwanese magazines and books. Couples and small groups of friends linger over bubble drinks and snacks at simple dark wood tables as sweet-smarmy Japanese and Taiwanese pop tunes play in the background.

FT's menu is fairly extensive but, as we learned, not all items are available all of the time. It's best to start building one's meal with a gander at the daily specials listed on a blackboard in the black of the cafe (staff will gladly translate); it's here that I spied a Taiwanese snack standard, hongshao niurou mian ('red-cooked' beef noodles). We supplemented from the printed menu with another favorite, hongyou chaoshou (pork dumplings in chili oil), 'eel cold noodle', and a plate of Taiwan-style paocai (pickled vegetable).

Paocai, served right away with our drinks, was a crunchy sweet and sour (too sweet for Dave) fresh pickle of thickly sliced white cabbage mixed with delicate strands of carrot - just the thing to get the stomach rumbling. Drinks (honeydew 'milky tea' for me, scarily artificial-tasting mango 'shake juice' for Dave) are served in chunky handled mason jars, and can be had with or without large sago pearls.

Working from a closet-sized kitchen, FT's staff delivers truly tasty vittles. Eel cold noodles featured a row of generously sized slices of warm, fresh-tasting tamari-brushed eel, similar in flavor to what usually tops vinegared sushi rice; resting alongside on a bed of cool egg noodles drizzled with sweet sesame dressing, slender strips of carrot and cucumber. This inspired mix of temperatures and textures had us passing the plate back and forth and sparring over the last bite.

 

I could smell our beef noodles across the room, before the waitress even delivered the bowl to our table. Thin, wide egg noodles, greens, and fat-flecked beef rectangles floated in a thin broth rich with the flavors of meat and anise. The vapors rising from the bowl spoke of hours on the stove, and the taste lived up to the odoriferous come-on. FT's hongshao niurou mian is the perfect example of the kind of wonderfully comforting home cooking that Chinese do so well.

But for a distinct lack of heat - crucial for a chile head such as myself - FT's hongyou chaoshou could be considered a definitive version. Floating in a half-bowl of well-vinegared, flavorful (if not zippy) chili oil, these dumplings feature an extra juicy pork filling bundled in a wrapper of dough rolled to medium thickness. Perfectly cooked, the dough was slippery but a little chewy, and its multiple folds carried plenty of sauce from bowl to mouth. I would return to FT just for an order of these, albeit with a bit of dried, roasted red chile powder in tow.

Pushing the edges of our appetite envelopes, Dave and I dipped into the sweets section of FT's menu and decided on coconut mantou. The mantou we know from China is simply steamed dough - a filling-free bao, if you will - and we were expecting a coconut-flavored something along those lines. What turned up in front of us was a two-inch dough square, golden on top and browned along the edges. This rather bizarre (to our taste, anyway) treat consisted of fluffy sweet bread spread with a sugary-coconuty goo, hinting at margarine, that had gone slightly crispy under a grill. Bordering on sickly sweet and oozing artifical flavors, this bread-thing was strangely appealing in the way that evil foods often are. We downed it like children, eating from the inside out and leaving the crusts on the napkin-covered plate.

Fun Taipei Teacafe, No. 63 Changkat Thambi Dollah (between Jalan Pudu and Shaw Parade), Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Tel. 03-2142-2327.

Comments

[San Nakji]

Wow, your blog is amazing. You are a great photographer. I am sooooo hungry!

[Austin]

Man, that all looks great--wish we could get some northern Chiense food here in BKK!

Austin

[Robyn]

San Nakji - thank you. Photo credit goes to my husband Dave. We are partners in all things chow-related. :-)

Austin - good n. Chinese food lurks in BKK. A couple suggestions: a small place on Ngam Duplee quite close to Rama IV, on the opposite side of the street from the famous hooker hotel (have forgotten hotel's name). You'll know it by the Chs characters on the front. Truly excellent jiaozi (dumplings), I prefer them boiled (shuijiao), and authentic gritty chili paste (la jiao). The other dishes are basic stir-fries but simple and tasty, as you would get them in China. In other words, fear not the pool of oil on the plate. They'll sell you frozen jiaozi to take home, too.
The other is called Xian, I think. It is, I think Suk Soi 48. Say you are standing on Thonglo facing the BTS. Cross the street and head left, then take the first right. A small lane or alley on the right has parking and a few restaurants; Xian is in there. Good, good stuff. It's been a while, but try yuxiang rousi ('fish taste' pork), fanchye jidan (eggs with tomatoes), dumplings and noodles. Ask for any 'te tsai' (house specialties). Ask if they have 'dzima yangrou' (lamb stir-fried with cumin).

[Robyn]

Holy moly, beef noodles GET IN MAH BELLY!

And the mantou! I've only had plain, but coconut sounds great.

[Sui Mai]

Please please please go to Taiwan!! It's so yum!!! You will love it!

We had a massive 'eating' trip there back in Feb.

You're welcome to check it out if interested:

http://suimai.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_suimai_archive.html

[Ying]

I like the photos that you took for the foods. They looked very delicious. Introduce more so that I can go to try them out.