Finally

One nice thing about spending so much time in Penang (up north every 10 days on average it's been for us, lately) is that it's afforded the opportunity to move beyond our tried-and-true favorites and branch out into virgin (for us, anyway) culinary territory. You don't have to eat prawn noodles on every single visit when you know you'll be returning soon.

We've had our eye on this Melayu Street wonton mee stall for quite a while; it's on the route we take when we walk a friend's dog. Within 20 minutes of arriving in George Town last Thursday we were placing our orders. Finally.

The set-up is basic: a mobile cart and a few tables right on the street. Umbrellas and plastic tarps add protection from sun and rain. (The latter, unfortunately, also eliminate any chance of a breeze and make eating here a rather sweaty experience).

This hawker is a master of his art; after lifting the egg noodles from their bath of boiling water he tosses them high, sending strands of pasta flying into the air and a shower of water droplets over his cart.

We ordered our wonton mee 'dry'. In Kuala Lumpur this would land you a plate of drained noodles and choy sum tossed with soy sauce and (if you're lucky) lard oil and topped with slices of char siew (barbecued pork), a small bowl of broth and wontons on the side.

Here, our noodles and greens arrived in a bowl, partially submerged in the usual soy sauce and lard oil (praise be) thinned with a little broth. Char siew slices graced the little hillock of pasta, but so also did wontons. Pickled green chilies filled the bowl of our spoons. (In KL they'd be in a separate sauce, to which you'd probably add a bit of soy sauce.)

The verdict? Thumbs down on the char siew, which was lean verging on dry and not at all smoky, as a good piece of barbecued meat should be. The slices, a tell-tale fakey crimson at the edges, are certainly not the product of a 'cue expert.

But for the rest of the dish we would, and will, return to this stall. The dumplings are silky but substantial of skin, their filling richly porcine, and since they're not floating in hot broth they don't go all mushy within a minute of serving. The noodles are the perfect balance of tender and chewy-elastic, what a Taiwanese would call 'Q-Q'. And the 'sauce' is very nearly all about the lard oil. It's kind of like eating bacon fat mixed with just enough soy sauce to season.

And that is not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.

Wonton mee stall, corner of Melayu Street and Toh Aka Street (a block from Beach Street), George Town, Penang. Afternoons only, from about 2 to 6.

Comments

[Rasa Malaysia]

Robyn - the best char siu is in the wet market in Georgetown 7th street. There are always people lining up for the char siu, you can't miss it. Also, in the 7th street, could get Fuzhou fish balls. Yum!

[Nate]

Of course, there's the famous Kolo Mee of Kuching. That's all lard oil. But now I'm ordering them "red" which means it's got a tablespoon of char siu pork drippings mixed in as well.

[Spike]

I always admire your photos so much. Could I ask you to get a little geeky and tell us about what equipment you use, what settings you generally use, etc.?

[VVS-Hedestoker]

Great photos. Really enjoyed it all. Cheers ...

[bayi]

I think in Penang a basic wonton mee dish is also known as tok-tok mee, as named after the mee vendors' call. A device is fitted onto the bicycle or hawker's motorcycle that sounds "Tok-tok...tok-tok..." signalling the tok-tok mee man is in the vicinity.

But nowadays there are many excellent wonton noodle stalls in the Klang Valley and I don't think about going for this dish elsewhere. I have eaten char siew so good in KL that I doubt there is better fare elsewhere. Noodle-wise too. But pickled green chilli is becoming rare. This could be due to the rising price of the commodity.

[thenomadGourmand]

Pg char siew like tht one.. its when i moved to KL tht I had all those sinfully 3 layers char siew! yums!

[Nigel]

Robyn, finally added you to my blog too. ;-) I follow you as "heavenlycake" on twitter as well. ;-)

[J2Kfm]

geez, i misread the Malay street, and tot this is a halal wanton mee!
whats with the rather dark-looking man tossing the noodles.
whoops. but true - the char siew looks nothing like the real, dark and caramelized stuff.

[bayi]

Three-layered char siew with all the fat, roasted black and crispy!! Droool...

It's still KL charsiew for me.

[bayi]

...and a good helping of pickled green chilli makes a world of difference! Some of the vendors add green chilli padi (pickled too) to given the taste a real oomph!

[Pete]

Lovely close-up photo of the wonton mee - it's making me hungry! But for me, the best wonton mee and char-siew are always those in KL!

[Yusuf Martin]

Just found this site, very interesting.
Yusuf

[Robyn]

Yusuf - Only for the food-obsessed, I think!

On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 1:48 AM, wrote:

[Andy]

Looks great again - fond memories from my honeymoon! Wonton's are so moreish!!!

Andy - http://onceuponathyme.wordpress.com/

[John]

I am missing it so so much! Thx. for the posting.

[Chris]

Brings back memories! My fave wantan mee store is behind Chowrasta Mkt; not sure if it's still there..it was a double shophouse. The charsiew there is ok but it's the sauce that makes the dish. That particular store also had the option of chicken strips which soaked up that wonderful sauce! Didn't realize pickled green chili is becoming less common. Here in Canada I pickle my own with jalapeno; turns out very well.

[Robyn]

Hi Bee - 7th street? Does it have another name? Can't place it.

Nate - I love kolo mee! 'Red' sounds over-the-top, but in a very good way.

Spike - Dave's been in touch, I think.

VVS- thanks.

Bayi - yeah, that's right. And some Penang wonton mee vendors deep-fry the wonton. I agree - KL's got great char siew. But I haven't noticed pickled chilies disappearing ... we still get them at most noodle places.

nomad - yes, 3-layer char siew is something to behold. Everything in moderations.

nigel, John, Andy - thanks.

Chris - 'behind Chowrasta Market' is kind of a large area? Got any coordinates? We're heading back to Penang and could scope out to see if it's still there.
When pickling your own, is it simply chilies+white vinegar, or do you add other ingredients? And pickled for how long? Thanks.

[Dr. Mitchell R. White a.k.a. the Chile Doctor]

Penang? I love that place! Unfortunately, with the downturn I haven't been there in more than a year now. I really miss the street food and the lovely walks.

Thanks for sharing! Great photos and a wonderful story...

[Miss B]

What a wonderful place. I'm going to make it back there soon, I hope! Delicious food indeed.

Thanks again for the article - and the pictures are amazing as well!

[Chris]

Hi again....if let's say you were on Penang Rd and facing Chowrasta Mkt, walk down the street to the left till u get past the main mkt bldg. The store if still there is a bit to the left. I can't remember the name of the road behind the mkt.
The jalapenos are easy to prepare...slice them up, shake some salt over it, sit for 15-30mins, toss into a colander to get rid of the excess salt, stuff the peppers into a glass jar, add in some sugar and pour in enough vinegar(have since discovered palm vinegar and using that instead of the usual distilled white vinegar) to cover the chili, put cover on, leave in fridge; should be ready in 2 days. Keeps well in the fridge for months!

[Nate]

Did Dave use an off-camera flash to capture the shots of the vendor tossing his noodles? How did he set that up?