I’m always in the mood for good nasi lemak at any time of the day, although with age, I’m learning to control my consumption. If there’s ever a seriously sinful meal, this is it. The basic nasi lemak consists of rice cooked with coconut milk, sambal (chilli paste), fried anchovies, fried/roasted peanuts and sliced cucumbers. Of course, Malaysians have taken the simple nasi lemak to a different level, where it is served with a variety of dishes, from fried chicken to sambal sotong (squid sambal).

The nasi lemak stall which I recently discovered when Pretty Pui, Ecstatic Eeyore and I were feeling hunger pangs at 8.00pm on a Friday night is located off Jalan San Peng in KL. These guys serve the chinese version of the nasi lemak, which is also non-halal. I wasn’t quite prepared to witness the partaking of the food by the devotees that night. 😛

We arrived at the stall at about 9.20pm. The best place to park the car is along Jalan San Peng. It’s just a short walk in. DO NOT drive in as you may risk getting caught in a jam, or be unlucky enough to have an inconsiderate driver block your car.

About 12 tables were set up around this stall. Upon arriving, I was surprised to see a couple of tables already occupied, but no one was eating. The nasi lemak stall was also empty. We were soon informed that the food would only be arriving at about 9.45pm. Soon after we sat down, more people congregated at this place, and soon, all the tables were occupied.

A van drove up at 9.50pm. Instinctively, people quietly got up and queued up. We did the same. With reverence, people watched as the pots of chicken curry and containers of sambal and other condiments and dishes were carried to the stall. The murmurings began as the customers inhaled the aroma of the nasi lemak ingredients and made difficult decisions on the types of dishes they would choose for themselves from the smorgasbord of colours.

The food certainly looked appetising. My eyes were drawn to the glistening lup cheong (chinese sweet sausage). A tray of fried luncheon meat stood on the same shelf. Fried kacang panjang (long beans) were sandwiched between the two trays. On the level below that was a pot of stewed pork innards. Pots of sambal sotong and sambal kerang (cockles) fought for attention. A bowl of rich, thick red sambal made with lots of onions stood at the corner. The winner of the match was undoubtedly the aromatic chicken curry with huge pieces of chicken. The proprietors of the stall had brought several huge pots of this chicken curry.

Eeyore and I felt our hearts race as we approached the stall. So many choices! We didn’t know what to choose! I told myself that I would only choose two items, but in my moment of weakness, I gave in to the desires of the flesh. I ended up with a plate of rice covered with chicken curry, sambal sotong, a piece of lup cheong, half an egg, a liberal amount of peanuts and crunchy fried anchovies, cucumbers and extra sambal on the side.

Feeling only slightly guilty as I savoured the nasi lemak, I noticed there were up to 30 people in the queue. Cars came and parked haphazardly along the road as passengers quickly jumped out to ta-pau (take-away) packets of nasi lemak. The numbers dwindled at about 10.30pm, but all the tables were occupied.

Note: There is also a stall serving chee cheong fun/yong tau foo next to the nasi lemak stall. Try the version with chicken curry (same chicken curry served at the nasi lemak stall).

Nasi lemak @ San Peng
Off Jalan San Peng, opposite the San Peng flats.
Opening hours: 9.45pm – 2.30am (closed on Sundays)

Whenever we drive past Sek Yuen, we’d tell ourselves that we should go there some time soon. We generally enjoy old-style dining, and the facade of the restaurant with its washed-out, peeling paint was a good reflection of the interior.

Entering the restaurant, it was like we travelled back through time; there were old kopitiam tables and sturdy wooden chairs that had withstood the test of time, white ceiling fans and dusty fluorescent lights suspended by wires and windows without shutters.

In a country where progress is reflected in our country’s employment and where locals are in the pursuit of more ambitious vocations, it is heartening to see that cheap foreign labour is not employed in this restaurant. The servers in this restaurant are withered, shrivelled uncles and aunties wearing white pagoda T-shirts over white shorts.

A bespectacled, wizened man with fingers nimbly skimming an abacus was presumably the “cashier”.

Chopped wood for the stove is stored at the back to cook the food the traditional way.

The food that you will see below is from an accumulation of two visits. The first time, we went there with no idea what to order. We were impressed with what we had tasted. Our second time was a more educated trip, but unfortunately we were overenthusiastic, and thus we overordered!

I’m a big fan of pork trotters. Unfortunately, Pretty Pui isn’t, so it was a nightmare for her as she thrust her chopsticks into the thick fat in search of lean meat. We tried two types of dishes: stewed pork trotters, and stuffed pork trotters with chestnuts, onions and mushrooms. Both are delicious, but the “small” portion of stuffed pork trotters was still too much for 5 of us.

The pei pa duck with its crispy skin would have been more enjoyable had it not been for the thick layers of fat that left one feeling full after consuming it. At first, I tried spitting out the fat, but that left my jaws tired. After that, I was merely tearing off and eating the skin and leaving behind the fat and the meat that seemed to be fused together.

Our dish of chicken came steamed with black fungus, ginger and kum chum (dried lily buds).

We tried two types of tofu dishes; one was seng kua taufu cooked with mushrooms and ridge gourd (petola), and the other, tofu with mixed vegetables. Both dishes came with a starchy egg sauce that was good enough to drink by itself.

We loved the kah heong chai (literally translated as village vegetables) which consisted of nam yue (red fermented bean paste), black fungus, fried foo chuk, chinese cabbage, transparent glass noodles and kum chum. We ordered this on both visits as it was absolutely addictive.

The fluffy, white rice steamed in little aluminium bowls not only looked adorable, but tasted great too.

Note: The airconditioned restaurant is located nextdoor. Same food, different environment. You decide.

Sek Yuen Restaurant
313-1, Jalan Pudu
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-92229457
Airconditioned restaurant: 315, Jalan Pudu.
Tel: 03-92220903

The formation of the Makan Club and our friendship began approximately six months ago with the anticipation of two events – eating char siew at Salak South and eating “lard noodles” at San Peng.

Pretty Pui, Bouncing Barbie and I were initially taken aback when the guys waxed lyrical about lard noodles. Seriously, how can anyone be excited about lard? Lard in this context is crunchy fried pork fat which is used in various chinese dishes like char koay teow, hokkien mee, and in this case, prawn noodles.

Bizzy Bertie and Ecstatic Eeyore described the dish as prawn noodles where half the bowl is filled with lard. Naturally, I wasn’t too impressed with the description.

The stall is located at Jalan San Peng, just after the flats and opposite a TM building. There is an open air carpark (which is actually just a vast piece of empty land) across the stall, so parking is not a problem.

A normal bowl of prawn noodles at this stall contains a generous portion of prawns and kangkung (water convolvulus) with noodles of your choice in a thick murky broth of prawn and pork soup. The lard is added according to your preference. This is a picture of Smokin’ SOB’s bowl of noodles (with a normal serving of lard):

Ecstatic Eeyore’s bowl looks like this:

Eeyore normally consumes a pot of chinese tea after eating his noodles in the hopes of washing down the fat and cleansing his system, but who’s he trying to kid? 🙂

We normally order a plate of steamed chicken together with our noodles. The steamed chicken is served on a bed of crunchy taugeh (bean sprouts) and is drizzled with aromatic sesame oil which adds a smooth texture and enhances the flavour of the chicken.

My initiation took place some time in July 2006. I have since returned to this stall several times.