By SAM CHEONG
WHO has the best ngou lam fun (stewed beef brisket noodles) around Subang Jaya?
This question was posed to me by Jake Lam, a reader from USJ 20. Lam said he had yet to locate a stall around the neighbourhood that can satisfy his needs.
Hard at work: Siew Lan cher whipping up a bowl of stewed beef brisket.
Surprisingly enough, I have an answer. There is a stall in Good Year Court 2 in USJ 6 that lives up to the expectations.
I came to know of this place by chance a year ago. The place in question is Q-up coffee shop which is managed by Alex Ang, a friend of mine.
Known as Lou Kor (old brother), Ang has been in the coffee shop business for nearly a decade after retiring from civil service.
At his place, I found an elderly lady and her daughter in-law running the show. She sells wan tan mee and has a loyal following from people around the neighbourhood.
Brisk business: The lunch crowd at Q-up cafe.
Called Siew Lan cher (sister Siew Lan), the lady can dish out a hearty ngau lam fun. Now, before I go any further, there are two version of the dish
First, there’s the beef noodles prepared Hainanese style. I am talking about the Cantonese style where beef brisket is stewed with ginger and spices such as the star anise, clove and cinnamon.
Originally from Karak, Pahang, Siew Lan began to dabble in the noodle business with her family when she was young.
Tasty treat: The noodles also come with dry gravy.
She now runs a stall at Ang’s coffee shop with her son and daughter in-law. Now, getting to the ngau lam fun, I must say that the noodles she had prepared are similar to what I had a long time ago from a roadside stall near the Air Panas traffic junction in Setapak.
The beef brisket is stewed with spices and soya sauce until its soft. You can have it with soup or dried gravy.
A plate of ngau lum fun at Siew Lan’s stall costs RM5.50. I found the portions rather generous with plenty of beef to go around.
And, like I said earlier, this is one of the best old school stewed beef brisket around. I tried the lady’s beef noodles on two occasions.
Once, I had the kwon lou (dry gravy) ngau lam fun. I found it tasty and with a dash of chilli sauce, the brisket went down smooth.
Stewed beef brisket in soup
Complemented by a cold glass of home brewed kuk fah (chrysantenum tea), my makan experience there was complete.
As for the soupy variant, Siew Lan cher charged me RM6 a bowl. This, of course, has some wantan dumplings and char siew thrown in.
Speaking of rarity, there aren’t many places around that serve up a good plate of ngau lam fun. Of course, if I asked around and do some research on the Internet, the answers may pop up in food blogs and websites specialising in local foodstuff.
Q-up coffee shop is located in USJ 6, the landmark here is the Summit USJ shopping mall. Just make your way to Persiaran Tujuan, the Good Year Court 2 is located opposite a Shell petrol station.
Sorry, no GPS coordinates here and, if you got lost, the cops at the USJ 8 police station will be glad to point you in the right direction.
> UPDATE: Siew Lan’s wantan mee stall has moved from Q-Up to a larger coffee shop at Court 6. To locate it, keep an eye out for a banner written in Chinese.
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