The Quest For Siew Yoke

Now one might have heard of the legendary siew yoke (roast pork) hidden somewhere in the depths of Pudu. One might have even read many reviews raving about it on various famous food blogs. Spurred on by the mouth watering reviews, I journeyed to Pudu one fine Saturday morning to search for it. And found it I did! (Google Maps is really helpful)

I arrived at the restaurant (which has a really small signboard by the way) a wee bit too early, so I decided to go have breakfast. As luck would have it, there was a pretty famous Hakka Yong Tau Foo place nearby!

Yup, it's Yap Hup Kee

I remember coming to this places ages ago with my ex-gf. I was glad that the food here still tasted as good as ever. Unfortunately, prices have gone up but I guess that is to be expected.

Let's get ready to eat!

Interior of the place

Crispy!

Crunchy!

Smooth!

Total bill for 7 pieces of yong tau foo, one plate of chee cheong fun and one cup of chrysanthemum tea hit my wallet for around RM11. So I'm guessing the yong tau foo here go for about RM1 per piece also, similar to Margaret's. The yong tau foo here looses out to Margaret's in term of size but the texture and taste of the fish filling used is different (probably due to the addition of pork). Whether or not it tastes better certainly depends on individual preference but I enjoyed it. Oh yes they do have a branch at Damansara Utama located on the same row as the Ship.

Yes their signboard is really small...

So I walked over to Restaurant Wong Kee to wait for the legendary siew yoke to appear. Then I noticed a very large and very new sign...

12.30?

After confirming with the Indonesian staff it seems that the siew yoke will only go on sale from 12.30 p.m. onwards. and it was just 11 a.m at that time! Since I was already around, I ordered up a drink and settled in comfortably to wait. This attracted the attention of the owner's wife and the Indonesian helpers...they must think I was a real fan of the roast pork...LOL! I noticed the restaurant is pretty much deserted (minus the odd customer or two who are there for the roast chicken and char siew) but it quickly fills up around 12 p.m.

It has arrived!

The siew yoke came out around 12.15 p.m. and the aroma was superb. It certainly made my mouth water. Everyone's attention was focused on the siew yoke but the restaurant will not sell it before 12.30. Talk about keeping to your timing!

The master at work

It certainly looks good!

A closeup, drooling yet?

Double the skin, double the crunch!

Fluffy!

One bite of the siew yoke and I was hooked. Truly the reviews I've read were spot on when they mentioned this was probably the best siew yoke they ever had. The skin was airy and crispy, with some pieces having two layers of skin at the top and bottom for double the pleasure. No uneven cooking here as I didn't detect any hard or chewy skin, every slice was perfect and crispy. The meat was tender but not mushy with the layers of fat (not as much as I thought) provided a silky smooth contrast. I loath to use the overused 'melt-in-the-mouth' phrase here but I think it best describes the experience. The rice was pretty good too (surprisingly) with a nice fluffy texture. It went well with the chili sauce provided.

However, don't expect such good stuff to come cheap. The total bill for siew yoke (portion for 2), one plate of rice and two drinks came up to around RM30. Uh huh...RM30, which seriously can buy you probably close to a KG of siew yoke from other stalls. But hey, I'd say it was worth every cent I paid.

The (corner) restaurant is actually located at the junction of Jalan Nyonya and Lorong Baba. It's approximately behind Times Square, past what used to be an abandoned project site (which has currently been resurrected). Just be there early to book your seat, but not too early! Happy eating!