Yau Char Kwai @ Stall in front of Restaurant Lim Mee Yoke, SS2, Petaling Jaya

glorious golden crullers

Don't you just love it when you stumble onto new discoveries? This place may not be new to most PJ folks but for me on an early Saturday morning it felt that way. I've heard quite a lot about this legendary stall that served one of the best ever yau char kwai in town but since breakfast is never my forte (I'm too much of a night owl), I've not ventured around this place in the mornings.

expanding in the oil, long chopsticks and pressing the dough together

By chance I stumbled onto the hordes of people patiently gathered around this stall. The crowd looked interesting hence I joined them as I was curious why everyone was willing to wait 15-30 minutes for the yau char kwai. The small consolation of waiting forever for your food. You get to compensate by observing how it is done.

stretching it out just before it is slipped into the hot oil

Even though this stall owner makes other varieties: dough wrapped with a thick slab of glutinous rice, with red bean, sprinkled with five spice powder, everyone asks for their yau char kwai and is willing to sacrifice precious time for it. Regulars will just fill up the exercise book, the stall owner's wife keeps track of the orders.

For his work, everything is prepped up ahead. For instance the dough is packed in plastic boxes that he can reach out for whenever he makes a fresh batch. The oil used to fry the fritters is also fresh and golden in colour, unlike those who recycle the oil a million times till it blackens. It is interesting to see how he treats the yau char kwai's dough a little differently - kneading it one more time with flour before leaving it to rest under a specially designed compartment with a stainless steel lid.

Once rested, he stretched it into a long piece of dough, flattens it, scatters a little sesame seed, and starts to divide them by cutting it into even pieces. Then he reaches out for a long thin metal rod. With deft fingers, he places one cut piece of dough on top of another to overlap. A quick press with the metal rod onto the dough makes an indentation. He then proceeds to stretch the dough with two hands and drops it into the hot oil. It puffs up to form those crullers we call yau char kwai. The two pieces are stuck together, puffing up and turning golden brown in the hot oil. Continous turning by a long chopsticks see these fritters get evenly cooked into a beautiful golden brown colour.

Well worth the wait, each piece is crunchy on the outside, soft inside and light. I can imagine this will be great with a bowl of piping hot soy bean milk or plain porridge. If you're a crispy dough addict, head over here as this may just be the best ones in the town.

Yau Char Kwai Stall

In front of Lim Mee Yoke (or the magazine shop next to it)

Jalan SS2/6

Petaling Jaya

(Pork free. Available from 9am to 12 noon and night time too. For a load more pictures, see the Flickr set.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Yau Char Kwai

Other reviews:

• Michael Yip
• Ky speaks
• waisikkai