eat me pleaseeeee!!!
Holidays always seem to be great times to catch up with family and friends. For lunch on New Year's day, it was all about family. My mother wanted something different from the usual places we eat at, hence she requested we visit Pan Heong at Batu Caves, especially since my uncle and aunt has yet to savour their fantastic sang har (water prawns) noodles. Once we got there, we realised it would be an incredibly long wait since we had 10 tables ahead of us.
Thus, we decided to give up and head further down the road to Rawang. A quick google search on 3G, got me Lan Je's telephone number and subsequently, I managed to confirm they were opened plus book a steamed fish for each person.
crackly crunchy super fresh prawns
The drive was pretty smooth especially since the road to Rawang from Selayang has been widened. Right before we hit the town, I had to get my bearings right before I recognised the small low stalls on the side of the road, where Lan Je is located at. Couldn't miss the crowd of people hanging there. Luckily we got a seat quickly but the waitress took a long time to clean up the place since it was laden with bones and fish remnants all over the place.
Long long ago, Lan Je used to sell economy rice to the workers from the nearby cement factory. She started selling steamed tilapia fish, which got a good response from her customers and ever since then she has been famous for that dish. Nowadays, Lan Je does not get involved with the day to day running of the stall. Instead it is manned by her sons and daughter-in-laws, who have also perfected the art of steaming the fish.
At the stall, small black tilapia fish vs the more common red tilapia fish is used (around 300grams) hence you order one fish per person. This means you don't have to fight for your fish and you can take your time eating it. Topped with a slightly spicy topping of garlic, ginger and chillies (you can adjust how spicy you want when you place your order), the fish is steamed just right, yielding flesh that is silky smooth. My favourite bit is when you turn the fish over and you get the not so dry fish flesh underneath. Even Splashie Boy and my aunt who both hate eating fish with bones ate their own portions with relish. My mother, uncle and I were in heaven since we love eating fish and sucking the bones until everything is clean.
The menu here is pretty standard and pork free. It seems even Malays patronise this stall as they love the steamed fish. Aside from the steamed fish, they also do a salted dry fried prawns very well. The very fresh prawns are fried till the skin is all crunchy and edible. The fried vegetables (yau mak), which we had was also very good and crunchy. The only let down was their chicken with dried chillies. We all felt it was a little hard. Total damage for 5 of us was RM118, which we all thought was worth it especially since it was such a satisfying meal. You'll definitely see us returning for the steamed fish here, and to be honest now with the highways interlinking everything together, it is not that far away. For more pictures, see my Flickr set.
Lan Je Steamed Fish
27-28, Block C, Jalan Rawang
Gerai MPS, Batu 16
Rawang
Tel No: 012-227 0037
(Pork free. To get here, drive down from Selayang towards Rawang, you will pass by Templer's Park on the way there. Just before you hit the town area, you will see these low stalls on both sides of the road. After the BHP Petrol Station, make a U turn and you will see Lan Je on your left hand side. Open from 11.30am to 3pm, 6-10pm. Closed on Tuesdays. It is advisable you call ahead and book your fish especially during peak times, as they tend to run out of food if you are late.)
*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.
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Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Steamed fish
