Pusat Penjaja Jalan Air Panas

Just across the street from Air Panas wet market, there is a hawker center built and managed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). There are around 20 stall lots here, but only a handful are opened today due to Chinese New Year season. For the stalls that are open, you can expect a price increase for their "sacrifice" to serve during the Chinese New Year festival.

One of the "zyu caau" (煮炒, Chinese stir-frying) stall is open today, which is fortunate for customers and the stall operator. This stall is popular for its Hokkien Char (福建炒) but the young chef is unavailable today. Therefore only a limited number of dishes are available today.

Besides Hokkien Char, another dish that this stall is renown for is the Lor Mee (卤面, RM11.00). Having missed our mandatory Hokkien Char, we ordered the Lor Mee instead. This is the KL-style of lor mee, where thick yellow noodles are used and gravy contains more eggs. Honestly, I prefer the KL version of Lor Mee over the Penang one.

A key ingredient for the Lor Mee is the pork lard (猪油渣) which gives the noodles an occasional delightful crisp. Several shrimps and pieces of pork contribute meaty flavor to the dish. Lor Mee is best enjoyed with a small amount of vinegar, but some people prefer not to use any at all. Fortunately, the Lor Mee is served without vinegar and a bottle of vinegar is available to customers.

We also ordered a medium serving of Cantonese Style Yin Yong (鸳鸯广府炒, RM11.00). By "yin yong" (鸳鸯), this refers to the use of two different types of noodles. Usually (and in this case), "yin yong" refers to rice vermicelli (米粉) and hefen (沙河粉). The rice vermicelli is pan-fried until crispy, then together with the cooked hefen, is drenched in flavorful, egg-based gravy originating in Cantonese recipe.

Like the previous dish, shrimps and pork are used to enhance flavor. Obviously pork lard is out of place here, therefore fish cakes are used instead. In addition, the choy sum (菜心) used in this dish is quite plentiful.

I find the gravy to be slightly saltier than usual. On the other hand, the composition of gravy is slightly more watery than what I am more familiar with. Despite these blemishes, the dish is still reasonably well prepared.

As expected, the price has been increased by RM1.00 per medium-sized plate. From the looks of it, this price hike is likely to be permanent.