Food Hunting Foodie

Hup Lee. Simple, Delightful Lontong!

December 13, 20201998 views0

Some days, especially on lazy weekends… I would just grab a bite downstairs from where I’m staying as I’m too lazy to go anywhere outside of the neighbourhood.

While doing so, I noticed this particular stall that regularly has a long queue that would sometimes circle around the block.

𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘂. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘂𝗲. 😔

From what I saw on their signboard, their menu is simple, well, kind of. Just four items — Nasi lemak, mee rebus, mee siam, and lontong.

Simple selections.

For the Nasi Lemak, it’s a little more complicated as you have to order some the food items, no standard plate. I gathered from the fellow patrons, the Lontong, which seems to sell out rather quickly, is their most popular item. However, as curious as I was, I just couldn’t bring myself to join the line.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲! 😋

So when I chance upon a day where there was a shorter queue at this store on a workweek, I convinced my friends to join me for breakfast to check out their offering.

Choose what you want.

We order a portion of each item to share. For the nasi lemak, we went for the recommended items, their homemade 五香 (ngoh hiang, also known as five-spice prawn fritter), chicken wing. Along with some ikan bilis (fried crispy anchovies), a serving of acar (pickled vegetables), and of course, the must-have for nasi lemak, the chilli.

We each took a bit of everything, just to have a taste of it all. Our conclusion? We all agreed that the lontong is definitely the star here. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

Plates of mee siam, ready to go!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗼!

First, the Mee Rebus; it’s actually relatively light in flavour compared to the other mee rebus I’ve had before. The chilli gives it the punch that would be otherwise lacking. I would say that it’s pretty good, but not the best I’ve had before.

Mee rebus!

Next, the Mee Siam; more flavourful than the mee rebus, the taste is pleasantly balanced. The bee hoon is cooked just right, and it maintains its fluff and crunch after being soaked for some time in the sauce. The plate was quickly polished clean by all of us. We all agree that it’s up there, amongst one of the better mee siam that we’ve had.

Flavourful mee siam!

Look at that chilli!

Now, on to the nasi lemak. One key thing about nasi lemak is both the rice and the chilli. I must say that they’ve done both well! The rice is fluffy, very fragrant and cooked just right!

The chilli gives everything an excellent kick to elevate the whole combination to another level. Mix the rice, chilli, with the crispy ikan bilis, peanuts, and you have yourself an incredible spoonful of taste and texture!

The fried chicken wings are fantastic! Fried until crispy on the outside, and just right on the inside, the bones slip off with little resistance as you gently pull on them.

You’re then left with a nice serving of delicious chicken meat that makes you salivate, wanting for more. The ngoh hiang is even more fabulous! It is homemade, delightfully fresh, full of gusto, and mouth-watering with each bite!

𝗟𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁!

Finally, we come to the extremely popular lontong. We all took a sip of the curry and completely understood why it’s so popular. The key ingredient of this dish, the soupy curry base, is perfect!

The highlight! Lontong!

Saturated with aromatic curry flavours, it hits your palate in all the right spots. The sweetness that comes from the cabbage that’s boiled over time in the curry softens the deep curry flavours to bring about a mouth-watering balance to the whole dish.

The rice cake that is immersed in the watery curry soup manages to retain its shape. Yet, as you take a bite out of it, it melts into a comfortable mash in your mouth that mixes well with the flavours of the curry soup.