PETALING JAYA, JUNE 8 — Whenever I order sang har mee, it feels like a glorious celebration of sorts. There are huge prawns with sweet, firm flesh. Crispy noodles. A sauce rich with prawn taste.
I discovered this six-month old stall recently, thanks to a friend. She was recommended this place by her friend but had yet to visit it.
This coffee shop is not new to me since I've tried the kampung chicken wantan with hor fun noodles and the yam cake before from the char kway teow stall.
This stall run by Tan Cheal Hean is located in between the famous Hokkien mee stall and the kampung chicken wantan noodles.
Tan worked for more than 20 years at a famous restaurant in Petaling Jaya that specialises in sang har mee. Look for the sign above the stall that features two prawns.
At this place, which is his own venture, he serves sang har mee and various fried noodles like wat tan hor, glass noodles and more.
Since they open from noon onwards, he does offer Hokkien mee and Cantonese fried noodles until 4pm. The timing is probably to avoid a clash with the neighbouring stall that fries up the same dishes from 4pm onwards.
Aside from the sang har mee, he also offers the fresh water prawns with various noodles like Hokkien noodles, kway teow, yin yong and loh mee. If you prefer soup with the freshwater prawns, they also do one with beehoon and another one with rice.
The huge freshwater prawns are sourced from Indonesia. You are charged according to weight for the prawns. As it's usually market price, currently Tan is charging RM160 per kilogram. In comparison, you may have to fork out around RM290 per kilogram at the moment, if you dine at a restaurant.
Expect to fork out around RM80 to RM110 per prawn, as it depends on the size of the prawn. For my two prawns, I paid RM165.
I decided to do a takeaway since I wanted the whole family to try it out. For the takeaway, they give you everything packed separately. Just go home and assemble.
If you bring your own containers, they can also pack them for you but note, they may cut the prawns to fit the size of the container though, which is what happened to my friend's takeaway.
If you observe closely, you will spot the crispy deep fried noodles inside a container. This is made from deep frying wantan mee until the strands are super crunchy and crispy.
When you order your meal, they will crush it into smaller pieces. If you prefer your noodles to remain crisp throughout the meal, just add the sauce as and when.
As the sauce will cool, you can keep the sauce in a pot to keep it warm. Some prefer to just soak the sauce with the noodles until it is infused with the prawn taste. So just follow what your preference is for these noodles.
I also liked how they extract the flesh from the prawn's long legs and put it in the sauce. Not many restaurants take the time to do this.
And if you love watching how the noodles are fried, you can also observe the cooking process since they cook at the stall. It's fascinating to watch from a distance, all the preparation and the kung fu behind the hot wok.
The whole family enjoyed the noodles tremendously with its crispy textures, that firm, sweet flesh from the huge prawns and the rich tasting prawn sauce.
As I didn't know how to warm up the sauce, my dish did appear a little gloopy as it cooled down. Next time I'll keep the sauce heated up to enjoy it better. I reckon it would also taste better eaten fresh from the hot wok at the coffee shop.
Currently the stall is manned by Tan and just one helper so patience is needed during peak hours. I did my takeaway around 4pm so I didn't need to wait long.
Sang Har Mee Stall, Good View Kopitiam, No. 1091, Jalan 17/27, Section 17, Petaling Jaya. Tel:+6012-5513839. Open: 12pm to 9pm. Closed every second Monday of the month.
