Heading to Ipoh? Don’t miss out on the ‘jin heong mai’ at Fook Kee Fried Noodles in Kampung Simee 

IPOH, Jan 3 — Ipoh is a noodle town, through and through.

Whether it’s chee cheong fun, dry curry mee or the iconic kai si hor fun, the city has always been more renowned for its noodle offerings than rice.

That sentiment also rings true with noodles of the fried variety.

Tuck Kee may grab all the attention with its moonlight fried hor fun, but if you’re willing to venture a little further, Kampung Simee hides a lesser-known gem that’s well worth the detour.

The signs for other stalls still hang in Yu Yee, but Fook Kee is the only stall other than the owner’s Western food stall still remaining. — Picture by Ethan Lau

Kedai Kopi Yu Yee is just a short walk from the Kampung Simee market, where a popular roast pork truck sets up shop around one in the afternoon.

I almost always grab some roast pork to tide us over during the inevitable wait for the main event: Fook Kee’s fried noodles.

This stall, now one of the last standing in Yu Yee, specialises in just a handful of fried noodle dishes, but its signature jin heong mai (RM8.50) keeps regulars coming back.

The wait can stretch to 30 or even 45 minutes, so place your order as soon as you arrive — many locals order first, then wander off to run errands before returning to eat.

Part of the wait is a result of him frying each order individually. — Picture by Ethan Lau

At its core, jin heong mai is a dish of crispy rice noodles drenched in a thick, prawn-stock-infused sauce, made gooey with cornstarch.

Get both elements wrong, and you’re left with a soggy, insipid mess.

Nail one but not the other, and it still falls short — as many versions I’ve tried do, with perfectly crisp noodles but underwhelming sauce. Fook Kee, thankfully, excels at both.

The rice noodles are fried to a crisp before it is cooked with the sauce. — Picture by Ethan Lau

The noodles arrived thoroughly singed, teetering between golden brown and nearly burnt, twisted into a crumpled, jagged heap like a crushed soda can.

Despite being softened by the sauce, the larger pieces hold their shape, balancing crunch and soak.

The sauce itself was dark and starchy, brimming with the intense savouriness of prawn stock — worlds apart from the lighter, milder sauces that plague lesser versions.

The larger pieces can balance crunch and soak. — Picture by Ethan Lau

But what truly set it apart was how it carried the charred, smoky notes of wok hei, transforming them into a flavour-packed slurry that lingered with every bite.

Every minute of the 30-odd minute wait was worth it, even if the half-and-half dip of green chilli and chilli sauce felt unnecessary – the sauce was already rich and robust on its own.

The ‘wat tan hor’ is also pretty decent. — Picture by Ethan Lau

Not up for the wait? The wat tan hor (RM8.50) arrived about 15 minutes earlier and was perfectly decent, but it lacks the wow factor that makes the jin heong mai a true destination dish.

If you’re planning a trip to Ipoh anytime soon, I can’t recommend the detour to Fook Kee enough.

The woman who takes orders couldn’t recall exactly when they started or say how much longer they plan to keep going – all the more reason to make your visit sooner rather than later.

The bright green sign at Kedai Kopi Yu Yee. — Picture by Ethan Lau

Fook Kee Fried Noodle 福记炒粉 at Kedai Kopi Yu Yee

Lebuh Raya 3, Kampung Simee, Ipoh, Perak

Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am-4pm

Tel: 016-546 1671

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

** Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.

*** Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and mildly self-deprecating attempts at humour.