Yes, even my memories are about food. Tonight I had a simple noodle soup that brought back a childhood memory.
Big part of my younger childhood was spent in my grandfather's shoplot. He had a shop in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman that sold woven rattan goods (from bags to chairs) and big vases and lamps and lampshades. The upper floors of the shop were living quarters, basically a home. I was there a lot in my young ciku days. And when I started schooling, I was there on weekends and during the school holidays.
Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman was one of the main shopping areas of Kuala Lumpur back in the days, way before all the big huge supermarkets and malls were even introduced. I grew up in a vibrant and lively neighbourhood there.
Our neighbours were shop owners and workers from all the businesses in the area, the transvestites and drag queens (back then the word Pondan were used, and none of them took any offense, people were very much less sensitive back then) who ply their trade in their glam and elaborate attires when night falls. These workers of the night's main clientele were the western foreigners working here (or expats as they are now more popularly known), western tourists, and many also came from the ships that were docked at Port Klang. They would have a jolly good time having their happy hour and dinner at the very famous Coliseum Bar and Cafe situated a few doors away, and then continue with their extended entertainment of the night with the transvestites until the wee hours of the morning. Some would even use the alleyway right next to my grandfather's shop.
These entertainers of the night were my friends and babysitters in the day. Out of their elaborate get up and make up, they were ordinary guys who's only outstanding feature is their long hair. Even in my young young age, I could sense their loyalty to each other, their respect for others, and their pride in being part of society and our neighbourhood. And we welcomed them, they were our friends and neighbours. When I grew up, and understood more about life, I realised that with their lifestyle, many of them were drug addicts, and I remember that one of them had died from a drug overdose in the alleyway right next to our shop. I didn't understand back then why there were police around the area, and why my mother didn't let me out of the shop that day. A body lying there, covered with newspaper. A sad and heartbreaking end of someone's life.
I also remember the multi racial and multi cultural community we had. A little further down the road was a cinema, also named Coliseum that showed mainly Indian movies. And the nasi campur stall up the road that sold the best ever beef I've ever tasted, even until today. The Globe Silk Store across the road that sold clothes, and lots and lots of fabric and cloth, and my first ever roti canai further down the road, made extra crispy, just for me. The A&W few doors away with the A&W bear mascot who visits on special occasions. The Hakka men who were cooks at the Hotel/restaurant just across the alleyway from us. They made the best ever pork chops and chips. The Punjabi family who owned and ran the GS Gill sports shop to the rough spoken but kind hearted Chinese man who's bicycle shop where I got my first ever bicycle. Up and down this busy streeet, all these were my peeps back then.
Sometimes when all my uncles and aunts and some close family friends were all gathered at my grandfather's shop, we would make this soupy dish called Min Fun Kueh, or Mee Hoon Kueh, or better known nowadays as Pan Mee. It's a very basic dish, made of a simple broth flavoured with Asian dried anchovies, and garlic and Choy Sum (a leafy green asian vegetable or mustard green). Accompanied with the must-have Sambal Belacan (red chillies and fermented prawn paste piece pounded on a pestle and mortar, seasoned with a pinch of sugar and mixed with calamasi lime juice). The dough consists of egg, wheat flour, salt and water, and hand kneaded until it's springy and boingy. It is then hand torn bit by bit and flatten, and added to the boiling stock made earlier. Served hot with the Sambal Belacan, Min Fun Kueh is a comfort food indeed.
Tonight I replicated the dish, but instead of the doughy hand kneaded and torn pieces, I used Meesua which I recently bought from a seller on FaceBook. I used the same stock, flavoured with garlic and ginger and dried Asian anchovies, a chilly paste - also bought from a seller on FaceBook- to which I added some toasted Belacan and sugar and lemon juice (I didn't have any lime at home).
A taste of my childhood. Comfort food at it's best, 21st century style.
