A quacking bowl of duck thigh noodles
FOOD TRAIL
By SAM CHEONG
A stall in Puchong wins hands down for the best Ngap Thui Meen
NGAP THUI MEEN or duck thigh noodles is a dish that you won’t find everywhere especially in the Klang Valley.
This noodle dish is made famous by the Pun Chun restaurant in Bidor, Perak. Now, I must say that I am a huge fan of the ngap thui meen and my quest for a perfect bowl had taken me to many places around the country.
The best: The duck thigh noodles stall at Ramai coffee shop in Puchong. Well, many folks I come across hated duck. Why? It is an acquired taste. Some say it’s gamey while others simply do not know how to appreciate duck.
So, if you are still reading, that means you are interested. All right - for starters, this particular noodles comes in two variants. You can either have the kwon-lou (dry) or chee suay (soup).
In the soupy version, you will find a piece of double-boiled roasted duck thigh (at this point, the meat is tender and less gamey in taste) with Chinese herbs.
The soup base with its meat is double boiled for at least six hours before it is mixed with egg noodles. So, you are actually tasting the essence of the duck.
But don’t be confused with the use of herbs because as far as I know, there is little medicinal value in this soupy noodle dish. What I like, is the clear and smooth taste of the herbal soup and since the duck thigh is so tender, even toothless senior citizens can enjoy it.
Tasty duck: Pun Chun coffee shop’s ngap thui meen. And just when I thought the Bidor duck thigh noodles are second to none, one contender from Puchong stands out.
My perception changed when I tasted what Puchong had to offer. This, in my humble opinion, is one of the best ngap thui meen around.
Best of all, the stall is located in a corner coffee shop called Ramai food centre near Tesco, which is about a 10-minute drive away from where I live.
I discovered the coffee shop by chance when I took my wife to a clinic there. The moment I saw the stall, my immediate reaction was to order a bowl.
And in no time, the lady owner of this stall came with a steaming hot bowl of ngap thui meen. Compared to the Bidor version, the soup base of my noodles was crystal clear.
Even the noodles were different. Instead of giving preserved green chillies as a dip for the noodles, this stall offered sliced chilli api.
Now, that gave it the required ‘ooomph!’ that got me sweating buckets.
Although the portion seemed small, the tasty and tender duck meat and excellent herbal broth made up for it.
I was also surprised to find out that both coffee shops charged the same amount. A bowl of ngap thui meen costs RM6.30. But if you want to compare the taste, then you will have to take a drive up north to find out whether Pun Chun can live up to your expectations or not.
The Ramai coffee shop in Puchong caters mainly to the local crowd while Pun Chun, once a thriving eatery from the old KL - Ipoh trunk road era is now experiencing a revival. Many tourists from out of town frequent this coffee shop in the heart of Bidor that also caters to wedding functions.
The Puchong coffee shop caters more to people working in the area and if you are around the Tesco hypermart, you might want to give this place a try.
Speaking of Pun Chun, a colleague of mine told me that the restaurant has a branch in Kota Kemuning near Klang.
You can find out more by accessing its blog at: www.punchun.blogspot.com. The Lat, Long coordinates for Pun Chun in Bidor, Perak, is Lat 04 06 693, Long 101 17 255 and the coordinates for Ramai coffee shop is Lat 03 01 995, Long 101 36 897.
Please note that the GPS coordinates works only with handheld and in-vehicle units. Google mapping software is not compatible with the position given, so, good luck and happy eating!
