Puchong Yong Tau Foo at Batu 14

One of the tastiest Yong Tau Foo‘s in Kuala Lumpur, can be found under a shack, here in Puchong. I kid you not! It’s so addictive, it makes a person like me, drive for 1 hour, all the way from Petaling Jaya, just to sweat and eat beneath its zinc roof, out in the middle of this cowboy foreign land.

Introducing one of the healthier options in the hawker food arena because it features fresh vegetables and tofu.

Here on Jalan Puchong Batu 14, opposite of a Chinese school named Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Han Min, the Yong Tau Foo (YTF) is famous. Priced at RM1.10 per piece, this place is slightly more pricey than our favourite YTF place in Pudu but I think from the size and the quality of the YTF, it is justified. The amazing thing about restaurant is that they stuff the YTF fresh, just seconds before it is cooked and sent to the table. Here you see one of the ladies, prepping and stuffing someone’s order. There are many like her, droning on, and working at the speed of light, to accommodate the huge lunch orders coming their way. They work with expert hands and the YTF is prepared in no time at all.

Yong Tau Foo’s exact translation is stuffed beancurd, although you will see other items part from the beancurd, stuffed with fish paste or minced meat paste (Hakka-style). Pick the items you like including choice of noodles and have it served either dry-style with generous lashings of sweet sauce and chili, or some stalls offer a curry gravy option. Some folk like it with rice, but me, I just eat it as it is. More room in my stomach for the good stuff.

It’s hard to miss the jostling people elbowing their way in, to get a pick of the varied selection of food items including fish balls, crab sticks, bitter gourds, cuttlefish, lettuce, ladies fingers, as well as chilis, and various forms of fresh produce, seafood and meatballs.

Fan the flames of hunger

The stuffed items are then cooked briefly in boiling broth or fried up, and then served either in the broth as soup or with the broth in a separate bowl. Ah, now we are seconds away form eating .. and all these items are sent to the table and can either be eaten by itself, served with a bowl of steamed rice, or with the Chinese style flat noodles known as the Chee Cheong Fun.

Whatever way you choose to eat it, it will still be delicious

Yong Tau Foo with rice

Yong Tau Foo in soup

This place also served “chee pau kai” i.e. herbal chicken wrapped in wax paper, but we found this dish too sweet for our liking. Give this one a miss if you eat there.

My favourite items here are the brinjal and the fish maw , below.

Simply put, fish maw is the dried gas bladder in larger fish. The Chinese usually do not consume the gas bladder as is. The gas bladders are usually dried out first, or deep fried. Fish maw is believed to be a rich source of collagen. It is especially good for women and pregnant women. What can I tell you.. It has no smell nor taste, just the texture of soft, chewy yet slippery tofu. Don’t roll your eyes.. it’s really good. Try it for yourselves one day when you come visit me in Malaysia. Trust me, it”s the least of the evils!