Salted Duck Yolk Char Kwey Teow @ Jalan Sayur, Pudu
When it comes to street food, Wai Sek Kai or Hawker Eat Street on Jalan Sayur, off Jalan Pudu, is a bit of a legend.
Hawkers have been working this street for the past 50 years or so, and many of them are now second, and even third generation owners. Affectionately known as Wai Sek Kai, this fluorescent lamp lit street comes alive after 7pm. We have been having a bout of heavy rain in the evenings this past month and so, the particular hawker stall that we always frequent has not been open regularly. It took us a couple of visits before we could pay our favourite restaurant on the strip a visit.
And this dish happens to be, the best find on this street and it is called the Salted Duck Egg Yolk, Char Kwey Teow (DuCKT)!
The shop may not look like much, but it has been around for ages and the DuCKT is truly special. The spin on the Char Kwey teow is the result of marrying salted duck egg yolk with the flat rice noodles. It is added last in the frying process and adds a gritty texture and characteristic aroma to the noodles. It has tons of wok hei (smoky wok fried aroma) as well, and contrary to what the name implies, the duck yolk is not salty at all.
Salted duck yolk is far tastier than chicken yolk of course - it has a higher cholesterol content but that only makes it richer and has an overall nicer texture. The salted duck yolk is fried up separately and added last to the wok. The dish is a decadent explosion of spicy, prawny and eggy flavours. Also the bloody cockles add a slick and unctuous dimension to the dish. The DuCKT has got to be richer and more flavourful than your average Char Kwey Teow. We keep coming back for this dish but be sure you work out extra hard in the coming days because the cholesterol in this dish is just phenomenal!
Another hot favourite here is the fried sotong (cuttlefish) rojak stall. The rojak has bite-sized chunks of cooling cucumber, crunchy kangkung, strips of tart green mangoes, and wedges of crispy wafers. Also tender cuttle fish and rolled BBQed cuttle fish are added for extra bite and texture. The choice ingredients are then tossed in a thick gooey sweet and savoury hae ko or shrimp paste base sauce, and finished with generous sprinkles of nutty ground peanuts and fragrant toasted sesame seeds to enhance the taste and texture.
This street even has a halal choice of cuisine - something for everybody. Sup tulang (oxtail soup) and tasty gristle that goes so well with a hot bowl of steaming rice, especially during this rainy season - now that's a real treat!
Add:
Wai Sek Kai or
Hawker Eat Street
Jalan Sayur,
off Jalan Pudu
(opposite Sek Yuen Restaurant on Jalan Pudu)
The authors of this post are C&C and they also write for their website CCFoodTravel.com
