Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia - September 2014
When young, I used to follow my dad during his business trips to Sabak Bernam. It was here that I was introduced to what was then called Ansoon Chee Chee Fun (CCF for short - steamed rice rolls). Sabak Bernam is fairly close to Teluk Anson, which was what Teluk Intan was called back then. Hence the name, but tell the younger ones about Ansoon CCF, and they will just go "Huh?". To them is called Teluk Intan CCF.
Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun is a oddity. This steamed rice noodles lacks the firmness of Penang's but is not as starchily soft as Taiping's. In short, imagine a softer texture Hong Kong CCF with the filling not at one side but cooked and rolled in together with the noodles.
Since then, I have had a craving for this CCF, hunting around for it in the Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya areas. There have been pretty decent ones, ones which I thought tasted good - that is until on a cycling trip to Teluk Intan when I was shown the king of kings of CCF.
This king of CCF is Liew Kee which operates from a single storey house from the old quarters of the town. The good thing about Liew Kee's is that they make their CCF fresh! The not so good thing is that they operate in the evenings only. So if you are in Teluk Intan during the day time you will most likely miss the freshly made ones. In the morning, it is still possible to get from vendors at the food court in town sells packets from which they have got from Liew Kee.
From the serving counter window, a peep shows the lady operator swirling rice batter on a flat tray to spread it out thinly before it is steamed. The ingredients are sprinkle on at this stage too.
This lady is helped by her husband and a couple of foreign workers. I did not see her children helping, so I am not sure whether her trade will be passed on to the next generation.
Most will come here to take-away, some ordering up to tens of packets. The queue is not long as service is fast but patrons can bee seen consistently coming, so the place is always busy. For those who are cannot wait to reach home to eat, there is ONE table with a couple of chairs. Open up a couple of packets and eat them there and then, that's the best - now worries about having to eat with your hands as take away packets comes with chop sticks.
The CCF may not look appetizing, instead they look like a gooey mess. But do not let this starchy lump fool you!
Liew Kee's ingredients includes short slices of turnips, chopped up salted radish, deep-fried shallots, finely chopped deep-fried dried prawns; topped with a sprinkling of spring onions. The CCF is served with slices of pickled green green chilli.
The kicker is the dried prawns, it has been just nicely fried, almost burnt so that it exudes out a good aroma and taste.
LIEW KEE (AH LEK) TELUK INTAN CHEE CHEONG FUN
725 Jalan Hill, Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 605-621 6884, 6012-508 8812
GPS: 4.02879,101.014
Hours: 5:30 pm to 2:00 am (Closed on Sundays & Mondays)
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