Famous steamed chicken rice Ipoh hor fun house of noodle

Yes, this is the full name of the stall that sells Ipoh hor fun. To be honest, this is not my most preferred choice of Ipoh hor fun place, but I will tell you why I still blog this. I grew up in Holland Village, which was at least 30 over years ago. Back then, Holland Village may not be a village per se, but it’s definitely far from the current bustling eating (and pub) spot you see today. One thing that doesn’t change is that it is a place full of good food. There are a few eating places that still linger in my memory, one of them is the famous Holland Village beehoon (I shall blog this later) and the other is the Ipoh hor fun. Back then, there were two very nice Ipoh hor-fun stalls in the vicinity, one at 44 Holland Drive Food centre (which no longer operates there, but if anybody happens to know their whereabout, please let me know!) and the other being Yee Cheong Yuen at Lor Liput.

Although I love Ipoh Hor fun, my favourite order has always been “滑鸡面”, loosely translated as silky smooth chicken noodle. The closest I would compare the chicken to will be the popularly known Hainanese chicken, except the key difference is the skin. Hainanese chicken skin might be silky smooth but due to the masking of sesame oil. In fact, from a purist’s perspective, you should not find sesame oil on a plate of Hainanese chicken, thus, the skin will never be smoother than the Ipoh chicken. The skin texture of Ipoh chicken (at least the one I have tried) will feel it is waxed with a layer of glossy varnish over the meat. I love Yee Cheong Yuan’s chicken noodle for that reason and I would probably rate it to be one of the best, if not the best.

But definitely not now. The texture and quality of the noodle used are no longer the same, and is just ordinarily “mee-kia” you would eat elsewhere. The signature gravy was also served cold the last time I patronised it. I searched high and low for a substitute, but have been disappointed until I come across this “Famous steamed chicken rice Ipoh hor fun house of noodle” stall. (wow, too mouthfull to call the stall out!)

To set the expectation right, the noodle texture itself isn’t anywhere near what I ate 30 years ago. It feels like one of those mass factory made noodle. But other than that, the dish is served almost like what I had during my childhood days, chicken is silky smooth, gravy is thick and savoury (although I find it a tad too starchy), and the sambal chilli sauce enhances the fragrance as far as my memory recollects. Best of all, it’s much cheaper than the one at Yee Cheong Yuen. Incidentally, I just find out that Yee Cheong Yuen is now part of the Palm Beach Group, and that might well explains the downhill of the noodle quality 😦

On a lighter note, I thought the stall owner looks familiar. If my guess is correct, she probably had worked in Yee Cheong Yuen before (or maybe she’s the relative of the latter’s owner). So if you know the owner’s background, do share here!