Day 3 afternoon

Afternoon:

4:30PM. Seng was worried I hadn't received my share of Curry Mee, so this afternoon, we drove to Ayer Itam. Seng knows of a good curry mee stall. The afternoon was hot. From Sungai Ara to Ayer Itam, we pass through the town of Relau and
Farling. Relau requires quite a climb on the road, and we were stuck behind a heavily laden lorry (truck). The car was straining very hard to get up enough power to climb the steep hill. At some point, we had to down shift to the first gear to continue going. Seng was adamant that we do not turn off the air-conditioner to squeeze out
more power for the climb. "My first priority is the air-conditioner. I must keep it going full blast!"

We found a parking spot on the road side. There were a couple of durian stalls along the way. i was going to take a picture of a girl sitting next to a pile of durians, while holding her nose. She is the seller, and she cannot bear the smell of the fruits, but I missed the photo-op. That would have been a funny picture.

The kids on this trip, Theng2 and Loong2, asked Seng what is available at the kopitiam. Seng said there are only two choices: curry mee or char kuay teow, so they both said, neither. By the time we got to the coffee shop, they had changed their minds. Both opt for the char kuay teow. Good choice. I ordered both. My travel friend, Becky, would understand that this is not a sign of gluttony, but I am doing this in the name of research.

The food came in very quick order. I sampled the curry noodles first. This vendor puts in the same liau (accompaniments) as the one in the morning. There is one difference: he used smoked, dried octopus. The octopus has a very nice smoked flavour, and does add to the enjoyment. The broth is a bit more 'santany', or more evident of coconut milk. Coconut milk is a source of high cholesterol, so it is not advisable to have too much. I rated this version slightly behind the one in the morning, but it is good.

Now the char kuay teow. It is very nicely done. It is a plate of stir-fried white flat noodles (Haw-Fun, or river noodles.) The Chinese stir-fry is also about wok-hay (or the aroma coming from the wok.) It is believed that, you must have a steaming hot wok before you start the stir-frying. When the food ingredients is dropped into the wok, a good chef must immediately stir it around, equally to all the surfaces of the wok, to allow the ingredients to be quickly burnt by the high temperature. Imagine a cold pan, into which you put in the ingredients, and you put the pan onto an anemic stove. The food can only slowly come up to temperature. When so doing, it will release any liquid content it may have, and the food will stew in the liquid. The result is a soggy plate of food. The good wok must be hot, and the ingredients must dance in the high heat, getting burnt, and releasing the pleasing aromas that we so craved. This is the 'wok hay', the aroma from the wok.

This plate of char kuay teow has moderately good wok-hay. If you take a look at the attached picture, you will see the shrimp has a couple of burnt marks on it. This shrimp, thus cooked, released a good smell. Other ingredients also contributed they own smells, and whole combination is one that is very pleasing, taste good, and memorable.

The ingredients in this plate of char kuay teow is good too. Shrimp, Chinese sweet sausages, blood clams, eggs, and last, but not least, bean sprouts.
Each morsel is an enjoyment by itself.