Penang Wantan Mee: My Recommendation Part 1

Follow up with the earlier post about the making of egg noodles for the all famous Wantan Mee (click here for the post). This time, let see how various hawker put them in use. Introducing here are 8 different stalls of Wantan mee across Penang Island. Lets see what makes some really good business and vice versa. 

If you can remember from the earlier post, we discussed about how ingredients can make a whole different of texture, colour and taste of mee (noodle) itself. As it is carries more than, well i'd say 70% of the entire ingredients, so the quality of the noodle will be one of the key factors to decide if the Wantan Mee is a good one or bad. 2 more general factors are the "other ingredients" like "the Wantan itself, the CharSiew (Barbecue Pork), some greens and also the gravy/soup. 

So lets see what i actually look for for my perfect bowl of Wantan Mee. Im a Cantonese, so under the influence of Hong Kong Wonton Noodle, my ideal type of Wantan Mee must has springy noodle but not to the extend like chewing rubber. An open secret for making springy noodle is simply knead it with attention and love. Kneading (squashing, stretching, pulling, reshaping) develops the gluten within the flour mixture and because each match of raw flour comes in different quality, so by hand and love, it will always be a consistent quality because of timing adjustment. Adding Borax (硼砂) into the dough can actually increase the springiness but again, we should be talking about all natural ingredients. Moreover, it has been identified this chemical, is harmful to our health, so why risk?

By the name, another very important ingredient is the Wantan (Chine Dumpling). Many often confuse the Wantan vs. Sui Jiao. In general, Wantan is in ball shape while the Sui Jiao is in half round shape. I believe Wantan is originated from Hong Kong style of Wonton Noodle while the Sui Jiao is from mainland China. Supposedly Wantan is be filled with ONLY fresh prawn while Sui Jiao is mainly minced pork. But due to pricing issue, i cant find (so far) any Wantan in Penang is using the original recipe but mostly using pork (lower cost). See how the good old original recipe is diminishing?   :( While because Sui Jiao always served as side, so it sometimes consist of prawn in the minced pork (charge higher price). 

Other common ingredients like Char Siew (BBQ Pork), boiled Choy Sam and pickled green chilli can also be found in typical Penang style Wantan Mee. Not only the filling of the wantan is no longer original but also in most of the cases, the Char Siew is seen as the main topping. To make it a beautiful word, i call it localisation. Some other examples include, but not limit to: Fried Wantan, sambal (blended chilli with other aromatic veg like garlic, onnion ..etc). As for this part, i have no specific requirement as long as Char Siew is good and the Choy Sam is cooked. Note: I think it is interesting to create another topic about Recipe: Originality vs. Localisation/Reinvented. 

As on the gravy side, very often in Penang, you will see Wantan Mee covered in thick black sauce that mixed from dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and other seasonings. I think it is the hokkean style (correct me if im wrong). The cantonese style is using the broth from shitake mushroom and it is often found watery and lighter in colour. I prefer the clearer gravy because the thick one will cover the flavour of the noodle, most of the time, cover the stench of nasty chemicals like: lye (for yellowish colour) and borax (for springiness of noodle) too. A clear gravy on the other hand, if formulated correctly, will binds all flavours of all ingredients, making every type to compliment each other. A key point to any cooking to make a good tasty dish. 

There are other factors too will affect the experience like bowl or plate, ceramic, paper or plastic. Let's dont talk further but to see the 3 Wantan Mee in Penang I recommend for this round:

(1) 高佬 (鸿记) 云吞面 in Yi Garden, Lorong Selamat.
Served in bowl and the wantans are hiding underneath the noodle:
a traditional Cantonese way of presentation. 

(2) 佳记巧手云吞面 in Kheng Pin Cafe, Jalan Penang. The shitake
mushroom broth taste really good and with the varieties of
toppings, I can finish it in no time. 

Name Unknown. Located in 铭园咖啡馆 within Sunway Tunas in Bayan
Lepas. Served in bowl (my fav), this Wantan Mee is packed with sesame
oil aroma and the proportion of each ingredients are just nice. 

Located within 77 Food Yard in Pulau Tikus, this Wantan Mee is
packed with Char Siew. 

Wantan Mee in Kuta Bali Farlim. A decent Wantan Mee

Another decent Wantan Mee in Goodal Cafe, Tg Tokong. 

In Kafe Sri Nibong, Bayan Lepas. Can you see the soft and flabby noodle?

In Sin Kim San Cafe, another bad example of Wantan Mee

That's it for this round. I think im gonna stop eating Wantan Mee for a while :P   Let me know what you want me to recommend and i will try to make it happen. Good night.