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There is a game in Malaysia called ‘Tarik Upih’. Can you guess how to play this game?
Tarik Upih Game
‘Upih’ here is the opeh leaf which we are using for our hokkien mee and hor fun but it is also used by Malaysians(in kampongs) to play a simple game where a team which consists of a person seating on the leaf-sheath and another person pulling the leaf, races with others to the finishing line. Anyway, it just amazes me what people can do in the past with things they found in the nature.
Ok if you’re wondering, that definitely has no connection to why we find food being served on opeh leaf tastes better. Opeh leaf in it’s original form is actually quite hard so it needs to be processed using chemicals to soften it and as well as removing all unwanted foreign particles that have been fused to the leaf-sheath.
Ah Wok(owned by BreadTalk group) is a mini restaurant at Food Opera(ION Orchard) selling cze char food like Fried Bee Hoon, Chilli Crab and many other foods that you can find at a cze char stall. Apparently, they have several ‘DIE DIE MUST TRY‘ signature dishes like Assam Fish head, Chilli Crab, some other ‘home-made’ items and Opeh Leaf Hor Fun.
Ah Wok Opeh Leaf Hor Fun $9
At $9, this can easily be considered to be quite steep with bare minimum ingredients such as 2 pieces of prawn, 2 pieces of sliced fish, some squid pieces and some straw mushrooms. But if you think about having this in a food court, or an air conditioned place for that matter, where a bowl of Laksa can cost you up to $5 already, then $9 is reasonable.
The wok hei flavour is very strong here. As a matter of fact, 6 hours after eating it, I was still burping the wok hei flavour. Clearly the fire was ‘right’ under the wok and it is definitely on par with Fei Lao’s version.
The gravy was not bad though it could be better if it can be that bit wetter. A splash of red wine was added to enhance the flavour but it was visible at the bottom of the hor fun(certain part of the gravy is red color) so it really looked like they poured a bit of the wine on the opeh leaf before letting the hor fun sit on it. It would probably be more interesting if they had added the red wine to the gravy in the wok like how Chinese wines are used normally.
Eating this hor fun gives me the feeling that it is a ‘restaurant hor fun’ in disguise of an opeh leaf version. Well one may argue that since it is served on opeh leaf then it should be classified as an opeh leaf version but somehow the ‘limited’ gravy and the ingredients(no sea cucumber) used just didn’t quite hit the right note for me. I guess the only thing outstanding in this Opeh Leaf Hor Fun is really only the wok hei flavour. A bit of tweaking may produce a very outstanding plate but I guess it didn’t fare too badly too considering paying only $9 in the heart of Orchard Road.
Hor Fun with ‘Wok Hei’
Price: $9 (+60 cents for GST)
Conclusion: Cheap taking into account the location and ambience but ingredients and gravy can do better. On par with Fei Lao for wokheiness but the red wine added didn’t do any wonders. Not enough for 2 mouths but will do okay as a ’side staple’ to a cze char meal. Will buy this again if I’m nearby and need a wok hei fix. Don’t seems to justify travelling time/cost + ERP + parking charges otherwise.
Likes: Wok hei is good. Belacan served. Cheap in an aircon place.
Dislikes: Ingredients were meager. Wetness no enough.
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Using opeh leaf as a serving dish really impart flavour to the opeh leaf. I finally got it! The opeh leaf challenge is really good!