Restoran Ah Ming Cuisine

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Restoran Ah Ming Cuisine (阿铭风味) is a new eatery in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. Situated off Jalan Genting Klang, the restaurant specializes in Hakka cuisine (客家菜). The dishes here are based on the owners’ home recipes.

Hor Poh Lui Cha (河婆擂茶, RM8.50) is an iconic dish in Hakka cuisine, especially among ethnic Hor Poh (河婆) people. In this dish, cooked rice is topped with chopped vegetables such as gai lan (芥兰), sweet leaves (树仔菜), preserved radish (菜脯), leek, yardlong beans and peanuts.

The accompanying soup is prepared from ground green tea, basil leaves (九层塔), mint leaves, peanuts, sesame seeds and more. The soup is thick and very rich in herbal flavors. This dish is very time-consuming to prepare, which is why it is seldom served in many Hakka restaurants.

As for noodle dishes, Hakka Minced Pork Dry Noodle (客家肉碎面, RM6.80 for small portion) is a popular choice. Hakka noodle is flat but not as wide as hor fun (河粉). Its springy texture makes it quite delectable. The minced pork contains a dash of Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒) for added aroma.

Hakka Spicy Minced Pork Dry Noodle (客家干辣肉碎面, RM7.80 for large portion) is the spicy version of the previous dish. It contains homemade chili sauce, which is blended from handpicked chili peppers. Like before, this dish is served with choy sum (菜心), spring onions and fried shallots.

Vinegar Trotter (猪脚醋, RM16.00) is a savory stew of pig’s trotters and ginger in sweet rice vinegar. Trotters are cooked for several hours until they become extremely soft. Young ginger is used because it is not too pungent. Vinegar Trotter is a traditional remedy for women who are undergoing postnatal recovery.

As for side dishes, we ordered Braised Egg (卤蛋, RM1.50) and Braised Beancurd (卤豆腐, RM1.50). Both are served with soy sauce and are reasonably tasty.

Compared to other regional Chinese cuisines, Hakka dishes are notoriously tedious to prepare. This explains why Hakka restaurants are often quite expensive. Therefore, I am surprised that the food prices here are rather reasonable.

The restaurant also serves other classic Hakka delicacies like Rice Wine Chicken (黄酒鸡) and Hakka Style Deep Fried Pork (客家炸肉). No doubt, we will order them during our next visit.