Stall underneath flyover proves scrumptious food can be found in obscure places.
Warung Apek corner in Kampung Sungai Penchala, Kuala Lumpur.
The thing that got me really curious was the stall’s moniker and a banner stating sup tulang kawah as one of the main dishes offered there.
Later, I learned from the stall owner Pak Kamarudin who is also known as Apek (“old man” in Chinese), that some 30kg of beef is prepared daily to satisfy the craving of foodies for sup tulang and beehoon sup Utara.
Pak Kamarudin preparing his orders at the stall.
“Saya dah berniaga kat sini lebih kurang 13 tahun, dan bisnes saya ni khusus dalam menghidang sup tulang,” (I’ve been in business for 13 years and specialise in preparing beef broth),” he explained.
The recipe, added Pak Kamarudin, came from his wife, who is from Kedah.
She told me that Kamarudin was born in Kampung Sungai Penchala and that Apek is his nickname.
“Everyone calls him Apek since he was young because they think he looks like a Chinese,” said his wife.
A bowl of mee or beehun sup Utara costs RM4, while the spesial mee sup is priced at RM11.
The “special” came with a generous serving of noodles, bones and beef.
“Alamak, saya charge RM11 pun orang complain, kata mahal!,” (People complain that my noodles are expensive),” said Kamarudin.
Sensing something good would come out of this, I ordered the meehoon-mee sup spesial (top pic) and waited patiently for Apek to prepare my meal.
When the noodles were served, I was really surprised by the generous portion and T-Rex-sized bones in the bowl.
Generous portions: One can expect a good fill with Apek’s mee-meehoon sup Utara.
Taste-wise, the beef broth was full of flavour and the meat that comes with it was soft and tender. If you love to savour sup tulang, slowly nibbling through the tendon and cartilage can be tedious. So, I took the easy way out by scraping off the bits with a spoon.
