The Oil Town’s Hot Stuff: Soi Heng Sambal Fried Kway Teow

Today, Eric, the owner of Mr Baker’s Bakeshop, came to town while making several deliveries in the Belait District. One such delivery, an earlier drop off was their signature fresh fruit vanilla cake to Gavin in Lumut before  our meet up at legendary Soi Heng coffee shop. Naturally as host, I recommended their famous sambal fried kway teow, took a photo of on the Samsung Galaxy S III, applied tiny amount of editing using Samsung’s own photo editor before posting it on Twitter. The rest of the morning is, as they say, history.

Click on image to view original tweet.

THE YUMMIEST FRIED KWAY TEOW AT NAM WAH RESTAURANT

Saturday mornings are sacred. I try not to schedule or accept assignments on weekends so I get to spend the morning dropping off Jamie and Jewel at school before our weekly shopping at the Seria tamu fresh market. On rare occasions when work beckons rather unavoidably, I get pretty upset about missing the one day of the week I get to do things together with my wife not forgetting to mention also, missing my weekly workout with my badminton buddies.

Done tamu shopping much earlier than usual after dropping @jewelshim and @shimjamie at the Chung Ching Middle School Sports Day. #fb—
JAN SHIM (@janshim) May 13, 2011

There are basically only 3 places where we have our breakfast on Saturdays: Nam Wah, Soi Heng for their Sambal Fried Kway Teow or the old wet market where I have heavenly Teochew fried noodles. On Sundays, breakfast with the kids include Universal Cafe (also in Seria) for their one-of-a-kind signature Cheezy French Toast.

Kopi "kao" and the yummiest 'died-and-gone-to-heaven' wet fried Kway Teow ever at Nam Wah Restaurant, Seria. #brunei #fb—
JAN SHIM (@janshim) May 13, 2011

My favourite Nam Wah's Fried Kway Teow with Beef and the right amount of sauce.

It was a theme morning for us as she ordered the equally tempting Kolo Kway Teow instead.

WOKS OF LIFE

SHIMWORLD.com Weekly Column in THE BRUNEI TIMES

read this story on BT online

Our daily temperatures average no lower than 30 degrees Celsius on a good day and depending on your location, it can get very humid too. For many, the combination of soaring temps and coastal humidity is unthinkable and leave many scrambling for the nearest air conditioned refuge. Yet for many others, such conditions are an unavoidable part and parcel of their chosen profession. Like it or not, these people have some of the hottest jobs around. read more »

The hot wok of Soi Heng Coffee Shop

Chefs at Cheng Wah Restaurant and their fiery woks

One of the owners of "Lee Teck Ming" hawker stall known for their fried kway teow. On a good sunny afternoon you can catch this scene where a strong and very prominent ray of light hits the wok. Then, wait for the precise moment when the reflected light hits his face as seen here.

The popular "Two Brothers" duo. A personal favourite.

You may not realize just how incredibly hot, humid and cramped these kitchens can be and the best vantage point can often be difficult and inconvenient. Getting close to my subjects means putting the camera at some degree of risks. To accomplish this (as James Wong asked earlier), I had the camera body mounted on a heavy duty ball head which is secured to a monopod. Add a remote shutter release cable to complete the assembly. I imagine this is quite handy for war photographers too although I’ve never actually seen their setup.