SEMENYIH, March 28 — The clear soup is dotted with tiny droplets of spicy chilli oil. On one side, a huge mound of freshly chopped cilantro. There is a leaf or two of siu bak choy, for extra fibre.
But the real stars of the show are the noodles and the beef. Here, at Yew Yik Noodle House in Semenyih, the default order is a bowl of their authentic hand-pulled beef noodles.
The shop itself, clean and uncluttered inside, is one of the most striking on Jalan Besar in Semenyih town, thanks to its bold red signage. You can’t miss it.
While waiting for your noodles, enjoy some refreshments to quench your thirst. Maybe it’s a glass of iced liong cha (herbal tea) to cool you off after a long, hot drive. Or to feed your soul, a bowl of old cucumber soup, steamed for hours.
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The shop is one of the most striking on Jalan Besar in Semenyih town, thanks to its bold red signage.
The former is not overly sweet; the latter a little heavy on the salt. But no matter, it’s the beef noodles that we are here for.
When my order finally arrives, I’m presented with a bowl of piping hot soup where tender pieces of beef and ribbons of noodles can be seen jostling for space. Suffice to say, this is a huge portion. Come with a big appetite.
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Noodles are just noodles, you say. Yet I always find homemade noodles to be chewier and more “QQ” due to the extra effort of pulling them by hand, when compared to the conventional machine made variety.
Perhaps it’s the pounding and stretching, unique to the noodle master. The flip, twist, pull and repeat motions encourages the gluten to relax and the dough to extend further.
While waiting for your noodles, enjoy some old cucumber soup (left) or ‘liong cha’ (right).
The homemade noodles are chewier and more ‘QQ’ due to pulling them by hand.
The aforementioned “QQ” texture (something my Taiwanese friends look for in every bowl of their famous beef noodles) is present here in each strand, in every bite and slurp.
But you can’t have beef noodles without the beef, of course. Yew Yik Noodle House doesn’t stinge on the meat; there is beefy goodness in every spoonful. Every slice of beef is succulent and not overcooked.
Yew Yik Noodle House also has a dry version of their beef noodles; this is served with a side dish of spicy peanut sauce. (Something to try on my next visit.)
On the matter of spiciness: though the default chilli oil can be quite spicy for some customers (blame the fiery chilli flakes!), you can always inform the server when you order to adjust to your preferred level of heat.
Beefy goodness in every spoonful.
Chatting with the owner, I discovered that some days their popular beef noodles sell out by noon time, just as when one would imagine most of the lunch crowd comes rushing in!
Fortunately, another favourite of customers is the comforting tomato and egg noodle soup, which is lighter and non-spicy. Still, it is better to come early and enjoy their signature hand-pulled beef noodles, I reckon.
I am not the only happy diner in the house. Regular patrons include local residents as well as university students from a nearby campus. Some have been visiting for years, evidently, as they show off newborn babies or announce wedding dates to the owners.
Yes, I guess I have been eavesdropping, albeit inadvertently. This is par for the course in a small, sleepy town where the atmosphere is generally so calm and peaceful that even the gentlest gossip sounds like the blare of a foghorn.
It is a heartwarming realisation, this convivial environment born of the simple and good life. As warming as a bowl of hand-pulled beef noodles, truly.
Regular diners include local residents as well as university students from a nearby campus.
Yew Yik Noodle House 有益小麵馆
6, Jalan Besar, Pekan Semenyih, Selangor
Open daily (except Mon closed) 9am-2:30pm
Phone: 016-2817357
*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
*Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
