Article Preview
Title: My Secret Recipe
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:35pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/7.1, ISO Equiv.: 100
The workers were removing crates of fresh prawns from the boot of the car.
Title: The BOSS
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:38pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/4.5, ISO Equiv.: 200
A courteous and simple man.
Title: Fresh from the Sea
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:40pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/4.5, ISO Equiv.: 200
A polystyrene full of prawns.
Title: Prawns Galore!!!
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:39pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/3.5, ISO Equiv.: 200
The workers were processing hundreds of prawns per day. Business must be GOOD!!
Title: My Precious Udang Galah
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:40pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/4.0, ISO Equiv.: 200
He insisted me to take a photo of him with these king prawns or udang galahs. These extra large sized prawns are available upon request from customers.
Title: This is How We Do It
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:41pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/3.5, ISO Equiv.: 200
It was a great experience photographing the workers. Those were natural and spontaneous smiles. LOVE IT!
Title: Make the place CLEAN & PRESENTABLE :)
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:38pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.0, ISO Equiv.: 200
The boss asked his workers to make the kitchen more presentable before allowing me exclusive pics of the kitchen. That aunty with black tudung and yellow shirt is a nice lady.
Title: The PRAWNS!
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:37pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/4.8, ISO Equiv.: 360
Freshly boiled prawns to be added into the noodles.
Title: One More Bowl.....Please :)
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:21pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 180
An ordinary bowl of Mak Jah Mee Udang.
Title: Yummy & Delicious
Location: Mak Jah Mee Udang, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Date: 4 June 2009, 2:20pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 200
Looking at this close-up picture is making me hungry :)
Fellow blogger and traveler (xplorer) recommend me to try Mee Udang Mak Jah in Kuala Sepetang, Taiping.
Along Jalan Kuala Sepetang, you’ll see more than ten stalls selling the town’s famous Mee Udang or Mee Udang Banjir (Translation: Prawn Mee). I wanted to stop my car and try out the dish at any stall. But, the four catchy words “MEE UDANG MAK JAH” were floating in my mind. I saw signages and banners asking motorist to drive for another 2.5km to taste the authentic Mak Jah’s noodles in Kampung Menteri, Kuala Sepetang.
After exploring the charcoal factories, I totally forgot about Mee Udang. Fortunately, I bumped into another big signboard promoting Mee Udang Mak Jah.
The place was sardine packed! Lots of people were enjoying the delightful Mak Jah's prawn mee. It is a small open restaurant on the roadside. At first, I was a bit uneasy entering the stall because I was the one and only Chinese guy. I approached the front counter to order my food. There was this middle-aged guy having his lunch next to the kitchen. He asked me “Dik, nak makan apa?” So, I answered “A bowl of Mee Udang MAK JAH and a can of Coca-Cola.” But, no soft drinks. So, I ordered air sirap instead. Later, I found out he is one of the bosses.
An ordinary mee udang is RM7 per plate. It has generous serving of large-sized prawns with yellow coloured mee. Before sampling the food, I took out my Nikon D60 DSLR camera and snapped some photos for my blog posting. The boss stopped me from taking more pictures and said “Dik, kalau nak ambil gambar, biar tangkap yang special” He asked his cook to dish out the special Mee Udang Galah (Translation: King Prawn Mee) with Jumbo sized prawns. Whoa! The prawns were HUGE!
Here is my review on Mee Udang Mak Jah. The gravy was soupy, sweet and tasty. The prawns were fresh, meaty and delicious. But, the portion of mee is too little. Honestly, I was hungrier after eating that bowl of mee. After finishing my meal, the boss asked “Apa macam?” (Translation: How does it taste?”) I answered “BAGUS!!!” (Translation: “GREAT!!”) He shouted back loudly to the kitchen cook and said “Kak, dia kata kuah BEST!!!!”. OMG!!….the customers were looking at us and smiled sheepishly.
After that, I asked permission to take some photos in the kitchen. The boss nodded and said “Tunggu dulu. Bagi bersih sikit”. The workers mopped the kitchen floor immediately. A worker asked me to follow him to his car. I obliged. He opened the boot of his car to take out several crates of freshwater prawns he ordered from a supplier. I tailed him to the kitchen. He opened those two polystyrene boxes revealing hundreds of medium to large-sized prawns.
Beside mee udang, customers can order Kuey Teow Mee Udang, Udang Goreng Tepung, Nasi Goreng and Udang Sambal. Overall, I greatly appreciate the warm hospitality from them. They were a bunch of jolly workers. I would recommend Mee Udang Mak Jah for those traveling to Taiping. @xplorer, thank you again!
Remember to follow Part 4 for Taiping Lake Garden & Taiping Zoo.
More info?
Mee Udang Mak Jah – Getting There & Contact Details:
This roadside stall is located about 500m away from Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve.
Mee Udang Mak Jah,
Kampung Menteri, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping,
Perak, Malaysia.
E-mail: sabri.sidan@yahoo.com
Johan Sidan: 019-460 0649/017-533 5056
Sabri Sidan: 012-293 1101
Idris Sidan: 017-469 5026
Ahh!! finally , the beloved mee udang.I'm glad that you enjoy yourself and being treated well by them.I will definitely revisit that stall in the near future
omg
u still in taiping or . . . ?
haha.
Damn, I am so hungry now.
Mee udang, satu!
wow.... i love prawns!!! why didnt you bring me there??? >.< sure you finished all the udang??
@xplorer,
Honestly, I'm such a wuss :) My tongue-tied when I try to start a conversation with a stranger. But, odd enough....once I feel comfortable with that person I'll chat non-stop.
I think the workers at Mak Jah's all mostly family members. Nice people! I think they just renovated the place. A comfy place to enjoy your lunch.
@kok leong,
Back to busy KL. WOW....you are living in Taiping right??? Should have consulted you :)
@1ondoncalling,
Hi! Thank you for coming back.
No problem boss!! I'll courier one special mee udang with jumno prawns to London ASAP.
By the way,is there anyway for me to address you properly... perhaps a nickname?? The 1ondoncalling sounds weird to me :) How do you end up with this username? I like to know :)
@fufu,
Sorry fufu. I really want to travel with you. But.....sigh I don't know whether I'll be able to live up to your travel expectations. I always look at fufu as a person who travel a lot.
But, I guess we will meet up some day........
YES!!!! I used my fingers to crack opened the shell. YUMMY!
Best Wishes to all!
mylo