UNINESS

Laid out on makeshift tables lining the five-foot walkway of Chai Huat Hin Trading at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee are cartons of dry goods such as garlic, onion, and ginger; tubs of dried marine products such as dried shrimp and anchovies; and a wide array of nuts, beans, and grains. Pre-packed dried fish maw with hues ranging from pale yellow to golden mustard suspend from the retractable awning rail, while bags of dried bean curd skin, shiitake mushrooms, black moss, and other ingredients hang above the entrance. Even though situated far away from the sea, Chai Huat Hin supply the city with marine products.

Practiced since centuries ago, drying has proved to be an effective way to preserve and extend the shelf life of various types of marine products, as well as make them more convenient for storage and transportation. In everyday Chinese cooking, intensely-flavoured and less expensive ingredients such as dried shrimp and anchovies are typically used to lend a rich umami taste to dishes. Exotic dried seafood such as fish maw, sea cucumber, and abalone, can be soaked to rehydrate before being incorporated into a wide range of exquisite dishes carrying auspicious meanings.

As Chinese New Year approaches, the last couple of dried seafood stores standing in Petaling Street are bustling as customers flock in to stock their pantry in preparation for reunion dinner. Chai Huat Hin is exceptionally busy, as customers return repeatedly over decades, even though some of them might have moved to other neighbourhoods or migrated overseas. Many younger family members accompany their elders to learn how to identify and choose the ingredients. Friendly and knowledgeable staff members are on hand to assist, offering suggestions and tips on adding texture, flavour, and nutrition to their dishes.

Chai Huat Hin offers an extensive assortment of products, with wild fungi and game from natural origins and premium dried seafood such as abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, oyster, and scallops. Another staple at Chai Huat Hin is the wide range of dry cured meats, including cured pork belly, Chinese sausages, liver sausages, duck gizzards, and the increasingly rare golden-silver liver sausage, which consists of pork liver stuffed with fatty pork. The store also sells sauces, seasonings, canned foods, dried fruits, and other items, making it a well-established one-stop shop for food ingredients.

The founder, Mr Lim Boon Peng, was originally a delivery driver, constantly on the go. After he got married, his loving wife, Mdm Tan Siew Keng, could not bear to see his always being exhausted. She pawned her dowry as capital, and got help from her father who ran a dried seafood store to introduce her husband to potential partners. Thus, Chai Huat Hin was founded in 1972. When the partnership dissolved 17-18 years ago, he was reluctant to retire despite being 60 years old, therefore he established his own trading at the current premises, maintaining the brand name Chai Huat Hin.

Running a dried seafood store is very challenging, with the greatest difficulty being the wide variety of products, which requires careful selection, quality control, and inventory management. The key lies in good coordination to ensure a steady supply without overstocking. The second-generation owners, Lim Bee Bee and her husband Mark, took over the reins after Mr Lim’s passing in 2016. With the support of veteran staff, Uncle Leng, who is like a walking encyclopedia, they are able to manage the business effectively and efficiently.

Traditional shops in Petaling Street offer customers ingredients they can see, smell, and touch, which is different from modern supermarkets and hypermarkets, giving those who are particular about quality peace of mind. Sincere communication and friendly service also provide customers with an enjoyable shopping experience while ensuring they get the right ingredients.

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Michael Lerk
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen

COPYRIGHTS 2024 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD

Kien Fatt Medical Store is the most long-standing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) store in Petaling Street, established for well over 80 years, houses a Chinese herbal apothecary, a TCM clinic, and a pharmacy selling over-the-counter Western medicine all under one roof. Over the years, Kien Fatt Medical Store offers affordable TCM treatment and prescriptions for the public to help maintain their overall bodily health.

Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Petaling Street was a central hub for Chinese immigrants who came to Malaya to seek a living. It is where they eventually settled down and businesses sprung up to satisfy their daily needs. Back then, those who ran medical stores were typically well-educated and knowledgeable in traditional Chinese medicine. When Kien Fatt first opened its doors in 1942, a scholar was hired to manage the shop, who also doubled as an in-house TCM practitioner. Most of the Chinese labourers would come to seek help when they encountered health issues or needed someone to write letters home.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) originated in ancient China and has evolved over thousands of years, using herbs, acupuncture, and other methods to treat a wide range of conditions. Chinese herbal medicines are mainly plant based, but some preparations include minerals or animal products. They can be packaged as powders, pastes, lotions or tablets, depending on the herb and its intended use. The work in a Chinese herbal apothecary requires tremendous effort, the most challenging part involves memorizing hundreds of classic herbal medicine formulas, understanding the pharmacological and toxicological properties of each herb as well as multi-herb correlation to prevent undesirable side effects. For a start, one needs to learn to identify all kinds of herbs, and how to classify and store them. One then gets familiar with the Baizi cabinet (literally translates as 100 cabinets), eventually knowing the contents of each drawer by heart. Out of a large number of apprentices, only a handful persevered to become herbalists.

Generations of the Ng family have been traditional herbal medicine sellers, the first generation to immigrate to Malaya set up store in Rasa. The second generation, Ng Kien Poon and Ng Fatt Poon, sought work at Kuala Lumpur, amassed enough capital, and co-founded Kien Fatt Medical Store in Petaling Street, selling both Chinese herbs and Western medicines. In the 1980s, due to government regulations, they had to stop selling Western medicine. Instead they focused on herbal products wholesale and supply, becoming the exclusive distributor of Axe brand medicated oil. During the peak phase, their business expanded across Malaysia, and they have their own fleet of delivery trucks.

In the 1990s, the third generation heir, Ng Chee Yat, returned to Malaysia after having graduated from the UK, and took over the business. business. With his accredited qualifications as a pharmaceutical chemist, he set up a pharmacy at a corner of the shop. He then attained professional qualification as a TCM practitioner, and invited fellow TCM practitioners to set up a clinic together at the rear end of Kien Fatt’s premises. Realising the value and potential of TCM, they founded the KL Academy of Chinese Medical Practice, educationally collaborated with the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in China, to provide training and further education opportunities, provide alternative career paths for ordinary people, as well as raise public awareness and acceptance of TCM.

It is increasingly difficult for traditional trades to survive in Petaling Street, and Chinese medicine stores are no exception. Kien Fatt Medical Store still holds true to its core belief, offering effective healthcare solutions to the public without costing a bomb, which is truly remarkable.

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Michael Lerk
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen

COPYRIGHTS 2024 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD

Upon entering the alley between Jalan Petaling and Jalan Sultan, the warm, comforting smell of delicious food makes one’s mouth water. Situated directly behind Kong Wooi Fong Tea Merchants, tucked beneath gray tarpaulin sheets, is the last remaining stir-fry stall in this alley – Sai Kee, which offers homely Cantonese cuisine made to order.

In the past, the alleyways around Petaling Street were filled with simple food stalls and temporary seating, offering a variety of affordable meals while also serving as community gathering spots. However, in recent years, such “Dai Pai Dong” hawker culture has gradually declined, and now the number of food stalls in the alley is few and far between. Despite the abundance of restaurants and cafés along the main streets, laneway hawkers are the go-to for comfort food.

The stall has always occupied the same spot since being established decades ago by Uncle Lai Seng Wai’s grandfather, who hailed from Panyu in Guangdong, China. At first it was an unnamed stall with no fixed menu, which served claypot chicken rice at one point, economy rice at another, and changed to serving Hokkien noodles when Uncle Lai’s father inherited the stall. Towards the end of 1969, the menu was revamped to serving stir-fry. Uncle Lai sees no reason for change when he took over the reins, therefore he retains his father’s cooking method and recipes.

Popular dishes include braised fish with tofu, sweet and sour pork, french beans with roasted pork, and fish paste soup, among others. All ingredients are freshly purchased and prepared daily. The signature fish balls are made from wild-caught mackerel, chopped, mixed, and beaten by hand to achieve a firm, chewy texture.

Bright orange flames momentarily shoot up as Uncle Lai Seng Wai ladles oil into a hot wok, engulfing the ingredients upon their being added. Uncle Lai stirs deftly with a stainless steel spatula, then instead of tossing the wok, he covers it with a flat metal lid and let the flames lick around the wok. Within a matter of moments, he removes the lid – the food is thoroughly cooked and ready to be served.

The fiery stir-fry is a technique that combines speed and precision, maintaining a high temperature throughout the cooking process. The intense heat elevates the flavors and imbues “wok hei” (breath of the wok), an enticing smoky savory aroma, to the food. The practice of covering the wok with a lid instead of tossing speeds up cooking, improving evaporation as well as flavor due to Maillard reaction. 

Among the Petaling Street community, the stall is verbally known as “Ah Sai” (scrawny lad), the nickname of Uncle Lai’s father due to his rake-thin physique. Later on, it was registered as the official name to be displayed on the stall’s signboard. The main clientele consists of long-time regulars whose families have been frequenting the stall over three generations. In recent years, the crowd consists of more office workers from the nearby area and tourists. 

Uncle Lai, who helms the wok at Sai Kee, displays his multitasking ability to handle four woks simultaneously during peak hours. He is also in charge of procuring goods from the wholesale market late at night after work, and picking up miscellaneous ingredients from the supermarket and wet market in the morning before heading to work. His younger brother Hoong Wye is in charge of taking orders, cutting ingredients and preparing steamed dishes, with the help of their aunt and a few workers. 

For Uncle Lai and his brother, helping their parents since a young age and taking over the family business in adulthood comes to them as something natural. They have been working together for more than 40 years, and as business partners in the past two decades, each taking care of their own duties, continuing the legacy of the alley’s bustling food scene. Unfortunately, there is no one to take over. The food industry requires constant, tireless work, and few are willing to accept the long hours and hard labor. Like many other food stalls that have gradually disappeared from the alley, once they can no longer work, they have no choice but to close.

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Michael Lerk
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen

COPYRIGHTS 2024 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD