The Noodle Memories – New KL-Style Pan Mee by Young Malaysian Hawkers in Hong Lim Market & Food Centre

Although I’ve never been to Kuala Lumpur to try pan mee (Malaysia ban mian), there’s one stall that serves authentic pan mee in Hong Lim Market & Food Centre. Yay to not having to cross the border for it!

Helmed by Kuala Lumpur-born Ewa Lim and her sister-in-law, Su Teng, The Noodle Memories has been serving KL-style pan mee since April 2021.

Despite only being in their 20s, Ewa and Su Teng have quite a wealth of experience in the culinary arena. Ewa shared that her mum ran a few ban mian stalls in KL, which have been running for close to 30 years. Both ladies spent 10 years helping out at the stalls before tweaking the recipe and setting up a stall of their own in Singapore.

The choice of noodles the stall uses is you mian, which is specially made in-house using flour from a local supplier. After seeing the large dollops of dry chilli in my bowls, I couldn’t wait to see how spicy the noodles would be! Ewa also shared that they use fresh ingredients and experimented rigorously with the recipes to create a memorably spicy bowl of noodles.

First up, I tried the Signature Dry Chilli Noodle ($5) that features minced pork, poached egg, black fungus, fried shallots, and fish paste-stuffed beancurd skin on top of the you mian. The springy noodles tasted even better when mixed with the rich runny egg yolk. The minced pork was juicy, though it could have been more flavourful. I was then confronted by the intimidating chilli mountain before me. Ewa told me that their chilli is more of the dry kind with a spicy mix of hae bee (dried shrimp), onion and dried chillies. Similar to the Mala spice system, the stall offers customers three spice levels to choose from, so I decided to go for the middle option. While I’d say I could tolerate spice well, the chilli left me sniffling intermittently along the way.

Taking the spice up a notch, I had the Signature Mala Soup Noodle ($5.50), which has three large prawns, stuffed beancurd skin, fishcake, and seaweed. The spiciness of the broth instantly hit the back of my throat, and even at its ‘normal’ spiciness level, it begged for some iced cold drinks to soothe the heat. I felt that the flavours were more la (Spicy) than Ma (numb). Nonetheless, the broth paired well with the fresh crunchy prawns!

Lastly, I ordered the Handmade Fried Beancurd Skin (5pc) ($3.50), which is stuffed with fresh seasoned Batang fish (Spanish mackerel). Crispy and flavourful, the beancurd skin makes for a good side to accompany the noodles.

So, if you’re in Hong Lim, do swing by The Noodle Memories to get a taste of their homemade chilli!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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