Lala Mee Suah ala Lai Foong
Getting the ginger, garlic and vegetables ready.

I’ve always been a fan of the Lala mee hoon from Lai Foong kopitiam in Kuala Lumpur. If you haven’t had them, you should give it a try if you happen to be around Petaling Street area. I love how the natural sweetness of the lala (clams) flavours the soup, accented by fresh ginger for that subtle kick, and the rice wine gives the whole dish a special umami.

Ingredients for lala mee suah.

For a long time during the Covid-19 pandemic, however, dining in wasn’t allowed, so I was forced to come up with my own solution when the craving hit. With time on my hands, I came up with a way to recreate this dish, using mee suah instead. You can easily substitute this with mee hoon (rice vermicelli) if you prefer, but just give an additional one to two minutes’ cooking time.

It only takes a minute or two for the mee suah to cook.

The result is a simple dish that’s packed with seafood-y goodness, enhanced with ginger-y spiciness and fragrance from the fried garlic. If you’ve enjoyed the dish at Lai Foong, you will enjoy this. — Contributed by Teoh Kar Yeong

A delicious home-cooked hot bowl of lala mee suah. — Photos: KYSPEAKS

Lala Mee Suah

Ingredients:

750g (approx) fresh or frozen lala, cleaned.

4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped.

5cm young ginger, sliced.

Stalks of bok choy or any other vegetable (optional).

Chicken bullion (or leftover soup stock) plus water.

Mee suah (or mee hoon) for 2 persons.

Chinese rice wine (optional).

1 tbsp cooking oil.

Method:

1. Heat up the cooking oil, fry the garlic and ginger till fragrant.

2. Add in water and chicken bullion (or soup stock), bring to boil.

3. Add the lala and cook for 1 to 2 mins, until they start to open.

4. Add in the mee suah, and then the vegetables.

5. Remove from stove and serve while hot.

6. Optional: You can add a capful of Chinese rice wine to the soup for extra umami.
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I’ve always been a fan of the Lala mee hoon from Lai Foong kopitiam in Kuala Lumpur. If you haven’t had them, you should give it a try if you happen to be around Petaling Street area. I love how the natural sweetness of the lala (clams) flavours the soup, accented by fresh ginger for that subtle kick, and the rice wine gives the whole dish a special umami.