Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

A bowl of chilled and crunchy collagen-fuelled fresh skin from the fish (read from somewhere that this was a species of grass carp or something) lightly dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, and shallot oil with julienned ginger and fresh scallions. (HKD16/RM6.40)

Essentially, the body runs out of steam. Or the mind. Or the passion/spirit/whatever.

Anyway, this week has not been easy for me. Thus, the slightly disparaging thoughts that went into the posts. Lacklustre words with no substance? Nah …. I would have imagined a more bitter, sharp tang to the edges of my articulation, but then again … maybe not. It’s THURSDAY anyway, and damn I desperately pray and hope for the week to end on an immediate basis.

With that, let’s talk about congee. AGAIN.

Mui Kee Congee Stall operates at stall number 11-12 in a most inconspicuous premise. Can’t be observed at all, from the outside of the building named Mong Kok Municipal Building (stole this name from Kampungboycitygal’s post)

After the umpteenth ‘char chaan teng’ breakfasts in Hong Kong (my posts do not come in a chronological pattern, in case you’re wondering, and this was breakfast on one of the last few days), we were stumped.

Okay, so this Motormouth faltered in giving it much thought, compiling the list of eateries without much regard as to whether they’re proportionately separated into breakfast-lunch-tea time-dinner categories.

We had the Fish Porridge, the Century Egg and Lean Pork Porridge and the Meat Balls Porridge from Mui Kee (congee from HKD23 onwards) coupled with an extra (and almost compulsory) plate of dough fritters (yau char kwai but mentioned as Fire Bread in the menu; HKD7/RM2.80) and capped the breakfast off with a cup of milk tea. (HKD9/RM3.60)

And thus, after separate sessions at Kam Wah Cafe (still the BEST polo bao there ever was), Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum, and a few other cafes to come in later posts, I suddenly remembered this place from I picked from Citygal’s list. This was already the 2nd or 3rd congee experience (after Sang Kee in Sheung Wan), and another forgettable one in Mong Kok.

Being the typical non-fussy eater that I am, I still choose to avoid congee whenever possible. Can’t be bothered to use the first 5 minutes blowing at the hot bowl of scalding gruel to cool the food down, much like how I detest having soupy noodles. So I ended up with some Hong Kong style of steamed rice rolls (also known as ‘cheong fun’).

The congee came out satisfactory, at least according to the other three discerning eaters. Or maybe not. But then again, comparing congee (or porridge) head to head with our Malaysian counterparts, safe to say the Hong Kong folks cook theirs to the best possible quality and consistency. Maybe it’s the rice? Or could it be the flavoursome stock? Or maybe due to the use of fresh ingredients like fish, grass carps, quality pork and meat balls (lesser starchy nonsense like the generic pork balls here), and even pig’s viscera organ (as mentioned in the English menu, referring to pig’s offal)?

The bowl of fresh fish skin was terrific, and you can either dip those into the congee to tamper the chilled sensation and providing a contrasting texture and temperature to the skin, or like yours truly, I snacked on them without condiments. Okay, save for the sauces and ginger/scallions that came along with them.

Go up to the 3rd Floor, and fancy seeing escalators in wet market huh?

The ‘cheong fun’ came with liberal sprinkle of sesame seeds, and best to be eaten with a combination of condiments; chili sauce, sweet sauce and peanut sauce. Far from the smoothest or best that I have come across, but for just HKD9/RM3.60, who’s complaining?

Don’t be afraid to ask for a menu with translation. And look at all those (Michelin?!) stars on the menu! Ease ordering, ain’t it?

And here you have the KING of congee in Mong Kok. Or so we presumed?

We spent HKD122/RM48.80 for the breakfast for four. A hearty one at that, and definitely a small price to pay for such wholesome affair. The environment may not be the most pleasant one, but if you’re comparing this food court to the hawker stalls in wet market in Malaysia, then you’d be granting Mui Kee with an accolade for being so well-kept.

This place reminded me of Bowrington Market’s Cooked Food Centre (back in 2008, read about the bowl of curry lamb noodles), where you pass by levels of wet market, dry goods, vegetable stalls etc before reaching the food court.

Good choice, but comparing this to Sang Kee, our votes still go to Sang Kee mainly because the congee was smoother and infused with an umami flavour not from MSG.

MUI KEE CONGEE STALL @
FA YUEN STREET MARKET COOKED FOOD CENTRE
Shop 11-12th, 4/F (written as 3rd when you see the signs)
Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Refer to the Hong Kong Food Map
Opens from 6.30am until 3.00pm.
Exit at Mong Kok MTR B2/B3 exit, and walk on Fife Street towards Fa Yuen Street.

*Here’s Openrice page on Mui Kee.