But while others are serving up Sarawakian staples like laksa and kolo mee, 59-year-old David Chui offers something that can’t be found anywhere else in the state.
It’s not just the springy green noodles – though these are truly remarkable – that attract customers; Chui’s homemade broths tell a story of his innovative soul and mixed heritage.
Twenty years ago, Chui quit his job as a project coordinator in Langkawi to move home to Kuching and pursue a path pioneered by his grandfather, a noodle maker from Guangdong, China.
“As a third-generation noodle maker, I learnt everything from him. However, I decided to switch things up by using noodles made from spinach,” he tells FMT.
Chui decided to do this as he noticed many people, especially children, were not eating enough vegetables.
Specks of spinach can be seen in the thick, springy noodles, which feel more like pasta from an Italian restaurant.
Chui doesn’t hesitate to share the “secret” behind his handmade noodles, saying they are made with just flour, spinach and eggs, without any MSG or boric acid.
An innovator in the kitchen, he marries herbs and spices used in other cuisines with elements of Chinese cooking to create fusion fare.
The noodles are served with homemade broths made fresh daily and topped with generous chunks of juicy, tender lamb or beef.
The lamb is bathed in an almost milky white broth made with ingredients often used in French cooking, such as cumin and fennel.
The beef dish, meanwhile, uses herbs like Thai basil and coriander as well as bean paste to create a rich, thick and tangy Thai-inspired broth.
“I have always been influenced by fusion food as my mother was from Hong Kong, a country famous for its Chinese and European cuisine,” Chui shares, as he dishes a serving of lamb stew to a waiting customer.
“The broth is a fusion of east and west.”
The result is a wholesome bowl of piping hot noodles. The rich flavours of the broth, which take five hours to make, are present in every bite of the tender lamb that peels off the bone.
In any other scenario it might be unimaginable to eat lamb with chopsticks, but Chui’s experience in cooking meat makes it possible.
Chui also serves ginger duck, vinegar pork leg, and char siew noodles at Chong Chon Green Noodle, but the lamb and beef noodles are clearly the stars of the show.
Chong Chon Green Noodle
318, Lot 2738,
Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, Central Park,
93150 Kuching, Sarawak
Business hours: 7am-2pm daily