ON THE PASS

Char koay teow is defined by its smoky wok hei. How do you achieve this?

How did you get into cooking?

My mother-in-law used to own a hawker stall in Penang, which specialised in char koay teow. When she came on holiday here, she bought her special sauce to do her char koay teow, and that’s when the idea popped into my head to bring her char koay teow to Melbourne. I started selling dishes online, and then in June 2019 I had a pop-up in the Hawker Hall. Eventually I found my own shop in Hardware Lane in May 2020.

Can you tell us more about your signature dish?

It’s a street food dish that’s very popular in Malaysia. The Penang char koay teow is a bit different from the other states in Malaysia – this one is more on the savoury side, a little bit lighter in colour.

We use a high-pressure wok burner. Then it’s really the skill of the chef and the technique that enhances that wok flavour. We do that by doing every dish individually, we never do three or four at once. It takes a lot of training and discussion about how we keep our food consistent. Now, 60 per cent of our customers return, which is a sign we’re doing this well.

You have a tight signature menu that includes a white curry mee. Tell us about that.

It’s a different kind of curry laksa from Penang. In other parts of Malaysia they mix the chilli in together with the coconut soup base, but our Penang style is different. The chilli is separate from the soup, so you can taste the original soup broth, and then you stir the chilli in, so you get two different tastes in the one curry laksa.

And what’s next for you and Lulu’s?

My plan is to expand the business to Sydney. At the moment I’m looking for an additional shop in the Melbourne suburbs, so more people can try Lulu’s.

27-31 Hardware Ln, Melbourne, Vic.