MY late and endearing foodie Papa, bless his soul, he had a really bad impression of the western-trained public hospital dieticians in the 1970s. They once prescribed diet like he was born comfortable with stuff like cottage cheese, unsalted green salads and even grapefruit.

FISH WITH FISH: George Lai (above) presents his dish, fresh pomfret steamed with salted fish.

Bold decision, but he chose ikan assam pedas instead.

I doubt he regretted it. He once told me what poverty was like in his native Guangzhou in China.

'We would steal up to the neighbour's kitchen and eat our bowl of rice with a deep sniff of the sharp and fragrant pungency of salted fish searing in garlic oil, off their woks. Pleasure!'

I know exactly how that feels like.

A late-night tse cha stall, whose kitchen is a mere 80m from my bedroom, had jolted me out of my deep slumber on many occasions whenever some hungry insomniac orders their supremely fragrant 'hum yue chow fan' - salted fish fried rice.

By the second sniff of that smoky, salty and earthy smell emanating from the wok, all my senses light up in maximum Class 4 security alert.

HIGHLIGHT: Salted egg yolk bittergourd with prawns.

I picture a whole wok of salted fish bits crisping over garlic oil with some eggs thrown in and scrambled for flavour before a whole plate of dry overnight rice, all taut and absorbent, is released onto the wok to soak in all that goodness.

I can picture the cook going toss, toss, then flambe, flambe before more ingredients like char siew bits, bean sprouts and chopped carrots are sprinkled for more tossing.

I wished for a while that I was that blessed insomniac before the smells evaporated. Then I went back to sleep, satisfied.

Salted fish on its own - and I especially love the Mergui brand from Penang - has an indescribable appeal.

To the uninitiated, it's like a compressed dusty, salty dirt ball. But to me and the enlightened, it's a sliver of fishy ocean salt made by earth, wind and fire (as they salt-bake or sun-dry the fishes).

You should never chomp on a whole piece. That's suicidal, but instead, nibble at the edges and work your way, one millimetre at a time.

In KL

Last week, a makan buddy in Kuala Lumpur told me about a nondescript no-frills eatery that cooks literally everything with salted fish and it's called 'something-Salted Fish Delicacy'.

I zipped by for a meal just before my afternoon flight back, at 11.30am.

The shutters were down, but that same smell was up in the air.

I knocked and boss George Lai shooed us in and apologised as he was 'short-handed and had spent too much time at the fish market today, so open a bit late lah'.

I cruised by the formalities and quickly asked what his specialities were and to serve them up pronto. The place has no menu - George is the menu board and it comes with interesting tales.

After a quick story about how he was an odd-jobber drifting from one good job to another before his wife threatened to kick him out and forced him to sleep at their neighbourhood wet market, he decided to set up a food stall with no experience in cooking whatsoever.

He just winged it with relative's recipes and cookbooks. That was about 15 years ago.

Then the fresh pomfret, steamed with salted fish arrived. It was such a nice twist to this Teochew classic.

The salted fish did not hijack the flavour and enhanced the sweetness of the fish. I could barely hear George talking about his Cantonese heritage and love for the dried fish.

Next up, a soulful little plate of comfort food - steamed minced meat cake with salted fish - was one of the best I've had. It beats even that good rendition at Joo Heng in Joo Chiat Road.

Beside it was the highlight of the meal - bittergourd stir fried with salted egg yolk mash on a bed of prawns.

Aiyoh, so extreme in concept yet appealing. Even the simple cabbage with dried scallop and salted fish was memorable.

George was still ranting about something in the fish market that morning as I made my way to the airport.

FYI

WHAT: Mui Hiong Salted Fish Delicacy

WHERE: 4, Jalan Medan Imbi (off Jalan Imbi), 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

CALL: +6012 2993331 (George Lai)

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