- Good morning. I hope you're having an amazing day. It's Mark Wiens. I'm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. And one of the tastiest parts or sections of the fish is the fish head because you've got all
those little oozy bits. You get to dig out the
little crevices of meat. Locally, it's known as kepala ikan, and it's very popular to eat in Malaysia. And so today, I'm gonna take you on a fish head tour of Kuala Lumpur. We're gonna eat, I have three places that I wanna check out and share with you. We're gonna eat them one fish head after the next after the next. And this is gonna be an amazing
day of food in Kuala Lumpur, and I'm gonna share all the fish heads with you in this video. (upbeat music) It's just 9:30 a.m. right now. They're still sort of setting up. The fish heads are ready. They're preparing the fried chicken. This place, it's, I think
it's officially known as Annuar's Fish Head Curry,
but lots of people know them as just the Bangsar or fish corner because it's here at
the corner of the road, kind of in a little shopping plaza area. But the aroma, you can smell the, oh, by the way, this
place is also very famous for their fried chicken. You can smell the aroma
of the fried chicken. You can smell the curry leaves. Oh, man. (laughs) Fish head for breakfast,
you cannot go wrong. Fried fish. - Fried fish. (mumbles) in the front side, sir. - [Mark] Okay, in the front. - Boss, from the front. - Okay. They want to get a photo of all of them, all the staff here at the front. Say welcome to, welcome to-- - Welcome to. - [Mark] Annuar's. - Welcome to Annuar's-- - [Mark] Kepala ikan. - Yeah, yeah, kepala ikan. - Backside, backside, backside. - [Mark] Okay, one, two, three.
- One, two, three. - [Group] Welcome to Annuar's kepala ikan. - Hey, yeah, kepala ikan
(speaks in foreign language). - Yes. (laughs) Okay, awesome. They're all so friendly. - Boss, you're from what country? - Ah, I live in Thailand. - Oh, Thai.
- Oh, Thailand. - Yes, Thailand, in Bangkok. - [Man] It's famous for 26 years. - [Mark] So it's been at
this corner for 26 years. (man mumbles) Wow.
- Boss, boss. (mumbles) the curry, very nice. - [Mark] Oh, yeah. - Yeah, the curry, fish
curry, very special. - [Mark] Hello. (Mr. Annuar speaks in foreign language) Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. - Thank you very much. - [Mark] Are you Mr. Annuar? - Yes, Mr. Annuar. - Ah, very nice to meet you. (upbeat music) Yeah. (chuckles) Mr. Annuar just served
us a giant fish head. And you can see it's just, they like literally opened minutes ago. There's already a line forming. It's self serving with the fried chicken. Oh, thank you. - Which part of the chicken you like? You want the drumstick? - [Mark] Yes, please. - You want the wings? - [Mark] Yes, please. - [Mr. Annuar] They're frying the wings. - [Mark] Okay. - You want a thigh? - [Mark] Sounds good. - You want the breast meat? - [Mark] Okay. - [Mr. Annuar] Okay (mumbles). - [Mark] Okay. - Enjoy, eh. - Oh, wow. (Mr. Annuar mumbles) Oh, thank you. (Mr. Annuar mumbles) Uh-huh. - [Mr. Annuar] They're
gonna make the cabbage. - The cabbage, okay, great. - [Mr. Annuar] The other guy. - Ah. (Mr. Annuar mumbles) And we have the pleasure
to hang out with Mr. Dino, who is also, we just met him as we arrived. So we've got plates of rice. We've got the fried chicken, and then, yeah, the main event, the dish that we came here for,
which is the kepala ikan, the fish head, which is
prepared Indian style. That sauce is just rich and spicious. Oh, man, I cannot wait. Okay, we gotta, we gotta set
the fried chicken aside for now and move right in to
the massive fish head. So the reason that the fish
head is so tasty and so good is because there's so many
different parts of the fish head to explore and so many
different little crevices. You've got the cheek. You've got the upper head. You've got the belly-ish
section in the bottom. You've got all sorts of little crevices and
crannies to dig out. I'm gonna start. Let's just begin with
that top head of the fish. And despite like it being a
head, there's so much meat. You can just see that it's'
just sprouting with meat. Just set some of this top of
the head onto my rice first, onto my plate of rice. Maybe I'll go in for some
of this belly section at the same time. Oh, yeah, there's so much meat on it. I'll add some cabbage to my plate as well. Okay, I'm going in for
that fish head first. This is the top of the
head, that chunk of fish, mix it with the rice. Mm-hmm. Oh. The flavor of that curry
sauce is smooth with spices. You taste the, actually, you really taste
the curry leaves in there. The blend of spices is incredible. Okay. And another bite that
I can't wait to taste is the fried chicken with
some of that curry sauce. Actually, maybe the most common thing that everybody's eating here
because it's quick and simple to just place the fried chicken
with the curry sauce on top. (chuckles) One more, one more spoon. Okay, I'm tearing into that, tearing into that fried chicken. Oh, the entire, the entire
covering of skin in one bite. Nice. - Okay. (Mark chuckles) That is the bite.
- Oh, wow. The fried chicken is amazing. - [Man] So well spiced, wow. - You can see the big tub of chicken which is marinated in a bunch of spices. Then it's deep fried, so it has this like deep fried crust
all over the entire chicken. Plus it's crispy, plus
the curry sauce on top. It's seriously tasty. - [Man] Gorgeous. Oh, man. - Mmm. Oh, the head. The head is one of the best things. And again, I think it is like marinated in similar spice blend
as the fried chicken. It has that same marinade
flavor as the fried chicken, the spices in there, the
crispy like outer exterior, and then it's just like soft and tender. - [Man] Look at the size of that cheek. The cheek is huge. The entire spoon just
disappears under there. Whoa, oh my gosh. - [Mark] Look at that. Dude, that's all one cheek. Oh, and I didn't even get it all. There's still more. It like goes all the way to the eye. That is all cheek. - [Man] Dude, that's a massive head. Look at that. Oh my gosh, yeah, the spoon just like
disappears under there. - I'm gonna definitely
take this opportunity to rehydrate my fish cheek. A one biter. Cheers.
(man chuckles) Oh, yeah. I got a scale. - Mmm, mmm, mm-hmm. - [Man] The tenderness is
out of control right there. - We're getting down to the
bottom of the fish head. Now starts the exploration. There's bits of skin. Here's eyeballs. Oh, here's the, here's the mouth. Can you see those teeth on there? Red snapper lips, upper lip. Just be careful you don't
cut yourself on the teeth. Whoa, it's like, it's like jelly. The curry sauce itself was amazing. And then all the staff,
everyone that works here, Mr. Annuar, they're so nice. They're so friendly. Not only is the food delicious, but I think why this restaurant,
this street food style in Kuala Lumpur has such a loyal following is because it's so welcoming. I mean it's like a neighborhood stall, and you just feel at home
when you're eating here. Thank you very much, Mr. Annuar. That was amazing.
- Thank you very much. I'm very happy to have you.
- Amazing. And thank you for your hospitality. So that's Mr. Annuar, and then your logo. And they were so nice. They refused to accept our payment. So yeah, thank you very much to Annuar's Fish Head
Curry, Bangsar, fish corner. Man, that was incredibly good. We are moving on now to
the next fish head curry. (upbeat music) We're on our way to eat
the next fish head curry. You gotta get there before the lunch rush, so we're on our way. I know it gets packed, and they can sell out
of the fish heads fast. One of the great things
about KL, Kuala Lumpur, is that it really is a garden city. It's such a green city. And so we're right in the
center of Kuala Lumpur, but we're kind of on the hill. I think it's called
Tugu Park or something. But there's a cafe here that's
famous for their fish heads. Hello. - [Man] Hello. - So you get to the top of the staircase and all of a sudden, it opens up. There's a parking lot up here, but you're just surrounded by jungle. It's so green. It's so lush. And then you have, you smell the spices. There's a whole buffet counter. Again, the famous thing to eat here is the kepala ikan, the fish head curry. And I believe that this version is gonna be more of a Malay style. Let's get straight to another fish head. So you choose your fish head. There are different prices
for different sizes. And we met, what is your name again? - I'm Hozi, Hozi. - Hozi, okay.
- Yes. - And he watches our videos. - [Hozi] What size? - The biggest size, biggest size. - Biggest size. - [Mark} Yes, please. - [Hozi] Okay. - [Mark] Oh, nice. Sounds good. - [Hozi] Okay. That's fresh, very fresh. - [Mark] Okay. Yeah. Wow. - [Hozi] Lady's finger and then (mumbles) - [Mark] What is that sauce? - This is like curry
also, and then mixed-- - [Woman] Soya. - [Hozi] Ah, yes, mixed, soya. - [Mark] Oh, okay. - [Hozi] Soya sauce, black soya sauce. - [Mark] Black soya sauce. - [Hozi] Sweet and sour. - [Mark} Ah. - Mango. - [Mark] Green mango? - [Hozi] Green mango. - [Mark] Okay. - [Hozi] It's celery. - Wow. (chuckles) To keep it warm. This is fish head number two. This is an absolute beauty. And I like how they serve it. Actually, the flame went out
because we took so many photos, but they did serve it above
a flame to keep it hot because it's so big. There's so much curry sauce. I love how they added that
extra curry sauce on top as well as the green
mango shreds all over it. That's gonna add another twist, dimension to this fish head curry. And he said that it's a mix
between Indian and Malay style. It's like the fusion of Malaysia with the fish head in your pot. I'm gonna just kinda
park the, park the okra. And this is the eye. Look at the size of this. I'm gonna, I think, actually, the
easiest thing to do is, again, go for the top of the head there with those chunks of fish
that are just gonna flake off. Oh, look at that. Look at the amount of meat,
the head meat on there. And what I especially wanna
do is go in for some of that, that green mango and just kinda mix that. I'll go in for some of the
tofu, some of that green onions and all those herbs, and
stick this on to my rice. Wow, you gotta really maneuver. You gotta really work your
way around this fish head. (laughs) Yeah, I got some of
those shreds of green mango. That's an awesome touch to it. Oh, wow. Oh, that is stunning. Oh, the green mango, that like
burst of natural sourness. Again, you can taste the curry leaves. You can taste, I believe
it's a jolt of also sourness from tamarind, almost like a fruity taste. The fish is like firm and fresh. Wow, that sauce is unbelievable. Look at this, that meat just
blooming out of the fish. Wow. That curry sauce is good enough to drink. Okay, I'm gonna try that tofu. And you can see that tofu is just like saturated with the curry sauce as well. You can actually squeeze this tofu and curry sauce would come out. Look. (chuckles) Just juices with the
curry sauce, super good. What I love about this is that sourness that goes along with all the
spices in that fish curry. Really, really incredibly good. Okay, I'm gonna move back
in, grab some of that. Look at that, the entire cheek again. It's huge. Oh, and there's also eggplant
in there and the tofu. And again, you can just so easily just drown your rice in the curry. It's just so unbelievably good. I'm just gonna take a
whole chunk, a mandible. Is that a mandible? Okay, this one is the, this one is the cheek right here. That's the cheek bit. Kinda skim your thumb through,
get all the bits of fish, the gooey bits, the gelatinous
bits, the gummy bits. It's all good. These are curry leaves. There's beansprouts in here. There's wing bean. There's chilies and there's
shallots, I believe. And I think it's like a fish sauce. I'll put some of this onto my rice. I know my rice is pretty much doused in the curry sauce already. It's all drowned up, but that's okay. Mmm, oh, that's wonderful. Oh, there's coconut in there. You can really taste the shredded coconut. That is like amazingly refreshing and just a totally different taste. And then finally, one more
dish we just had to try is the, it's a type of shell. Is it a seashell? I believe so, right? I think it's a seashell. And shat you're supposed
to do with these shells is kinda suck, suck the top
so that the little shellfish, the little shell just like, just like plops out into your mouth. Oh, yeah, I got it in one go. Oh, that's wonderful. It's like a little squidy
textured little shell. And then you taste the
lemongrass in there. Another section of the fish
head that you don't wanna miss, I will rehydrate it, is the eyeball. So we're gonna, look at the size of that eyeball. Actually, let me, I'm just gonna kinda, whoa, look at the amount
of jelly material. Oh! Wow. That just melts in your mouth. There's so many jelly bits. And then the actual eyeball
is like a hard little, I can't even find the actual eyeball. Usually, it's like a hard little marble. Mmm, I just got like
some, the socket material. And then just to garnish, we've got some vegetables
here, some lettuce. There's some cucumbers. And this is a sambal, I
believe, with shrimp paste, as well as a dark soy sauce
with chilies and shallots. Mmm. Here's another move that I saw from the guy sitting at
the table next to us. Dude, you gotta try that. - Oh, okay. Mmm. Which one hits first? Mmm, those chilies are so nice. There's like tomatoeyness there,
and then the peppery curry, and then the creaminess of that fish meat. Cool. - All that's left is the main
like head structure, bone, some, the jawline, and a
little bit of extra sauce. But that sauce is so good,
you're gonna want to drink it. Okay, time to wash my hands. And then also, they give you
this little, this little card. We got table number, we got table number, is that 189? No, that's right, 189. That's about how good
your orientation will be after eating that fish head. (laughs) - I can't believe it. It's like one of the 10
best meals in the past year, I mean, easily. - The total price came to 144 ringgit, which is pretty expensive,
but we did get the largest, most gigantic fish head that
they had for the entire day. You can get smaller fish heads for only 45 ringgit or 55 or 65. We got the 120 ringgit fish
head, but it was so worth it. But definitely, a dish like that, you should share between
a number of people. You should share it between
more than two people like we did.
- Two. (laughs) - Yeah. (laughs) Well, Ying had a little bite, but she was already
full from the last meal. But you can definitely
share that between like four or five people and
still be very, very happy. But that was so worth it. This is an amazing, an amazing restaurant. And again, I cannot emphasize
the relaxing state of mind and relaxing state of
stomach that you will be in when you eat here because it's
so, ah, yeah, the fresh air. That was amazing. - Alright. - That was amazing. Alright. We're driving over to an
area of KL called Pudu, which is a very Chinese area of the city. (Ying speaks in foreign language) (man speaks in foreign language) (Ying speaks in foreign language) - Thank you. - Thank you very much. Oh, awesome. This is restaurant number three, totally different style of fish head. This is not a curry, but
this is more of a Chinese, well, it is a completely
Chinese-themed fish head. - Together with the body, yeah, yeah. - Oh, and the body also. - Yeah. - Okay. - [Man] Mun Kee, yeah, Mun Kee. - [Mark] Oh, Mun Kee, okay. - Yeah, Mun Kee. Sweet potato leaf or kangkong. - [Mark] Maybe kangkong. - Kangkong (mumbles). - Awesome. - [Man] Okay, thank you, thank you. - Thank you very much. That's six different types of fish heads. There's the black bean,
the asam, the clear steam, the ginger, the sambal and the Nyonya. I thought the Nyonya would
be really interesting because that's the (mumbles). That's the Malay-Chinese version. But then he said that that's totally out. They ran out for lunch. So we missed the lunch rush, but we ended up ordering
the clear steam fish head. That's another one of their
specialties, and that's gonna be totally different from what
we've already eaten today, the fish heads that we've
already eaten today so far. (upbeat music) Fish head number three has arrived, and this is exceeding my, what
I even had imagined possible as what is considered a fish head. They like include, I
think they only take off the tail, basically. This solid fish, you can
smell the ginger, the chilies. It's very like light and
refreshing and aromatic. Yeah, it just looks like
very clean, very beautiful, Chinese style steamed fish. Oh, it's so juicy, and you
can see, look at that flesh. Okay, you are gonna have to
be careful of bones here, but look at that white
meat and then the juice. Onto the rice, and let me get
a little more of that juice. Okay, yeah. So be careful of the bones though. Mmm, mmm. It's so, yeah, so clean and light tasting. You taste the soy sauce. You taste the ginger. And I like how there's
a few sliced up chilies to give it some heat. It's so juicy because it's steamed. They are definitely stretching the definition of fish head here, serving you the entire body
along with the fish head. And I'm totally okay with that. Oh, you know what, I
didn't even notice this, but I think it's just the half a fish. So you get more meat on the body, but then it's split down the middle, so it's the half a head. Oh, that's perfect. And then you can kinda
navigate your way around, grab some of that head meat. You can see the head has quite, that skin is very thick and like blubbery. And you know what else? You can taste the Chinese wine. - Is it plum? I was gonna ask-- - I think the wine in there. - If you think it's plum or wine. - I think it's maybe rice wine. - Ah-huh. - You can taste that slight
like wine flavor in there along with the soy sauce,
with the steamed ginger. But yeah, the ginger is
what really, is the key flavor-defining ingredient
in this fish head. They have a side little bowl
of raw garlic and raw chilies, which I will go ahead and
sprinkle onto my plate of rice. That's gonna give it some extra kick. Oh, I'm going in for that ultimate bite. And I think I'm gonna add one more scoop of that incredibly
delicious steaming sauce, full flavor overload. Oh, yes. That's delicious. The fish, again, is so fresh. It's, it's so lightly flavorful and just emphasizes the
natural flavor of the dish. Okay, the next dish we got
is the steamed chicken. And this is called kampung ayam, which is like a village running chicken, steamed, with a ginger sauce on the side. Dip it into the ginger sauce. Oh, that looks incredible. Mmm, oh yeah. That is incredibly good. Oh, the chicken has the perfect texture, that running texture, slightly chewy but full of flavor. And you can taste the sesame oil in there and that ginger sauce. The ginger is just like
completely crushed. The oils have come out. Mmm. Oh, the chicken is incredible. But I'm always a huge
fan of steamed chicken with the ginger sauce. Yeah, it's a great, great
like, just a great dish. Finally, that kangkong, which
is the water morning glory, stir fried with sambal. And I think there's some
shrimp paste in here too. Mmm, mmm. Always one of the best dishes to order, vegetable dishes when you
come to the Malay peninsula. You taste the shrimpiness of it, and you can really taste the
smokiness of the wok on that, in that vegetable as well. There's always a massive chunk of meat right on the top of
the head section there. Look at that. Rehydrate it a little bit. This is a move I just cannot resist doing, the rehydration move. Yes. (chuckles) I have to admit, when he
set down the fish head in front of us, the steamed fish head, I was a little bit like
wow, that's pretty big. That's a lot of meat on there. But somehow, it just
kinda disappeared on us. That was so easy. It went down so easily. It was so like just refreshing, even though it being our
third fish head in a row. It just went down, and that
was incredibly delicious. Again, as you can see, just a completely different
style of a fish head. This was not a curry. This is a steamed fish
head, Chinese style. And again, I just cannot emphasize what a joy it is to eat in Malaysia because of the diversity of
flavors, cultures and cuisines that make up Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. This has been a joyous day of eating fish heads in Kuala Lumpur. This was not a comparison video. I had no intention to tell you which one is the best because
they're all so different and they're all so incredibly good. But my aim of this video
is to just give you a tour and to check out some of these, some of the best fish
heads that you will find in Kuala Lumpur and just
share them with you. So I will have all of the information in the description box
below so you can check out. You can eat at all three places
in a row if you would like or spread them out between days. Fish heads are truly one of the
tastiest sections of a fish. And that was a wonderful
day in Kuala Lumpur. So I wanna say a huge thank
you for watching this video. Please remember to give it a
thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you. And if you're not already
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the next video that I publish. Thanks again for watching. Goodbye from Kuala Lumpur. See you on the next video.
