Egg custard sesame balls at Ming’s Pantry are addictive. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Opening in 2018 and situated near the bustling precinct of No Name Lane, many Canberrans have already discovered Ming’s Pantry on a laksa hunt.
Laksa has certainly cemented itself in Australian culture over the last decade as Australia’s favourite Malaysian dish, and what’s not to love? Rich coconut-based broths brimming with noodles and overflowing with endless toppings, it’s everything one could want in a meal.
So what is Ming’s Pantry’s laksa like?
Well, I don’t actually know, because their diverse Malaysian street food menu always entices me to dive into a new facet of this cuisine, with a new dish on each visit, and I’d encourage you to do the same.
On my most recent visit, I peered through the open window that looks into the kitchen and was met with the smiling faces of chef Nishant Lama and his assistant Aayushma Shrestha.
Busily separating noodles and assembling soups, Nishant tells me he’s been cooking Malaysian classics at Ming’s Pantry for a year.
Chef Nishant lama at work at Ming’s Pantry. Photo: Tenele Conway.
With customers coming and going and the kitchen only having just opened for the day, I leave the busy duo to their work and get to my work of the day – eating.
The menu at Ming’s Pantry is a small glimpse into the flavours and cultures that have converged to create Malaysia’s cuisine.
Flavours that have travelled migrant routes from southern India form Malaysian classics like fluffy roti that you can dunk into chicken curry or a beef rendang. The combination of buttery pastry with rich curry is always a winner in my eyes.
You can get deep into Malaysian culture with their national dish, nasi lemak, which comes with an assortment of sambal, peanuts, dried fish, cucumber, coconut rice and your choice of curry. It’s a dish you can and traditionally should eat with your fingers.
There’s a wide range of Ming’s Pantry signature dishes, which lean into noodle dishes that have origins in China but are now adapted and deeply embedded into Malaysian cuisine, like the smoky stir-fry dish char kuey teow.
There are also signature rice dishes like nasi goreng, which is not only popular in Malaysia but is also Indonesia’s national dish; both countries have their own unique takes on this fried rice.
On this particular visit, I decided to delve into the Wat Tan menu. This dish, originally from Hong Kong, has a broth thickened with egg and cornflour and is poured over your choice of thick rice noodles or crispy Chinese noodles.
Ming’s Pantry signature wat tan hor in all its gloopy glory. Photo: Tenele Conway.
To accompany my signature wat tan hor, I opted for another Chinese classic popular throughout Southeast Asia: Hainanese chicken rice. This subtle dish with poached chicken, which then lends its broth to the cooking of the rice, is all about the sauces for me, and Ming’s Pantry serves theirs with two delicious sauces. A red spicy number that’s a little tart and a little punchy, and a lovely green ginger and shallot sauce that’s mild and aromatic. I did taste a hint of chicken bullion in the rice, so this version may not be entirely true to form, but it was tasty nonetheless.
To balance my savoury with a little sweet, I ordered my go-to dish from the bites menu. A dish that I have never not ordered on a visit to Ming’s Pantry – egg custard sesame balls. These morsels of egg custard, encased in a fried shell that’s been rolled in sesame seeds, are so delightfully moreish that I’ve usually downed them before any other food comes out, even though they are more of a dessert bite.
Aayushma Shrestha and Chi Chi Ji are some of the friendly faces of Ming’s Pantry. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Setting the street food aesthetic at Ming’s Pantry is a large mural of a Malaysian streetscape by the talented mural artist Lawrence Tan. The image of the scooters parked at the front of a portable hawker cart paired with the restaurant’s eclectic decorative window frames, hanging plants and street-style lantern lights makes this casual eatery a fun place to pop at the top of your must-eats list, and yes, you can have the laksa if that’s what you came for.
Ming’s Pantry is located in the Mayfair Building, G22/45 W Row, Canberra, near No Name Lane.
