SEREMBAN: A patron weeps after savouring a dish at a private kitchen, recalling his mother’s cooking some 30 years ago.

Heng Ek Hoe, 67, a retired chef who runs a private kitchen in Sri Penaga, Seremban, shares the incident of a patron who recalled his mother’s cooking and wept.

The zucchini cooked with dried shrimp and glass noodle brought tears to the businessman who owns a listed company in Kuala Lumpur.

“My home cooking dishes are the ones my patrons used to tell me they recall their childhood days,” said Heng.

Heng runs the private kitchen without a menu, and only those who know him place order with him.

He will prepare the meals based on the budgets of individual patrons, who are mostly from Kuala Lumpur.

The private kitchen is without a signage and cannot be found on Facebook.

Except for his name card which bears the name Ming Li Home Recipe Restaurant, Heng runs the kitchen on the first floor of a Sri Penaga shop lot, without a signboard!

Whenever he receives an order, Heng will prepare the meals based on the patron’s budget, with ingredients he manages to buy from the local wet market.

It’s a one-man show handled alone by Heng, who is passionate about cooking delicious home-cooked food, right from buying the ingredients at the wet market to the preparation of the dishes.

He spends time boiling the soup for hours without using MSG.

For patrons willing to spend a little more on food, the soup prepared by him is of tip-top quality.

The soup comprising lean meat, old hen, dried squid, ham, scallop and preserved duck costs over RM100.

He also spends hours preparing fish maw soup and shark fin.

Heng only handles three tables of patrons a day. He relies on referrals from patrons for orders.

“The income is more than enough for me as a retiree. I am more than happy,” he said.

Heng often receives photographs of his dishes from patrons who are happy with the dishes, as he does not have the habit of taking photographs of his dishes.