Mee Hoon Kueh 面粉果 stall in Johor Bahru at Restoran Poh Kee 宝记

Mee hoon kueh 面粉果 or "hand torn noodles" is a humble Hokkien comfort food which mothers make at home.



I popped over back to Restoran Poh Kee 宝记 in Taman Century on a reader's recommendation to try the mee hoon kueh stall opposite the famous Teochew mee stall.



This humble stall is run by the Tans who are originally from Pontian. The Tans set up this stall over a year ago after all their four children graduated from university and polytechnic, and started working.



Madam Tan (Hua 華) simply took what she had always been cooking at home for her family and serves it at this neighbourhood kopitiam stall.



The simple "menu" is taped to the blue tiled wall.



The Tans have no big ambitions for the stall. So everything is made in small amounts, just like at home. This little plastic container was all the dough made for business from 7:30am to 2:00pm on business days.

There were also a pot of porridge, and two small pots of green bean soup and sweet potato soup. This is as close to home cooked as one can get in a hawker stall.


Mee hoon kueh RM5

We ordered mee hoon kueh since this was recommended by Johor Kaki reader.



Hua 華 only rolls the mee hoon kueh when there is an order. So, the kueh is always freshly pressed.



The star of this simple dish is, of course, the kueh. The freshly rolled kueh was very smooth - I had a lot of trouble picking up the piece to take this picture - it just kept slipping off. The kueh is not much thicker than wanton skin :D  The thin, slurpy kueh had good "QQ" bite (el dente in spaghetti speak), and tasted clean and fresh.



The slightly murky savoury broth made with chicken and pork bones with soy beans had good light body. Hua 華 said that no MSG is used as this was never used in her home.



The other ingredients were all good. The fish balls were bouncy fresh, fish cake slices were tender, and toufu skin was soft yet crunchy. The leafy greens were market fresh as Hua 華 just buys a small clutch of vegetables everyday - just like mother does.



The pieces of fresh mostly lean pork mince was tender and naturally sweet.


Pork and century egg porridge RM6

Once we became acquainted, the gracious Tans insisted that we also try their pork and century egg porridge 皮蛋瘦肉粥.



I liked those tiny fried white bait fish which were crackly and savoury. Tiny fish with big flavours - we always had this at home but it's seldom seen at hawker stalls nowadays.



The texture of the soft rice grains were right between cottony (Cantonese style 棉棉) and soft grainy (Teochew style). The rice grains were cooked until they break but not before they become a gruel.

The porridge was so flavourful that I did not use any additional soy sauce or sprinkle any white pepper on it for taste - something which I usually had to do at other places.

The Tans also let us try their sweet desserts.


Green bean soup RM2.50

The green bean soup was delicious. Soft green beans broken by boiling in a just nice, sweet soup flavoured with aromatic, slightly spicy ginger.


Sweet potato soup RM2.50

The sweet potatoes were boiled till soft with still a little bit of pleasant bite remaining. The not-too-sweet soup was also spiced up with ginger.

Try this humble stall at the laid back, street side neighbourhood Poh Kee 宝记 kopitiam for home cooked food at very reasonable prices and friendly service.



Restaurant name: Mee hoon kueh stall at Poh Kee 宝记
Address: 75, Jalan Dato Sulaiman, Taman Abad/ Century, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Uz9Qf
GPS: 1.480886,103.756985
Hours: 7:30am to 2:30pm (alternate Thursdays closed)
Non Halal

Date visited: 10 Feb 2014

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