JB Beggar Chicken @ Jalan Impian Emas 22 • Ban Heong Seng Bungalow is History 万香城

✍️ 7 Aug 2024. There was a time when foodie trips to JB was deemed to "lack something" if it didn't include a meal at Ban Heong Seng's beggar chicken at their old bangalow house along Jalan Skudai.

I actually have six separate articles about Ban Heong Seng in my blog over the years 😂😅

Suddenly, in 2016, Ban Heong Seng ceased operations at the old bangalow and moved to a shop lot in Impian Emas in Skudai. 

This was my first visit to Ban Heong Seng since it moved here. 

We were here at around 1:30pm and were the only ones here. I am told, people normally come here for dinner. 

I wandered to the back and was so glad that they set up the old style charcoal bed here. So, Ban Heong Seng is still cooking their signature dishes the old "beggars" way (by encasing the meat in clay and slow baking in a bed of hot embers). 

Okay lah.. since tourists still want to take a picture with the clay pod, they obliged us lo... 

Inside the clay pod, the chicken and herbs were wrapped with paper, plastic, then more paper at the innermost layer. 

It's quite a big bird, at least one kilo in weight. 

We tore into its soft meat, opening the cavity which was packed with various Chinese medicinal herbs. The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender. 

We can smell the herbs and also taste it in the soft flesh. The bird felt fresh though all its chicken taste had been masked by the herbs and mild savoury soy sauce. 

If you enjoy Chinese herb taste, you will love this. 

Next is "country fish".

Makan kaki kaki who had not tried this before were surprised that this was actually fish cake. 

At Ban Heong Seng, they take the mackerel fish, remove the bones and meat. Mash the meat and blend it with aromatics, then re-stuff the fish paste into the skin like a sleeve. It is then deep fried to brown the outside and sliced before serving. 

The fish cake (it is what it is) was quite dense and tender firm. The main flavour was savoury salty with little highlights from the aromatic bits embedded in the fish cake. 

The winter melon soup. 

The main flavour was sweet in layers from the winter melon flesh, dates, wolf berries, snow fungus. lean pork slices, etc. There was also a little balancing savoury saltiness. 

It's a nice comforting home style soup. 

We tried only beggar chicken, country fish and winter melon soup today as we were on a full day food trail, so we just did a sampling of BHS's signatures. They also have beggar duck, beggar pork knuckle, beggar oyster rice, etc. 

All these need to call in to pre-order as they need at least 8 hours of slow baking in the charcoal pit ☎️ 07-562 8311 ☎️ 011-5628 4790 ☎️ 016-757 1887. 

So, how was it? 

The food, in my humble opinion, is no different from the Jalan Skudai bangalow days. It was, truth be told, good though not mind blowing but the bangalow had a unique atmosphere that greatly enhanced the entire experience. 

Over here at Impian Emas, BHS has to rely wholly on their food to attract customers which is as good as it was during its heyday. 

Restaurant name: Ban Heong Seng Restaurant 万香城餐馆

Address: 113, Jalan Impian Emas 22, Taman Impian Emas, 81300 Skudai

Tel: +6016 757 1887

Hours: 12 noon - 2 pm | 5pm - 9 pm (Thurs off)

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#ShotwithHONOR, #HONORMagic6Pro, #HONORSingapore, Taman Impian Emas, Ban Heong Seng beggar chicken,

Circumstances change but at Ban Heong Seng, they never change how they make beggar's chicken 👏👏👏

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Written by Tony Boey on 7 Aug 2024

✍ 5 Jun 2019. This was the final dinner party served at the Ban Heong Seng 万香城 bungalow at Jalan Tahar on 24 Jul 2016. After 30 years here, the famous JB beggar chicken 叫化鸡 restaurant is moving to a shop lot (address to be announced) in Taman Impian Emas, Skudai.

万香城叫化鸡于7月25日已经停止在住家用餐. 现在还有外卖. 老板正在找适合的店面重新招待顾客.



Ban Heong Seng's famed beggar chicken is baked in a bed of charcoal the authentic way. There are only two such charcoal beds that I have visited so far - one here in JB and the other in Ijok, Selangor (45 minutes drive from KL). I would love to visit all of them in Malaysia as they are very rare.



The chicken, duck, trotter, or rice are encased in clay pots and baked in the charcoal bed for 6 hours.



When cooked, the clay pot with chicken, duck, trotter or rice inside is broken open with a hammer.



Inside the pot, the chicken, duck, trotter or rice is wrapped in layers of paper and plastic (not aluminium foil).



Ta-da! The legendary beggar chicken.

You know the legend of beggar chicken.

Long time ago in China, a beggar stole a chicken from a farmer. In order to hide his loot, the beggar dug a hole and buried the chicken in the mud.


Source: Public domain photo

The next day, the beggar took out the chicken still encased in mud and tossed it into a pile of twigs and branches. He set the heap on fire to cook his chicken.

When the beggar broke open the baked mud pot, the aroma of baked chicken escaped into the air.

Luck have it that the Emperor was passing near the same spot and caught a whiff of the chicken's aroma. He was so enchanted by the aroma that he sent his guards to find out what it was.

After eating the chicken with the beggar, the Emperor loved it so much that he ordered the palace chef to make the same chicken.



The ancient recipe is passed down to this day and Ban Heong Seng still uses mud dug right there from the house's garden to encase the chicken. (Some places use flour dough to encase the chicken which, of course, disqualifies it for authenticity.) 



Ban Heong Seng's beggar chicken is tender, smooth and juicy. The chicken is stuffed with herbs like wolf berries and dang gui, and marinated with soya sauce. The flavour is mildly sweet, savoury, herbal.

Ban Heong Seng's famous beggar chicken was one of my earliest blog posts. I was very excited by the unique experience and wrote a detailed post on it back in Mar 2012 👈 click



Besides beggar chicken, there is also beggar duck cooked the same way with herbs and soya sauce. I actually prefer the duck over the chicken because I like the gamey flavour and subtly stringy texture of duck meat more.



I used to like Ban Heong Seng's pork trotter 猪手 a lot but less so nowadays. It used to be cooked whole in one piece but it is chopped up nowadays.



The tender skin, fat and meat are still delicious but the magic is not quite there anymore for me.



Ban Heong Seng's signature "country fish" 家乡鱼. It's actually fish cake. The flesh is scrapped from the fish, deboned, made into a paste, mixed with a blend of condiments, stuffed back into the sleeve of fish skin and fried to a golden brown crisp outside.

I wasn't a big fan of this dish as I felt it's overly salty but today the flavours were milder and well balanced savoury sweet with nice fish taste.

I first encountered "country fish" during my first visit to the Ban Heong Seng bungalow in Mar 2012 👈 click



I like Ban Heong Seng's winter melon soup 冬瓜汤. It's natural chicken and winter melon sweetness with herbal hints. It's made with bits of chicken, herbs, fungus and steamed in a hollowed out winter melon.

I have a more detailed description of the winter melon soup from my first visit. I can't remember why we didn't order the Oyster Rice during this final bungalow visit. It's a nice rice dish made the "beggar chicken" way. I have the decription here from the 2012 visit 👈 click



This scene of dinner parties at Ban Heong Seng is now part of Johor's culinary history.

Ban Heong Seng will be is serving their beggar chicken and other dishes at a new location to be announced soon in Taman Impian Emas, Skudai. Call +6016 757 1887 for reservations and details.



Meanwhile, Ban Heong Seng still accepts takeaway orders at the bungalow at Jalan Tahar. My parting shot of the Ban Heong Seng bungalow.


^ Click for a larger view

👍 Ban Heong Seng is one of very few places in the whole of Malaysia that still serves authentic beggar chicken. The food is delicious and reasonably priced.

Actually, I went to Ban Heong Seng many times at the old bungalow as I was fascinated by cooking in charcoal beds. Here's another visit in 2016, before I knew it was closing at the bungalow 👈 click



Restaurant name: Ban Heong Seng 万香城 (call 016-757-1887 or 07-237-5194 to book 1 day in advance as the dishes need to be prepared hours ahead of serving) 
Address: 113, Jalan Impian Emas 22, Taman Impian Emas, 81300 Skudai
GPS: 1°32'12.9"N 103°40'27.1"E 🌐 1.536913, 103.674204
Waze: Ban Heong Seng 万香城 Beggar chicken
Tel: Call 016-757-1887 or 07-237-5194 for takeaway only



Old bungalow address retained here for historical record (don't go there 😂  ).

Restaurant name: Ban Heong Seng 万香城 (call 016-757-1887 or 07-237-5194 to book 1 day in advance as the dishes need to be prepared hours ahead of serving) 
Address: 34-B, Jalan Skudai, Batu 3¼, off Jalan Tahar, Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/a42p4 
GPS: 1.483683,103.721548 / 1°29'01.3"N 103°43'17.6"E
Tel: Call 016-757-1887 or 07-237-5194 for takeaway only


^ click for details

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