So Happy to be able to Taste Traditional Fuzhou Kompia in Skudai Johor Bahru JB 皇后福州光饼 ●皇帽茶餐室●四眼光饼

I always wanted to try traditional Fuzhou kompia made with the tandoor type of charcoal oven, the way they do it in Sitiawan (Perak) and Sibu (Sarawak). So, I was really excited when foodies in JB started sharing about a traditional kompia stall operating in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah (TUTA) in Johor Bahru.

谢谢吃的平台 Victor 台友分享, 好开心在柔佛新山也可以吃到手工传统制造的福州光饼. "四眼光饼"老板是福州人. 来自霹靂, 實兆遠. 是制造福州光饼世家, 第三代传人. 炭烧的光饼外脆内软. 有洋蔥光饼 (RM1.20) 和叉烧光饼 (RM2). 如果在新山, 这可算是非试不可. 王后花园. Jalan Pendekar 2. 早上8点到下午两点. 星期一休息. 手工制造, 所以产量不多. 最好先打电话订购 014 382 9624 | 016 7794 629.

Stall name: 皇后福州光饼●皇帽茶餐室

Address: 73, Jalan Pendekar 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, 81300 Skudai, Johor (stall inside Ong Bo coffee shop)

Tel: +60143819624

Hours: 8:00am - 1:00pm (Mon off)

Mr Lim who hails from Sitiawan is a third generation kompia maker. He started working at his father's stall in Sitiawan (opened by his grandfather) when he was 9 years old. Mr Lim came down to Singapore for work, then settled in JB and opened this stall in TUTA, 9 years ago.

Mr Lim's no name stall is known as "specky kompia" 四眼光饼 to his fans because... you guessed it... he wears spectacles.... duh.... 😊

Everything at Mr Lim's stall is hand made from scratch.

Mr Lim makes two types of kompia (a kind of biscuit) - one with chopped onion and pork fat filling.

Char siew (roast pork) is the only other filling.

Mr Lim preparing the charcoal fired tandoor oven.

Each kompia is slapped against the side of the blistering hot tandoor. The same way as naan is made.

The tandoor is very hot, so Mr Lim dips his hands into the pail of water first before slapping in another kompia with his bare hand.

There are no knobs to control the temperature, so Mr Lim does it with just an iron spade 😃 Controlling the fire takes lots of intimate knowledge about his tandoor.

The kompia are ready 😃

Freshly baked well browned kompia straight from the oven. Scathing hot to the touch.

The savoury sweet onion and lard kompia. It's crispy outside and moist inside with a bit of chewiness and soft juicy crunch (from the onions).

The char siew kompia. To me, this has a more interesting savoury sweet flavour with bits of well marinated tender roast pork and syrupy char siew sauce.

Mr Lim sells the onion & lard kompia at RM1.20 each and the char siew kompia at RM2 each (2016 price).

Fuzhou Kompia 福州光饼 is named after Qi Ji Guang 戚继光, a Ming dynasty general who led the successful campaign against Japanese pirates raiding the coasts of Fujian province. Qi Ji Guang realised that the Japanese pirates knew the locations of his troops because of smoke from their cooking fires. The pirates would escape or ambush his troops. So, Qi Ji Guang created kompia which is an unleavened bread with a hole through the middle. His soldiers would march carrying several kompia with a string through the hole, closing in and catching the pirates by surprise. Qi Ji Guang defeated the pirates in 1565. The bread is known as 光饼 Guang Bing in honour of 戚继光 Qi Ji Guang. So, kompia is a soldier's combat ration, not any exquisite delicacy. But, when you bite into a kompia, remember you are tasting over 600 years of food heritage 😄 (Source: Wikipedia Photo credit: Wiki Commons)

4-Star (out of 5). Mr Lim's no name stall (known as 四眼光饼 to fans) in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah is the only traditional kompia stall in Johor. You might be able to find better kompia in Sitiawan or Sibu (I haven't been to these places yet), but this is the best in Johor that I know of. If you are visiting JB, remember to include this stall in your itinerary - kompia makes a lovely gift. Call Mr Lim at 014 3829 624 to book your kompia.

Old Address

Restaurant name: Kompia stall in Hong Chun kopitiam (四眼光饼)
Address: 129, Jalan Pendekar 2 (at junction with Jalan Pendekar 8), Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1°31'02.9"N 103°39'10.6"E | 1.517483, 103.652938
Tel: 014 382 9624 | 016 7794 629
Hours: 8:00am to 2:00pm (Mondays off) | 8:00am to 12:00 noon on Sat & Sun

Non Halal

Written by Tony Boey on 1 Dec 2016 | Updated 15 Apr 2023