Ah Ma Teochew Kuih 阿嬷潮州糕 is located at Jalan Trus, the same row and a few shop lots from Kin Wah kopitiam. Steps away are Hiap Joo bakery, famed for their banana cakes and Hua Mui kopitiam, JB's oldest Hainanese coffee shop.
Inside, the decor is a mix of industrial chic and nostalgia hip like this raw concrete counter and original 1960s vintage mosaic flooring. I love the mosaic flooring of my childhood.
Rustic touches like this TV and sofa corner exude a sense of cosy, laid back 1960s homes. The signboard of Lam Huk kopitiam takes pride of place at the cafe (more about that later).
The same nostalgia theme extends upstairs.
Ah Ma Teochew Kuih 阿嬷潮州糕 is the return of Lam Huk kopitiam which operated from the 1940s to 90s in Kuala Sangga 老港. Kuala Sangga is a fishing village at the mouth of Sungai Sangga Besar river west of Taiping town in the Malaysian state of Perak. With dense forest at its back, tiny Kuala Sangga village has no roads and is accessible only by boat.
Most of the family running Lam Huk kopitiam have moved to Johor decades ago. Ah Ma still made kueh but only for family, neighbours, temples and charity homes. Two years ago, the second and third generations decided to bring back Lam Huk by opening Ah Ma Teochew Kuih cafe 阿嬷潮州糕 at Jalan Trus in old downtown JB.
Four of us, we ordered an assortment of kueh and dishes to try. First to arrive was fried kway teow.
Truth be told, we didn't have high expectations of Ah Ma's fried kway teow as AMTK cafe is pork and lard free. Our minds were quickly changed by the aroma of caramelised sauce and wok hei when the piping hot noodles were delivered. The rice noodles were nicely seared with wok hei and well infused with the umami savoury flavours from the signature sauce. There's prawns, fish cake slices, chives and beansprout. Supposed to have cockles, though I didn't come across any in my share. Still, I recommend Ah Ma's fried kway kway.
Chive kueh is one of my favourites among Teochew kueh. Ah Ma's rendition is great. The chives were fresh, lightly stir fried in oil and sauce to just the right doneness, giving the characteristic grassy taste of chive an overlay of umami savoury flavour. The thin, stretchy, translucent kueh skin was soft-tenderly chewy.
Ah Ma's kueh are still handmade by second, third and fourth generations of Lam Huk kopitiam.
Mang Kuang Kueh was filled with soft, moist, savoury, sweet, stewed shredded succulent jicama and carrot. The flavours were rich and at just the right intensity for me. It was also not greasy. (I don't like overly greasy, salty kueh.)
Fried Mang Kuang Kueh. Something new to me. Stewed shredded jicama in a crispy dough pocket like a samosa. Nice mix of crisp and soft textures with the familiar savoury sweet mang kuang filling.
Yam Kueh. Shaped like a png kueh (rice cake) but filled with little soft cubes of diced yam that were rich with savoury sweet yam flavour. I like this.
Teochew Yam Kueh. It's a thick slab of steamed mashed yam and rice flour topped with savoury fried chai poh (preserved turnip), aromatic fried shallot and chopped spring onion. I like the texture of the mashed yam but felt the flavour was a little on the milder side. Had to dip it in the savoury, tangy, spicy sauce that came with the yam kueh.
Ah Ma Teochew Porridge Set & Fish Porridge.
I was initially indifferent to the two different porridge dishes which the ladies ordered 😬 One was the porridge set which we were allowed three sides which were all different types of relishes and salted egg. Everything looked generic, so I didn't take any picture of it 😬 🙇♂️
I realised my mistake once I took my first mouthful of porridge. The rice grains were soft, partially broken, and the whole gruel tasted mildly sweetish. Add in the various tangy, savoury, relishes and my whole appetite "opened up" as they say. I was enjoying the humble porridge so much that I forgot to take pictures 😂 🤦♂️
My share of the fish porridge. (When Evelyn ordered this, I actually muttered out loud, "We got a lot of carbs, alreadddy.... " 😬 Turned out that I am glad we did 😄 )
I was delighted with the balance of gentle sweet and savoury flavours in the gruel. The chunks of sea bass was surprisingly tasty too. The characteristic earthly taste of sea bass was hardly discernible, and the fish tasted mostly naturally sweet.
Golden Bun Orh Ni. Come to Teochew place must, of course, end on a sweet note with orh ni.
This orh ni is unique to Ah Ma (or at least, I have not come across it before). It reminds of a Cantonese Jian Dui filled with molten yam paste (instead of red bean paste). The thick bun skin was crisp outside and softly chewy inside. It tasted savoury sweet. The yam paste was not overly sweet which we all like. No pork lard is used in this orh ni. It's a nice orh ni which is a must, if you come to Ah Ma Teochew Kuih.
Coffee. I don't know what was added to the coffee but I mused that it was a sort of "kopi masala" because there aromatics above the bitter sweet flavours in the brew. I like it, actually.
Orange Cake. It was a day after my birthday 😄
The orange was not as buttery and orangey as expected but the gesture of my friends made everything so sweet! 😄 Thanks buddies for your kind wishes.
Hipster cafe level pricing but the tasty food, nice and comfortable environment, and good service made it worth the slight premium.
A few parting notes.
While we were eating and chatting, we can't help but stopped to comment about how aromatic Ah Ma's braised dishes were every time some braised dish was delivered to our neighbouring tables. Next time, I shall order Ah Ma's braised dishes.
The wait staff at Ah Ma were young, probably students doing part time (it's school holidays now). They were clearly inexperienced but we were delighted by their energy, earnestness, friendliness, and helpful responsiveness to all our requests. Thanks young ones for a pleasant experience at Ah Ma Teochew Kuih 🙏
Written by Tony Boey on 4 Jun 2022
👆 Click to JB Best 100 page
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete