✍️29 Dec 2023. When Andy said to take us to his favourite pork organ soup in Batu Pahat, I expected it to be something like the famous Ah Soon - a two shop restaurant packed with customers.
But, Andy brought us to a quiet street (Jalan Pengkai) of street side stalls. Ah Khoon Pork Organ Soup is next to the soya bean drink stall and most of the other stalls were closed or not yet opened at this early hour.
Andy called this stall Ah Khoon but actually it has no signboard 😅
Anyway, when it comes to pork organ soup, we defer to Andy because he is an expert in this field.
You see, Andy was working at his parent's pork organ soup stall at Yuhua hawker centre in Singapore until the 1990s, when they closed the stall and retired as business was down due to swine flu.
At Ah Khoon, besides pork organ soup, he has a wide range of side dishes of braised meat, offal, eggs, tofu, etc.
My eyes zeroed in on the braised pork shank. It looked so soft and juicy, like it was inviting me to sink my teeth into it and make the juices squirt out 🤣
There's also pork trotters.
There's large and small intestines, egg, pork belly, etc.
I feel I am gaining weight just by looking at this pork belly 😰
The sides were getting all the attention because it was laid out visibly while the pork organ soup ingredients were hidden under water soup 🤭
Each one of us ordered our own portions. We all had our own yam rice, pork organ soup, and braised sides.
This was too much food for the first food stop of the day 😬
Total bill was RM83.
The pork organ soup was nice. The watery soup was moderately cloudy, porcine sweet, savoury with tanginess from the preserved vegetables. (It was considerably less salty and sour than what I recalled of pork organ soup in Singapore.)
The innards were nicely done, with their different soft tender textures and natural sweet tastes intact.
Ah Khoon carefully deboned every piece of shank and trotter leaving only the alluring fat, skin and a bit of meat.
Woohoo the gelatinous fatty savoury sweet morsels were simply delectable. The taste of Chinese five spices (star anise, cardamon, etc) and soy sauces were only sparingly used, just to bring out and accentuate the fresh pork's natural flavours.
Soft spongy braised pork large intestine was as sinful as it looks but worth dying a bit for.
There was no funky taste at all - all just natural sweetness with savoury braising stock. Andy was full of praise for it as he recalled his days of cleaning pork intestines in his teens.
These tofu were good, especially the soft crunchy fried and braised tofu skin.
Have to mention Ah Khoon's chili sauce. It was just mildly spicy hot but I enjoyed its spicy heat, a bit of tanginess and the taste of fresh garlic inside. Makes everything tastes better.
All of us opted for the yam rice but there was only a little yam inside.
Anyway, everything tasted delicious 👍 If I have any complaints, I feel the food chilled a little quick in the cool of Malaysian December mornings.
We enjoyed our meal today and good memories for posterity.
Yeah... I was suffering from sore eyes, could hardly open them 😔
Bumped in Joyce from Batu Pahat. Hi Joyce 👋
She gave me many Batu Pahat foodie tips which I will try in the future.
By the way, the soya bean stall just beside Ah Khoon Pork Organ Soup stall has excellent soya bean drink. Full bodied, almost creamy and tastes strongly of natural soy beans - I like it better than any I've had as far as I could remember.
More Batu Pahat foodie adventures 👈 click
Stall name: Ah Khoon Pig Organ Soup & Braised Meat 阿坤卤肉饭 猪杂汤 (no signboard)
Address: 2, Jalan Pengkai, Kampung Pegawai, 83000 Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia
Hours: 8am - 2pm
Written by Tony Boey on 29 Dec 2023
There was a time when Singapore farmed pigs and we had a regular supply of freshest pork and offal. We found that old taste in Batu Pahat, Malaysia.
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