When JoanCleo invited me to try out the food at her dad's Sam Kong 三江 restaurant, I didn't expect that I was there to learn about the history of one of the most famous and oldest laksa in Johor.
It turned out that JoanCleo's dad, Mr. Yong is the third generation owner of one of the oldest laksa stalls in Johor.
Mr. Yong, passionate about laksa, explains the spices that go into making laksa broth.
Mr. Yong's grandfather started selling laksa before the Japanese Occupation in the 1930s along Jalan Trus. Mr. Yong's grandfather learnt the trade from a gentleman from Guangxi, China. Before this man went back to China he showed Mr. Yong's grandfather how to make laksa using spices from the Indian shops at Jalan Trus in downtown Johor Bahru. Mr. Yong's grandfather then started to sell laksa along Jalan Trus near the old Chinese temple 柔佛古廟.
The World War came and after the Japanese left in 1945, Mr. Yong's grandfather in turn taught one of his neighbours, Mdm Lee, the trade. Mdm Lee started to sell laksa around the old town area by carrying the pots slung across her shoulders on a bamboo pole. Lee Kee laksa is still in business today at Kee Kim Huat kopitiam in Taman Sri Tebrau. Mdm Lee also passed on the art to one of her relatives who then started Tan Kee Laksa near the old Cathay cinema, hence the name Cathay laksa. Today, Cathay Laksa is still in business at Jalan Lumba Kuda. All three laksa stalls are still regarded as among the best in Johor.
Till this day, Mr. Yong makes the laksa broth every business day using the same recipe handed down by his grandfather.
Mr. Yong first fries the garlic, shallots, lemon grass and other ingredients.
Add the spices, belacan and fish bones, and continue frying at high heat till the choking, pungent aroma fills the air.
Add in water to make the broth. Santan will be added when the broth is nearly ready. The whole broth is then strained, leaving just the smooth laksa broth.
This large bowl of laksa costs RM6.
The laksa broth is the soul of this dish. The laksa broth is smooth, with just the right body - not overly lemak, and the complex blend of fragrances and aromas are pleasant - not pungent or overpowering. The broth has an umami flavour that holds all the fragrances and aromas together. This is one of the best laksa broths that I have tasted. The laksa broth is highly drinkable without the unpleasantness of feeling bloated.
I spent some 10 to 15 minutes photographing the laksa, yet the bee hoon did not turn limp and soggy. The bee hoon still had some spring because Sam Kong takes the trouble to air dry their partially cooked bee hoon before blanching them with laksa broth just before serving. It is small details like this that set the better shops apart from the average.
The delicious tofu with fresh fish filling is made right there at the shop. Everything is fresh.
Just looking at the crispy bean curd skin makes me want to take a bite at it.
I was amazed by Sam Kong's handmade fish balls. Sam Kong makes their fish balls using fresh ikan parang everyday. I can't remember coming across a fish ball with so much fresh fish flavour and such tender yet chewy mouth feel. Next time at the shop, I shall definitely ask the boss to add extra fish balls 加料 to my laksa :))
I just can't get enough of Sam Kong's fish balls, so I bought a kilo to enjoy it at home.
Sam Kong sells their marvellous fish balls (frozen) at RM38 a kilo. I have tested them at home and found that they taste good.
Sam Kong's sambal chili was great too - fragrant and mildly spicy. But, Sam Kong's laksa broth is so good, I didn't need this sambal chili to boost it's flavour. So, I just ate the sambal chili on its own - so good!
->> Enjoy the tradition and heritage of one of JB's oldest and most delicious curry laksa.
Click on the photos below to read about Cathay Laksa and Lee Kee Laksa.
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Sam Kong restaurant is along Jalan Ungku Mohsin and just below the Johor Bahru Kwangxi Association office.
Restaurant name: Sam Kong Restaurant 三江
Address: 8-H, Jalan Ungku Mohsin, Kampung Ungku Mohsin, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/N8BmU
GPS: 1.514005,103.740173
Hours: 11:00am to 11:00pm (Monday closed)
Non Halal
Date visited: 14 May 2013
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I have been on the constant look out for good Penang Char Kway Teow and Chai Tow Kway because there ain't many in Johor Bahru. I am so glad that my friends Edey and Marco brought me to their regular lunch hangout, 7 Baker Cafe in Taman Impian Emas, to try out their fried carrot cake or chai tow kway.
I was delighted with the mouth feel and taste of 7 Baker cafe's chai tow kway. The kway (carrot cake) was tender and each bite releases the subtle flavour of radish in the cake. At 7 Baker, the chai tow kway is fried with crunchy taugeh or bean sprouts and a savoury sauce. I have tried several other chai tow kway stalls across Johor but most were let down by the poor quality of the kway used - they were mostly stiff and tasteless as very little radish was used. 7 Baker's chai tow kway is definitely worth trying.
I chatted with Mr. Ng, the owner and asked him why is his shop named "7 Baker". Mr Ng shared that it is because "7" is his lucky number. Mr. Ng also told me that his family is originally from Penang, hence, there is a selection of traditional Penang dishes in 7 Baker's menu. As we were leaving, Mr. Ng invited us to come back soon to try his Penang char kway teow. "Our Penang char kway teow is very good" he said with visible pride.
I was so impressed with 7 Baker Cafe's chai tow kway that I returned to the cafe 2 days later, eager to try out their char kway teow.
7 Baker cafe's Penang char kway teow was indeed excellent, just as Mr. Ng had said. The kway teow was tender, not overly oily and coated with a savoury, subtly prawny sauce. The plump beansprouts were done just right and were juicy and crunchy. I am glad that I found another good fried kway teow in JB that I would recommend.
Mr. Ng said that good char kway teow has to be fried plate by plate, one at a time - there can be no short cuts. I agree with Mr. Ng wholeheartedly. As 7 Baker Cafe is run by just Mr. and Mrs. Ng, and as Mrs. Ng fries the char kway teow one plate at a time, waiting time may be a little longer during peak hours.
We also tried 7 Baker's fried prawn mee. This dish is a unique 7 Baker Cafe creation - it is actually the usual Penang prawn mee soup but fried with the same prawny broth. Personally, I found it good though I was not bowled over. Edey enjoyed it a lot more than me because he likes the flavour of the prawny gravy :))
I must mention 7 Baker cafe's sambal chili. Made at the shop with shrimps, dried shrimps and chili, the sambal is used in all their Penang dishes. 7 Baker's sambal has just the right spiciness and a rich umami flavour from the shrimps. 7 Baker's sambal chili makes every dish better.
All these dishes, the Penang char kway teow, chai tow kway and fried prawn mee, all costs RM6 each.
If you are a char kway teow or chai tow kway fan, I suggest giving 7 Baker a try :) 7 Baker also serves coffee and a wide range of breads and cakes which I would like to try at my next visit.
Restaurant name: 7 Baker Cafeteria
Address: 45, Jalan Impian Emas 5/1, Taman Impian Emas, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/NJ1S2
GPS: 1.542545,103.687114
Hours: 10:00am to 9:00pm
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
Date visited: 10 May 2013, 13 May 2013
I was enjoying a curry mee at Batu Pahat's "glutton street" when a stranger walked up to me and asked if I am "Johor Kaki". Daniel introduced himself and we quickly settled down to a nice conversation like old friends :) Naturally I asked Daniel about what to eat in Batu Pahat. Daniel said I should try "Bus Station Chinese nasi beriani" 车站黄姜饭 which is just around the corner from "glutton street" at Jalan Jenang.
Daniel took his leave and when I finished my curry mee and went to settle my bill, the lady boss told that my meal was already paid for by Daniel. Thanks Daniel for the treat, it was nice to meet you :)
We took a short walk to "Bus Station nasi beriani" 车站黄姜饭. 车站黄姜饭 is a kopitiam type of shop. Everything is very basic, no frills and laid back.
I couldn't get much from the somewhat reserved shopkeepers, only that they are at this shop for about 3 years. They probably have been in business a long time before moving here since this shop is no where near the bus station 车站.
The shop is open only briefly from 9:30am to 1:00pm and it closes on unspecified days - quite common practice for smaller towns. The business is small scale or more like larger scale mum's home cooking. In my humble opinion, few can beat mum's cooking - so the closer a shop is to mum's cooking, the better.
车站黄姜饭 sells only one thing - "beriani rice" with curry chicken at RM4.60 a set.
The rice is not the basmati type - just ordinary fragrant rice. The rice was light, fluffy, mildly flavoured with cumin and kept warm in a steamer. Those pickled cucumbers and pineapples at the side were crunchy, sweet and mildly tangy.
Each set comes with two large chunky pieces of chicken and curry. The curry is quite lemak with santan, smooth and mildly spicy. The creamy curry was sweet from having tomatoes among its ingredients. There was a gentle aroma of spices. The chicken was tender. Many people prefer this mild curry compared to the more pungent, robust variety. I like both types.
Even though 车站黄姜饭 is certainly no Michelin Star restaurant, it's deep in the fibre of the lives of Batu Pahat folk - part of the sense of place that makes a country or town a home.
Batu Pahat is actually the nasi beriani capital of Malaysia, anchored by famous shops like Nasi Baryani Mohd Shah and Nasi Bariani Power. 车站黄姜饭 is actually "the other", lesser known nasi beriani shop. So, if you want to try nasi beriani besides the big name mainstream shops, you might want to give 车站黄姜饭 a try.
Restaurant name: 车站黄姜饭 "Bus Station Nasi Beriani"
Address: 36-5, Jalan Jenang, Batu Pahat, Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/sCnRj
GPS: 1.854069,102.927748
Hours: 09:30am to 1:00pm (no fixed off day)
Non Halal
Date visited: 18 Mar 2013
I am a newly addicted mille crepe cake junkie. Every time I think about it, I crave it - and it pops into my head at the most unexpected or inconvenient times. My love affair with mille crepe cake is a classic case of love at first bite.
Moonlight Cake House's "Berry Berry Milk Crepe" at RM8.80
That delightful first bite took me by surprise. I found the mouth feel of biting through the layers of tissue thin pancakes most addictive. It reminded me of the bite, and subtle snapping and recoil of al dente noodles, except that in this case, it is the multi-layers of crepe. Each thin pancake seemed to feebly resist the advance of our teeth, and then yielding, pushed apart leading to a minutely subtle pop as the tissue separates. Each successive layer receding as our teeth advances until our enamels meet. The gnashing of teeth, rewarded with this unique sensation until we swallow the warm mouthful of soft and sweet cake, cream, fruit or jam.
Moonlight Cake House "Cheese Mille Crepe" RM8.80
"Mille" is the French word meaning "thousand". So mille crepe cakes are layered cakes made with at least 20 layers of tissue thin French style pancakes. Though mille crepe cakes have French elements, it is actually invented in New York City at a cake shop known as Lady M Confections about 10 years ago.
Mille crepe cakes are quickly catching on in Johor Bahru with a few cake shops offering it. Moonlight Cake House is one of my favourite places to enjoy mille crepe cakes in Johor Bahru.
So, when I had the opportunity to visit Moonlight Cake House's central bakery in Taman Sutera Utama, I made sure that I dropped in at the mille crepe cake department. I was happy as a child because when I was small, my favourite pastime was to watch people at work. I always wanted to be a bulldozer driver when I was a child after watching wide eyed for hours, bulldozers in action from my 3-storey flat window.
Making a mille crepe cake is not easy! The paper thin crepes are so delicate. The mille crepe cakes at Moonlight Cake House are made with at least 20 layers of French pancakes. In this case, these are egg crepes.
The crepes are carefully stacked one on top of another, layer by layer. Here the skilful patissier is brushing in a thin coat of syrup.
Next she spreads on a layer of cream. Mille crepe cakes are very flexible, so there are many possible fillings between the layers. Other flavours include strawberry, blueberry, chocolate and even durian when in season.
The patissier spins the crepe cake on a spinning cradle to even out the thin layer of cream.
My idea of bliss is enjoying a mille crepe cake with a good coffee either alone with a good book, or having a tête-à-tête with family or good friends.
One good place where I can get all these in Johor Bahru is at Moonlight Cake House.
Restaurant name: Moonlight Cake House (6 branches)
Address: Head Office at 77B, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/3, Taman Sutera Utama, Skudai, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.515692,103.669569
Hours: 9:00am to 2:00am
No pork, no lard, Halal cert in process
I am not sure when I developed a sweet tooth, and started to enjoy cakes and desserts as much as I do now. Perhaps, now that I go hunt for good eats actively, I am discovering really good cakes and desserts. Today, I had a really good fondant cake at Moonlight Cake House's Taman Sutera Utama branch, near Sutera Mall.
I was chatting online with Johor Kaki reader Jonathan about bak kut teh in Senai when he told me that his company actually makes bak kut teh spices. That got me extremely excited as I wanted to learn about bak kut teh spices from experts. So we arranged to meet at his office, at A.K. Koh Enterprise in Senai. During my visit to A.K. Koh Enterprise, I also met with Jonathan's colleagues Lian Jie and Ms. Kang.
It turned out that besides bak kut teh spices, A.K. Koh Enterprise in Senai also makes a range of different products such as instant herbal soup spices, instant curry sauce, instant noodles, instant coffee bags, ready-to-drink bird's nest soup, canned abalone and many others under the A1 label.
As I was leaving after the meeting, Jonathan handed me a bagful of A.K. Koh products and in it was this pack of A1 Instant Abalone Noodles. That was a week ago - as I was kept indoors today by a thunderstorm, I decided to give the instant abalone noodles a try :)
The instant noodle block removed from the package.
The seasoning powder for making instant soup.
The 3 slices of canned abalone and stock removed from the sachet. The rich aroma of canned abalone escaped into the air when I cut open the sachet.
I cooked the instant noodles following the instructions on the packet to the letter. For the purpose of this post, I used only what is in the packet - I deliberately did not put in any additional ingredients such as green vegetables, bean sprouts, spring unions, or eggs.
In less than 10 minutes, the abalone noodles were ready to serve. The aroma of abalone filled the air as the stock and noodles were boiling in the pot. Lian Jie told me that these are Mexican abalones.
The soup was smooth, has body and a subtle herbal flavour. It also has abalone flavour and aroma.
The noodles were just the right thickness, soft and has a slight al dente bite. I like these noodles.
The 3 thin slices of abalone taste like the usual canned abalone. The slices still have a slight spring in the bite.
A1 instant abalone noodles is quite likable even in this basic, straight out of the pack version. I am sure, it will be even nicer when I add in additional ingredients such as a bit of greens, spring onions, and shallot oil and crackles. A1 instant abalone noodles retail at around RM6 a packet.
A1 instant abalone noodles are certified Halal.
Rating 7/10 based on Johor Kaki standardised instant noodle rating system.
(Note: I have no affiliation with A.K. Koh Enterprise and receive no fees for this post - actually this applies to all Johor Kaki posts.)
I blind tested 5 abalone so you won't get a bad one for Chinese New Year
Date: 7 May 2013
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