Kluang Beef Noodle'Claypot Bovine Offal Soup @ Taman Murni

Beef offal and beef noodles were the staple of the mainland Chinese and they brought that culinary delight to Taiwan. Over in Malaysia, beef noodles are not a big thing here as many Chinese are Taoist, who follow Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. They forbid the eating of beef and thus, beef noodles are particularly difficult to come by, but not impossible.

So here I am, Taman Murni, Kluang where the original Kluang Beef Noodle is now located. The owner use to operate from old Coronation Cinema, where he would have a meat cleaver on hand to dish out bowls upon bowls of beef noodles. I have written about his other outlet in Kluang Mall here, but there are some slight differences on the sort of dishes they offer.

The main thing they have are the big claypot beef offal soup. It's not cheap, at US$10 a pop but well worth the wait.

Is there a difference?

Apparently not but the soup is satisfying. The soup base is the same as the main noodle soup broth and you can't tell the difference but what you get in the claypot is addictive.

Chinese herbs have been used to carefully remove the beefy aftertaste, and in doing so makes the beef offal very enticing.

The chunks of beef is relatively lean, and the the tripe is cooked to perfect. The beef tendons however are a little chewey, it is cooked to the point where it doesn't become glutinous so for those who like the al-dente feel, this would be perfect, me? I prefer it to be more slimey, it's the smooth texture that I miss after having stuffed myself with Beef Offal on the streets of Macau.

Conclusion?

One of a kind, lots to eat, and plenty to share. However if you are a heavy eater, you might have to order two pots instead of one. They have only one size for the claypot, so you can't choose to have more. There isn't much of a variety in the soup. Just tripe, tendons and lean beef cuts.

Beef offal soup has become a sort of comfort food for me, and I am sure if you are not put off by eating offal, you would like it too.


Beef Offal Soup @ Kluang Beef Noodles, Taman Murni, Kluang. Johor. 
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Big Bean Coffee: Dagan Rengit Coffee Cafe

When it come to coffee, the Arabica bean is highly prized in the gourmet world and nothing really comes close...not even Catimor, a bean that has been cross between Robusta and Arabica.

In southeast Asia, the bean of choice is Liberica, and since it grows well in mid to low lands, you get a feeling that it would make it a preferred choice for coffee plantations but in reality, it is very difficult to justify. I remember Todd Carmichael of La Calombe who traversed Sarawak in search of the mystical Liberica bean and wasn't fully convinced he found the legendary bean even after taking it home—not even available for sale on his online site.

So here we have another Liberica bean to test your tastebuds, this time it is the Excelsa type of bean. Now Rengit Coffee in Batu Pahat, Malaysia has been a coffee trader for some time and they import and roast gourmet coffees from all over the world.

Rengit Coffee has spruced up its coffee image by going into the Cafe business. They have several branches in Batu Pahat and one in Kluang located in the shopping arcade of AEON Big supermarket.

Robusta cherry on the right, middle cherry is the Liberica, left is the Arabica

The Dagan brand has an elephant on it, and it would appear that they might be using Elephants to do the processing as Civet Cats can be hard to come by, however if you study their literature, they call their Elephant bean coffee not because it was processed by Elephants but because of its sheer SIZE. The Excelsa bean (known to the French as Chari) is suppose to be big, but if you judge the size of the coffee cherrie, then it is probably bigger than the Arabica variety but it is not in any way larger than the pure Liberica beans drifting around most of the local coffee shops. Robusta is the bane of the coffee world. Low quality, high caffeine and bitter, the Robusta is prized in the medical world for the caffeine it produces which is distilled and added back in to soft drinks and in medicine. 

Taste Test

Excelsa coffee isn't going to be much better than the Libericas found locally but I must say that after having the taste test, it was in fact, a tad better than you realize.

First, the aroma is very similar to what you find with Arabica roast. The first whiff gives the impression that you are drinking premium beans but when the firs sip hits your mouth, you then realize that it is no Arabica. It is not even comparable to a full bodied Arabica and will never be in the gourmet circles.

Don't get me wrong, it has good acidity and there is a very distinct bitterness that s not overpowering nor near the likes of the Robusta variety but you need a creamer to cut down on this bitterness. Besides this, it has a nice fruity note. I detected a hint of Banana as an end note. Which was kinda weird as even Gourmet coffees grown alongside Banana trees don't give off this aroma or taste.

However if you judge the Excelsa bean against the normal Liberica coffee offered locally in Malaysia, you will see how Excelsa shines. Comparatively speaking, the Excelsa beans are better than the usual Liberica coffees found in South East Asia, in particular, in Vietnam and Cambodia.

It has a good body going in and has none of the bitter kick one finds in a Robusta. Since it is priced much lower than Arabica, and higher than the usual Liberica, it is a good bean for use in coffee blends. Blended coffee is a fusion of all three beans and often used in cafe house blends. Blended coffee is found everywhere from Supermarket house blends to coffee shop blends. Single origin coffees are the most prized, which is similar to single malt whiskey if you want to get an idea of the comparison.

A 250 gram bag of roasted Excelsa from Dagan Rengit Cafe sells for about US$3.

footnote: Excelsa Beans have a reputation for having lower caffeine so if you are looking for something that won't keep you up all night, you can try having this type of coffee.