Kway Tiu Kia @ Stall 57 Meng Fang, Cedar Point Food Court

Kway Chap, a Teochew dish made famous by laborers who piled the trade is found mainly in Singapore and if you happen to jump across the causeway to Johor Bahru, it does not exist.

Instead you have a variant of it known popularly as Kway Tiu Kia, a rice noodle dish that is a little divorced from the Singapore version. As a kid, my Grandmother would take me to a lane in Meldrum walk in the 1970s, where a Teochew family would serve it as a breakfast meal in the morning. Those were the good old days and the fresh pork offal and meat would be sliced thinly into a small plate and accompanied with a bowl of Kway Tiu or Hor Fun as the Cantonese like to refer to it.

What made that dish stand out was the taste. It was well balanced and and I will always remember it. The taste between the meat and the spices used to cook the dish would be perfect. Unfortunately, I have been programmed to accept this type of taste whenever I eat anything remotely Kway Chap or Kway Tiu Kia.

For me, the secret to making a great Kway Tiu Kia is the soup base. Here I have seen many failures. The cooked broth is often too strong with spices such as Cinnamon or Star Anise. Sometimes, other herbs are added to virtually kill the taste buds once you taste it, other times it is bearable.

The version found at Johor Bahru's Tasik Utara, though with an attached history of more than 2 decades, is not to my liking for this same reason. Another known locally as "Restoran Hi Wan" also does not do the dish justice as the soup broth is too strong.

The only one that has found favor with me is the one located in Cedar Point, Century Gardens. It opens in the morning right to about 2pm and is closed on Thursdays.

Made by a Cantonese family, they have applied their Cantonese style taste to the cooking and made it their own. They too have been around for the last 2 decades though I did notice that the quality of the broth can sometimes be inconsistent.

The pork broth that is used primarily for this dish comes from cooking the pork offal, such as tongue, skin, intestines, tripe, pork belly, and tofu. The broth is diluted into a soup and served with the Hor Fun or flat rice noodles. This is where the inconsistency lie. Sometimes they add too much boiled water while other times it taste just right.

The use of spices to flavor the offal is crucial. Too much of it and you can't taste the meat. Each part of the offal has its own taste and this is very important to not destroy these flavors. Fortunately, they always get the taste of the meat right while the rice noodle soup is often a hit or miss affair.

A single serving for one person can be as low as US$2, and this goes up depending on variety of pork offal you order. Go a little crazy and you'd be hit with a huge bill of between US$3 to US$5 per person. Now that's a lot of money to pay for pork offal.

Kway Tiu Kia @ Meng Fang

Kapitan Curry Chicken @ MyKuali KSL City

There has been a new trend these days to capitalize on your branding whenever the opportunity arises and MyKuali is one such entity. They came out with a highly successful instant noodle pack called the MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle which is exported to several countries. The brand also has premade cooking paste for a range of their dishes so when I got the chance to try out their new Kopitiam Style cafes, I was enthusiastic.

This new Kopitiam is located on same level as MBO Cineplexes in KSL City Resort Shopping Complex in Johor Bahru city. The owners have taken a leaf from Ernst Zacharevic's iconic murals found on Penang island and and these can be seen adorned on the walls of this eatery as wallpaper. I am not sure if they are paying Zacharevic for use of the copied murals instead so I won't go into these details.

My choice was for the Chicken, since I am curios about the Kapitan Curry Chicken paste. To begin with, this dish was created by the Baba Nyonya communities in Penang, Melaka and Singapore and a version of it can still be eaten in Melaka where judicious use of Tamarind is used to sour up the concoction. That too is called Kapitan Curry (a homage of sort to Yap Ah Loy, the founding figure of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia).

To be fair, this version found in MyKuali is not even close to the traditional Melaka variety. It is a version of the Malaysian Sambal Chicken, flavored with Kaffir Lime leaves and Lemon grass. One taste and the first thing that hits you is the sambal flavor as opposed to the curry flavor that is often distinguished by the liberal use of coconut milk. The chicken is prefried and cooked once more in the sauce. It was tasty and I enjoyed it.

I like sambal chicken, and this bodes well for my taste buds but the dish itself as a whole was a let down. On the plate, you are given a fried boiled egg and three slices of cucumber. The rice was in particular not well cooked (I suspect it was overnight rice as the consistency reminded me of why people use kept rice for frying as it was firmer and has less moisture).

For US$3 a pop, this has to be quite expensive. You are given only one piece of chicken doused liberally with the Kapitan Curry sauce. You don't get a side of potatoes with the 'curry' of any other garnishing. In terms of value for money, I don't think I will coming to eat this dish again.

Kapitan Curry Chicken @ KSL City, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Curry Fish Head @ Stall 54 Cedar Point Food Court.

When it comes to curry fish head, everyone seems to have their own take on it and I don't blame them. Some like it a tad sour, others like it with more curry taste, etc.

Fish head today isn't cheap anymore. Back in the old days, fish heads were often discarded by restauranteurs and for some, they decided to take those pieces of unwanted fish to make a meal out of it. It is widely believed that the origin of Fish Head curry came from the Indians who emigrated to Singapore and Malaysia from Kerala, where they have a bad habit of adding thick coconut milk to whatever they cooked. So Fish Head curry without coconut milk isn't really curry fish head.

Fast forward to the present time, the Indians no longer dominate the Fish Head curry business as the Chinese have decided to tap this viable delicacy.

Cable TV food host, Anthony Bourdain has been known to come round these parts just for the fish head curry. But I am never sure of which variety he likes. I know it has to be spicy and this is probably one thing that owners of Stall 54 won't be on his list.

First, it is a descriptive stall, which reads in Chinese and Malay to mean Fish Head Curry and Yong Tau Fu. The part of the Yong Tau Fu or stuffed bean curd and vegetables is a bit of a error as they don't do the last one. Instead, they focus on the Fish Head curry which happens to be their signature dish.

The spicy ingredient that is to be the hot Chili peppers is probably far too mild to burn your lips with. It is actually very tourist friendly as the sting is almost non existent. What makes it a real hit is the thick gravy that comes with it, and this is what makes it mouthwatering.

Copious amounts of coconut milk is added to blunt any chili stings and the rich gravy is almost broth like as the taste of the fish can be savored with every spoonful.

But a word of warning. Those unaccustomed to taking coconut milk will have trouble later. It varies from person to person so this is aptly a killer dish, which can send you to the toilet within hours if the ingredient doesn't agree with you. For others like me, it is a real treat.

Eaten with rice, it is such an easy fish to fall in love with. The tofu puffs, eggplant and okra gives the dish more texture, and I have never seen a morsel left untouched once the dish is done. Price wise, this isn't cheap though and if you are eating as a family, be prepared to pay up to US$3 per person for this one pot meal but you have a choice of adding both fish fillets or fish head to the pot before it is cooked. The stall is open for lunch and up to dinner throughout the week.

Curry Fish Head @ Stall 54 Cedar Point, Johor Bahru.

One Dollar Meal @ Uncle Jacks Fried Chicken

When you are hungry, you need a quick cheap meal and where do you go? This is probably one of the toughest questions as there is very little on offer in terms of a cheap meal in Malaysia these days. The average price for a meal is between US1.50 to US$2.00 in a town like Johor Bahru and we are not talking about cafe or diner fare. A McDonald's meal will cost you up to US$3 but there are promotional items for about US$1.50, which hardly counts as a meal.

So when I stumbled upon Uncle Jack's Fried Chicken, my first reaction is that....WTF? How the hell do they make money?

This outlet was located in the Giant Supermarket in Kluang, Johor. Away from the town center, it was hardly any walk in traffic but you find plenty of kids eating there during lunch. And why is this so? Allow me to elaborate.

If you are a 10 year old, you won't have much lunch money and when you stay back for ECA, lunch is on your own. This means parents will have to budget a lunch fare.

Fast food is as good as junk food. That said you can't have too many choices. But with Uncle Jack's, you can have a meal for about US$1.00.

The meal is made up of a small cup of chicken soup, a side of Hainan style chicken rice, a piece of fried chicken (which is of average size) and a soft drink of your choice (like Cola). All this cost RM3.50 in local currency, which is just a tad more than US$1.00. If you are a school kid, a free cone of ice cream is thrown in for good measure. Wow.

Now the soup isn't great. Made from chicken stock, it is tasty and comforting. I won't go into detail about MSG poisoning but this gets pretty close if you drunk a gallon of this stuff. The rice was above average, no doubt cooked with the chicken soup. The quality of the rice was poor, it was Malaysian rice and is considerably soft. Good for kids and old folks I suppose. The chicken piece lacked flavoring, as the flavor is on the coating and the chicken itself taste flat.

I would have been very critical for the taste if not for the price of the whole meal. You can't fault the meal as it does what it does best, to fill your belly. What more do you want?

Fried Chicken with Rice @ Uncle Jacks Fried Chicken

Dry Bakuteh @ Kim Hock Food Court

It looks disgusting, dark, and almost burnt in respect but Kim Hock Food Court has been selling these for years. For the life of me, I have no idea that such a dish existed nor did I even care to find out about its existence but when it comes to something this strange, someone has to write about it.

First, Bakuteh, or Meat Boat Tea as it is known in Chinese circles is a dish cooked for laborers who worked on the docks and construction sites in Singapore and Malaysia. This highly potent soup and meat mix was what fueled the laborers to soldier on and to be fair, it does not taste like what you normally find today. Both the Malaysian and Singaporean version differ in their use of White Peppers. Singapore loves the use of heavy white peppers to flavor the soup while the Malaysian version does with a lot less.

When it comes to fragrance, Chinese herbs and spices dominates this dish. The meat is infused with these flavors when boiled in the soup and you'd eat it with rice. That said, it's not very palatable for Westerners.

There are two different preparations for this soup. One has a darker soup base and then there is the lighter one, which is supposedly from Teochew chefs. The Hokkien version of course is much darker. The Cantonese on the other hand has reinterpreted the recipe to make it more soupy, fragrant and true to taste and the version sold here at Kim Hock Food Court is just that, a lighter soupier Bakuteh.  Everything is balanced, making it an invigorating liquid when you are on the look out for a pick me up.

The dry version? Well I have no idea who came up with the idea but it taste very different. Gone are the subtle herby taste of the broth and instead, you have dried Cephalopods as the dominant and detectable ingredient. I suppose the goal here is to preserve the color of the dish rather than taste.

Now I would like to point out that Kim Hock Food Court is not really a food court. It serves up a variety of dishes which are mainly pork based. The pork trotters in vinegar (too little vinegar), Bakuteh and the dry bakuteh are all made in small portions but don't get me wrong. Their portions are big even when classified small and with a few dishes  ordered, there were so many chunks of meat that even Lions would eat there if they could. To feed four, we only spent US$20, and this included the Yam rice and pot of tea.

For value for money, there is no denying this place shines. Unfortunately I didn't take to the dry Bakuteh like duck to water and preferred the soupy version. Maybe I am a traditionalist? I'll let you be a judge of that.

Dry Bakuteh @ Kim Hock Food Court

Fried Pork Loin @ Kah Kah Loke Restaurant

Bitter, which sounds like please in German but let me tell you that bitter in Chinese and Indian cuisine is good for you.

This is probably the strongest contrast between western and eastern cooking and how I feel that Asian cuisine will always be more exotic than the vanilla styled, diary and herb style ingredients found in continental and American cooking. 

How else can you explain the fascination with Asian flavors. Fortunately, there are cuisines that are still palatable to Westerners who might cringe at the thought of eating bitter gourd. 

At Restaurant Kah Kah Loke, you can heartily dig into a bowl of bitter gourd soup, infused with porky flavors and less than bitter gourd slices. The Chinese believe that eating bitter gourd is a good way to cool the body and for the Indians, it is a cure for diabetes. You can even get the Kavela pills that are made with bitter gourd to treat diabetes so what's not to like about bitter gourd?

The bitter gourd soup at Kah Kah Loke is the most fascinating piece of bitter cuisine, and you get to choose your ingredients. The waiter at hand will ask you if you'd like to have pig offal, such as liver and bits of intestines or just plain pork. Or for that matter everything of the above. The best part of this experience is the bitter gourd soup is actually palatable to Westerners. The bitter gourd itself has been prepared in such a way that the bitterness has been eliminated. The soup self is plesantly porky, and if you like the taste of pork, this is one soup you will be coming back for more. 

The soup dish is eaten with rice of course, and you can call the highly recommended mabo tofu, which is soft bean curd with mince pork or a side of pig offal stir fried with ginger and soy sauce. I have no idea why Westerners seem to dislike offal. Anthony Bourdain regularly woofs it down an calls it soul food.

Even in the past, none of a slaughtered animal was wasted and people too poor to afford the best cuts of meats from the butcher had to settle for offal. Apparently the sophisticated palate is just not in the West. In Asia, the well heeled young will refuse to indulge in anything except prime cuts. Hopefully these highly tasty discarded meat will end up with pets as it would be a complete waste to throw them away.

As much as I like the soup and sides, the killer dish has to be the fried pork loin. Each tasty morsel is coated and deep fried giving it a crisp outside while being moist and soft on the inside. The pork loin is flavored just right, and should it be fed to westerners, they won't be able to stop eating it. I say enough about this dish except to rate it for what it is worth. You can't go wrong with this dish. 

Restaurant Kah Kah Loke has five outlets, two of which are in Johor. The bitter gourd soup unfortunately is not very consistent from branch to branch. The outlet at Taman Sutera, serves up better bitter gourd soup than the original Johor Jaya branch. 

However, the fried pork loin taste superb at both these places so for that alone, I highly recommend it. 

Hakka Fried Pork Loin @ Kah Kah Loke Restaurant, Taman Sutera

Chicken Cutlet with Pasta

Linguine pasta is one of my favorites. It's flat, and has enough bite to satisfy every bite but it comes at a price. For one it isn't cheap as it has to be imported. Second, it has to be prepared well.

The Loading Bay Cafe is a fusion style bistro that serves up Italian and Western cuisine with a fusion touch. Located in the center of Kluang town in Johor, one could cosy up to the place during a hot afternoon.

They recently started to offer a lunch set menu that comes with their signature chicken cutlet. You have a choice of having it with either rice or pasta. The dish comes with a drink of either tea, coffee or ice tea and is priced at US$3.00. This is not a bad price for a start but for sheer value of money, you have to examine the food.

Much Ado about Al-Dente

Having cut my teeth in preparing pasta, I am very critical of how Chinese chefs and cooks prepare pasta. Often, they prepare it too soft, almost noodle like.

This dish in particular fails because of this. The pasta taste like it was prepared in advance and left to warm up later when an order needed to be fulfilled. Then there is a distinct lack of olive oil. Chili is used to spice it up a notch but to no avail. The pasta falls flat. The garlic that flavors it just doesn't have enough olive oil to coat and all you can taste is the chili.

The chicken cutlet on the other hand was well prepared, flavorful and well breaded. But it doesn't stand out as a signature dish. The lack of attention paid to the pasta made the dish imbalanced.

The pasta didn't have a bite to it. It fell apart in your mouth once you started to chew on it. Olive oil, which is a chief ingredient to making it palatable was missing, due to cost probably as any drizzle would have eaten into its profits. Such penny wise pound foolish approach to cost controls is what kills a great restaurant.

This is a poor effort on the part of the chef and for this he will be penalized.  I might add that 3 bucks isn't much, but for that alone in a small town is far above what people are expected to pay for mediocre food.

Chicken Cutlet Pasta @ Loading Bay Cafe