Johor Kaki Top 10 Most Popular Food in Johor, Malaysia 2012

Top 10 most popular food in Johor, Malaysia 2012

Johor is located at the crossroads between East and West and has been gifted with diverse food cultures and heritage of different traditions. Therefore, while Johor is a part of Malaysia, it's food culture has certain unique features and characteristics.  

This is my own list of the Top 10 Most Popular Food in Johor, based on my personal observations. You will notice that my list differs slightly from the usual Malaysian 10 Top Most Popular Food lists as I have taken into account my own observations of local Johorean preferences.

1) Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak is a popular breakfast to start off the day. Rice is boiled with coconut milk and often also with pandan leaves for added fragrance. The tender rice served on a banana leaf is eaten with spicy sambal chili, fried fish, anchovies, fried chicken and eggs. You can add additional ingredients like beef rendang which is very popular. In Johor, nasi lemak is often eaten together with otak otak, which the seaside town of Maur is famous for.

2) Wanton Noodles

Wanton noodle stalls are everywhere in Johor. The standard of wanton noodles is high in Johor or I am lucky enough to always get noodles that are springy and drenched in delicious, flavourful sauce. The Pontian style of wanton mee with its crunchy, eggy noodles and unique tangy spicy sauce has spread all over Malaysia, Singapore and even in Batam, Indonesia.

3) Mee Rebus

“Mee rebus” literally means “boiled noodles”. The boiled yellow noodles are then topped with spicy sweet potato based gravy or kuah. The heart of mee rebus is in the gravy and Haji Wahid’s kuah is the most famous as it still uses many of the traditional ingredients such as ground dried shrimps and peanuts. Haji Wahid's is also known as Baidali mee rebus. In Johor, some stalls serve mee rebus with lamb shank or tulang and provide a straw to suck up the sweet gelatinous marrow in the shank.

4) Bak Kut Teh

Bak kut teh literally means “meat bone tea”. It is made of pork meat, ribs and often innards brewed in herbal broth. It is usually served with Chinese tea, hence the teh in bak kut teh. Bak kut teh shops are very common in Johor and the preferred style here is mainly the Teochew style which is herbal and soupy. This style relies on the freshness of the ingredients, so both the herbal taste and the body of the soup tend to be light and subtle, in order not to overpower the pork’s natural flavours.

5) Laksa

The style in Johor is less lemak (coconut milk) based but relies more on grounded spices for taste and flavour. The flavourful gravy is lighter in body than the variety found in neighbouring Singapore. In Johor, the laksa is loaded with tofu, fish balls, pork balls, and you can add extra ingredients at additional cost.

6) Lontong Kering

Longtong kering is a popular breakfast meal in Johor. It is basically boiled rice cake served with ingredients such as fried tofu, beef rendang, fried chicken, fried vegetables and topped with a spicy peanuty sauce which is very similar to satay sauce. Additional side dishes like fried beef lungs and fried fish can be added, if one fancies.

7) Kway Teow Soup

As Johorean Chinese are mostly Teochews, this Teochew staple is found in every corner of Johor, especially in Johor Bahru (the Little Swatow of Malaysia). Flat rice noodle or kway teow is served with clear but flavourful broth brewed over hours using pork bones and a slow fire. In some places, charcoal fire is still used, giving the soup a wholesome flavour and body that only the heart can feel. The fresh pork ingredients such as thinly sliced meat, liver, and kidneys are artfully scathed - just enough to bring out the full natural sweetness of the meat. Recently, additional fanciful ingredients such as canned abalone have been added to the dish.

8) Kway Teow Kia (Kway Chap)

Teochews like to prepare their food by braising it in soy sauce with herbs and spices. It is no surprise then that braised pork and innards or kway teow kia (known as kway chap in Singapore) is very popular in Johor. The braised pork and innards are served with tender flat rice noodles with braising sauce. Another popular braised meat is duck which is also commonly found in Johor, though not as frequently as kway teow kia.

9) Nasi Baryani

This is a staple commonly found in Malaysia but it is Batu Pahat that indisputably claims the title of Nasi Baryani Capital of Malaysia. Normally served with heaps of fragrant top quality Basmati rice and matched with a large chunk of either flavourful mutton rendang or chicken. A nasi baryani meal may look huge but most people are able to finish it all because it is so delicious J

10) Ayam Penyet

Originally from Indonesia, ayam penyet is a very popular, convenient and delicious “set” meal. Commonly found in food courts, ayam penyet is ideal for a quick and substantial lunch for the working crowd. Ayam penyet means “flattened chicken” in Indonesian - so named because the piece of fried chicken is literary flattened with a wooden mallet before serving. This dish consists of steamed rice accompanied by a large piece of fried chicken, fried tempeh, leafy vegetables, and a big dollop of good spicy sambal chili.

There you go, my take on the Top 10 most popular foods in Johor, Malaysia J Try them, you will be delighted.