Fish Ball and Tofu Noodle beside Kulai Centre Point, Johor

This no name fish ball and tofu stall beside Kulai Centre Point is a classic stumble upon good food find.



Yesterday, we drove all the way from JB to Kulai with the plan to try out the famous Yeen Lai 云来 tim sum at their home base in Kulai. When we walked towards Yeen Lai, not surprisingly there was already a big crowd of customers at the famous street side kopitiam. When we got closer and looked at the tables, we realised that besides the tim sum, most of the customers were having fish balls and tofu soup.



Seeing how the customers were enjoying their fish ball noodles, I asked the nearest uncle about it. "Been eating this for 40 years", the friendly uncle replied with a satisfied grin.  



So, I walked up to the busy boss, put on my best smile, and asked "Good morning boss, do you make these fish balls and tofu yourself?" "Yes, early in the morning everyday" the friendly boss replied through a wall of steam from the boiling pot of broth. "What is the name of your stall?" The boss paused a moment, and gave me a puzzled look as nobody ever asked him this question before. "We haven't thought of a name for 50 years", he finally replied.




We had a quick discussion and decided to adjust our plans and give this fish balls a try first. So we sat down and ordered the normal RM4 set which comes with noodles and a bowl of fish balls and tofu. For the noodles, we opted for "mouse tails".

Our idea was to taste test this fish ball noodles and then carry on with our original plan to try out the famous Yeen Lai tim sum.




The fish balls were not perfectly round as they were handmade. They were tender and only slightly springy as they were made with 100% fish meat. They don't have the ping pong bounce of factory fish+starch balls. The flavours were gently sweet from the fresh fish and very slightly salty from the salt added. I love these fish balls.



I love this slice of tofu. It has that lovely soya bean aroma when I bite into the tender, smooth yet slightly grainy pearly tofu. The tofu skin has a nice texture and the savoury minced pork adds to the flavour of this simple, humble staple. 



The regular tofu with minced pork fillings, cut to bite size pieces.



The noodles and sauce were adequate but not particularly memorable.




But, we loved the fish balls and tofu so much that we decided to ditch our plans to taste test Yeen Lai, and instead ordered another bowl - this time the RM6 fish ball and tofu soup without noodles.

They were just wonderful to me!



We will surely be back for this no name fish ball and tofu, and also to claim our rain check for the famous Yeen Lai tim sum.

Restaurant name: No name fish ball and tofu noodle stall (inside Yeen Lai 云来 tim sum shop)
Address: Jalan Besar (beside Kulai Centre Point), Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/vcGsk
GPS: 1.661937,103.60168
Hours: 6:30am till sold out (usually by 1:00pm)
Non Halal

Date visited: 22 Nov 2013

This no name fish ball and tofu stall beside Kulai Centre Point is a classic stumble upon good food find.



Yesterday, we drove all the way from JB to Kulai with the plan to try out the famous Yeen Lai 云来 tim sum at their home base in Kulai. When we walked towards Yeen Lai, not surprisingly there was already a big crowd of customers at the famous street side kopitiam. When we got closer and looked at the tables, we realised that besides the tim sum, most of the customers were having fish balls and tofu soup.



Seeing how the customers were enjoying their fish ball noodles, I asked the nearest uncle about it. "Been eating this for 40 years", the friendly uncle replied with a satisfied grin.  



So, I walked up to the busy boss, put on my best smile, and asked "Good morning boss, do you make these fish balls and tofu yourself?" "Yes, early in the morning everyday" the friendly boss replied through a wall of steam from the boiling pot of broth. "What is the name of your stall?" The boss paused a moment, and gave me a puzzled look as nobody ever asked him this question before. "We haven't thought of a name for 50 years", he finally replied.




We had a quick discussion and decided to adjust our plans and give this fish balls a try first. So we sat down and ordered the normal RM4 set which comes with noodles and a bowl of fish balls and tofu. For the noodles, we opted for "mouse tails".

Our idea was to taste test this fish ball noodles and then carry on with our original plan to try out the famous Yeen Lai tim sum.




The fish balls were not perfectly round as they were handmade. They were tender and only slightly springy as they were made with 100% fish meat. They don't have the ping pong bounce of factory fish+starch balls. The flavours were gently sweet from the fresh fish and very slightly salty from the salt added. I love these fish balls.



I love this slice of tofu. It has that lovely soya bean aroma when I bite into the tender, smooth yet slightly grainy pearly tofu. The tofu skin has a nice texture and the savoury minced pork adds to the flavour of this simple, humble staple. 



The regular tofu with minced pork fillings, cut to bite size pieces.



The noodles and sauce were adequate but not particularly memorable.




But, we loved the fish balls and tofu so much that we decided to ditch our plans to taste test Yeen Lai, and instead ordered another bowl - this time the RM6 fish ball and tofu soup without noodles.

They were just wonderful to me!



We will surely be back for this no name fish ball and tofu, and also to claim our rain check for the famous Yeen Lai tim sum.

Restaurant name: No name fish ball and tofu noodle stall (inside Yeen Lai 云来 tim sum shop)
Address: Jalan Besar (beside Kulai Centre Point), Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/vcGsk
GPS: 1.661937,103.60168
Hours: 6:30am till sold out (usually by 1:00pm)
Non Halal

Date visited: 22 Nov 2013

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Bitter Gourd Soup at Kim Luan Kopitiam in Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru

We were hunting for good food the whole morning at Permas Jaya. After three food stops, still no luck. Our stomachs were filling up without finding anything blog worthy yet.



Passing this humble no name stall in the corner, I glanced at the customers' bitter gourd soup 苦瓜汤 and they looked good. We made a quick decision to gamble our last remaining calories on this stall. If we lose this final round, we are going home empty handed. Stomachs full, wasted calories but nothing to share :P

Happily, it turned out to be a good food find :)



Bitter gourd soup - a Hakka comfort food - is quite common in Malaysia and it seems more so in Johor than elsewhere. In Singapore, bitter gourd soup is actually quite rare. For those who are unfamiliar with bitter gourd soup, this soup is more sweet and savoury than bitter. Fresh bitter gourd has some sweetness and it's bitterness is balanced by savouriness from the pork/ chicken bones.



Mr. Chin the stall holder has been selling bitter gourd soup for nearly 20 years - according to his sifu's recipe, he said. He is a little reserved as he is unused to outside attention. All these years, Chin's main clientele are residents living around the area 老街方, 熟客.

Everything is small scale at the stall - quite typical of hawker fare in Johor. Starts at 8:30am and closes at 2:30pm after serving the lunch crowd. So it's pretty much "home cooked" - which in my humble opinion is the best. No big ambitions, just making enough for his own three meals 求三餐.



This stall is literary a "one-man show". Mr. Chin does everything from taking orders, food preparation, cooking, serving to cleaning and washing. So, a little patience is advised especially during lunch.



The bitter gourd is sliced only on order. And, Mr. Chin did a beautiful job of it that comes with years of practise.



Mr. Chin cooks the bitter gourd just right. The texture and colour of the bitter gourd reminds me of crunchy green apples, though it is not as sweet. But actually, the taste of bitter gourd complements the savouriness of bone stock and meat better than apple (in my opinion). 



The pieces of minced pork in the soup. Cooked precisely right, tender and still have the natural light flavours of fresh pork.



We also had Mr Chin's kiam chye 咸菜 (salt preserved cabbage) pork organ soup. The soup is a blend of salty, sweet, tangy and savoury flavours. The flavours were mild and easy to like. Certainly not overly salty, and the soup has quite nice body too.



This soup is pretty familiar, like an old friend - just clean, simple and fresh but funny, I like it that way :P Maybe, it's because it is so "home made", it made me felt comforted and contented, at home.

This soup reminds me of those days when kiam chye was sold in wet markets from those dark chocolate coloured clay urns. The stall holder roughly fishing out a clump of limp kiam chye from the urn, and salt water flicking and dripping onto the wet market floor.

We can have either plain white rice or yam rice to go with the kiam chye or bitter gourd soup.

While at the stall, we bumped into Stephanie, our friend. She said the wanton mee at Kim Luan is not bad too. So, I've marked that down for our next food hunt in Permas Jaya :)



Restaurant name: No name bitter gourd soup stall in Kim Luan kopitiam
Address: 7, Jalan Permas 4/4, Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/9V4y4
GPS: 1.505747,103.821246
Hours: 8:30am to 2:30pm (closed on Tuesday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 10 Jul 2013

We were hunting for good food the whole morning at Permas Jaya. After three food stops, still no luck. Our stomachs were filling up without finding anything blog worthy yet.



Passing this humble no name stall in the corner, I glanced at the customers' bitter gourd soup 苦瓜汤 and they looked good. We made a quick decision to gamble our last remaining calories on this stall. If we lose this final round, we are going home empty handed. Stomachs full, wasted calories but nothing to share :P

Happily, it turned out to be a good food find :)



Bitter gourd soup - a Hakka comfort food - is quite common in Malaysia and it seems more so in Johor than elsewhere. In Singapore, bitter gourd soup is actually quite rare. For those who are unfamiliar with bitter gourd soup, this soup is more sweet and savoury than bitter. Fresh bitter gourd has some sweetness and it's bitterness is balanced by savouriness from the pork/ chicken bones.



Mr. Chin the stall holder has been selling bitter gourd soup for nearly 20 years - according to his sifu's recipe, he said. He is a little reserved as he is unused to outside attention. All these years, Chin's main clientele are residents living around the area 老街方, 熟客.

Everything is small scale at the stall - quite typical of hawker fare in Johor. Starts at 8:30am and closes at 2:30pm after serving the lunch crowd. So it's pretty much "home cooked" - which in my humble opinion is the best. No big ambitions, just making enough for his own three meals 求三餐.



This stall is literary a "one-man show". Mr. Chin does everything from taking orders, food preparation, cooking, serving to cleaning and washing. So, a little patience is advised especially during lunch.



The bitter gourd is sliced only on order. And, Mr. Chin did a beautiful job of it that comes with years of practise.



Mr. Chin cooks the bitter gourd just right. The texture and colour of the bitter gourd reminds me of crunchy green apples, though it is not as sweet. But actually, the taste of bitter gourd complements the savouriness of bone stock and meat better than apple (in my opinion). 



The pieces of minced pork in the soup. Cooked precisely right, tender and still have the natural light flavours of fresh pork.



We also had Mr Chin's kiam chye 咸菜 (salt preserved cabbage) pork organ soup. The soup is a blend of salty, sweet, tangy and savoury flavours. The flavours were mild and easy to like. Certainly not overly salty, and the soup has quite nice body too.



This soup is pretty familiar, like an old friend - just clean, simple and fresh but funny, I like it that way :P Maybe, it's because it is so "home made", it made me felt comforted and contented, at home.

This soup reminds me of those days when kiam chye was sold in wet markets from those dark chocolate coloured clay urns. The stall holder roughly fishing out a clump of limp kiam chye from the urn, and salt water flicking and dripping onto the wet market floor.

We can have either plain white rice or yam rice to go with the kiam chye or bitter gourd soup.

While at the stall, we bumped into Stephanie, our friend. She said the wanton mee at Kim Luan is not bad too. So, I've marked that down for our next food hunt in Permas Jaya :)



Restaurant name: No name bitter gourd soup stall in Kim Luan kopitiam
Address: 7, Jalan Permas 4/4, Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/9V4y4
GPS: 1.505747,103.821246
Hours: 8:30am to 2:30pm (closed on Tuesday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 10 Jul 2013

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Famous Kueh Stall in Senai, Johor

We passed Senai town many times (too many to count) between Johor Bahru and Kulai ,and everytime, the smartest person in the car will say "maybe next time we shall stop awhile for the famous kueh stall" at the foot of the pedestrian bridge. A long time has passed, and everytime we said the same thing while hurrying towards our destination.

Today, we finally made an effort to pull over and try the famous kuih at Senai - and, we wondered why we had not done so earlier. This is really a case of hurrying everywhere and never stopping to smell the kuih (or roses).



This Chin family stall has been around for over 50 years. The current owners are third generation - a team of three sisters led by the eldest. The Chins make all the kueh themselves - starting their day making kueh from 2:00am and selling them from 10:30am onwards at the stall.



The eldest Ms Chin is very proud of her signature yam cake.



This yam cake has plenty of huge chunks of yam and went very well with the sweet sauce. Reminds me of the yam cake which my grandmother used to make when I was a boy.

Oh, everything at this kueh stall is slightly oversized except for the prices, which are very reasonable.



Ms Chin was eager for us to try their signature Hakka kuih. This unique kuih is only sold here in Senai and no where else in Johor. The skin is olive green in colour as it is made with a green vegetable.



Inside, the filling is very similar to "soon kuih" with shredded pumpkin and dried shrimps.



These humble looking chee cheong fun is really something. The skin has rice fragrance, is thin, soft, and has good mouth feel. The lovely skin wraps a variety of different ingredients which we can choose. This is one of the best chee cheong fun that I have tasted whether in Singapore, Malaysia or even the chee cheong fun Meccas of Hong Kong and Guangzhou. 



The huge and pillow soft onde onde with juicy grated coconut fillings.



We like this "fat boy" street curry puff much more than any of those franchise ones.

More other traditional kueh available at the Chin kueh stall in Senai.









I love glutinous rice.













We kick ourselves for not stopping earlier. This no name kueh stall is a full 5 out of 5-star stall! It is not only worthwhile stopping a while while passing by. It is actually worthwhile making a special trip just for these kueh, which many people actually do.

No preservatives are used, so all kuih are best eaten the same day or at most, the next day.



The kueh stall is inside Kim Wah kopitiam next to the overhead pedestrian bridge.

Restaurant name: No name famous kuih stall in Kim Wah kopitiam
Address: Jalan Senai 10, Kampung Baru, Senai, Johor Bahru (right next to pedestrian overhead bridge)
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Oqe2O
GPS: 1.601134,103.644729
Hours: 10:30am to 3:00pm (closed on Weds)
Non Halal

Date visited: 15 Apr 2013

We passed Senai town many times (too many to count) between Johor Bahru and Kulai ,and everytime, the smartest person in the car will say "maybe next time we shall stop awhile for the famous kueh stall" at the foot of the pedestrian bridge. A long time has passed, and everytime we said the same thing while hurrying towards our destination.

Today, we finally made an effort to pull over and try the famous kuih at Senai - and, we wondered why we had not done so earlier. This is really a case of hurrying everywhere and never stopping to smell the kuih (or roses).



This Chin family stall has been around for over 50 years. The current owners are third generation - a team of three sisters led by the eldest. The Chins make all the kueh themselves - starting their day making kueh from 2:00am and selling them from 10:30am onwards at the stall.



The eldest Ms Chin is very proud of her signature yam cake.



This yam cake has plenty of huge chunks of yam and went very well with the sweet sauce. Reminds me of the yam cake which my grandmother used to make when I was a boy.

Oh, everything at this kueh stall is slightly oversized except for the prices, which are very reasonable.



Ms Chin was eager for us to try their signature Hakka kuih. This unique kuih is only sold here in Senai and no where else in Johor. The skin is olive green in colour as it is made with a green vegetable.



Inside, the filling is very similar to "soon kuih" with shredded pumpkin and dried shrimps.



These humble looking chee cheong fun is really something. The skin has rice fragrance, is thin, soft, and has good mouth feel. The lovely skin wraps a variety of different ingredients which we can choose. This is one of the best chee cheong fun that I have tasted whether in Singapore, Malaysia or even the chee cheong fun Meccas of Hong Kong and Guangzhou. 



The huge and pillow soft onde onde with juicy grated coconut fillings.



We like this "fat boy" street curry puff much more than any of those franchise ones.

More other traditional kueh available at the Chin kueh stall in Senai.









I love glutinous rice.













We kick ourselves for not stopping earlier. This no name kueh stall is a full 5 out of 5-star stall! It is not only worthwhile stopping a while while passing by. It is actually worthwhile making a special trip just for these kueh, which many people actually do.

No preservatives are used, so all kuih are best eaten the same day or at most, the next day.



The kueh stall is inside Kim Wah kopitiam next to the overhead pedestrian bridge.

Restaurant name: No name famous kuih stall in Kim Wah kopitiam
Address: Jalan Senai 10, Kampung Baru, Senai, Johor Bahru (right next to pedestrian overhead bridge)
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Oqe2O
GPS: 1.601134,103.644729
Hours: 10:30am to 3:00pm (closed on Weds)
Non Halal

Date visited: 15 Apr 2013

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Min Chang Kueh in Batu Pahat, Johor

I grew up on min chang kueh or apam balik (a form of Chinese peanut pan cake) which is an affordable, popular snack in Malaysia and Singapore.



This well greased and well loved push cart stall has been here in Batu Pahat for decades.



Mr. Chai, the owner had been making min chang kueh here for 20 years and before that, his father had been running the push cart stall for 30 years.



This humble push cart stall, unnoticed by many outside Batu Pahat, has half a century of history, wow!



This time worn knife slicing through countless min chang kueh, silently tells the story of steadfastness and quiet determination of the push cart stall hawkers.



These stacks of min chang kueh will disappear fast, mostly to regular customers at RM4.40 for the whole pan cake and 50 sens for a slice.



My 50 sens slice of min chang kueh. It's quite greasy, slightly savoury, sugary, bouncy soft, and peanutly. This was the "usual" type, so it did not have the crispy edges.



Mr. Chai will make you the skinny type of min chang kueh with the crispy edges, if you ask for it. Next time I shall ask for this type.





The first key to a good min chang kueh is actually strong arms.



It takes a lot of elbow grease to beat the batter to create that fluffy crust.



The other key to good min chang kueh is a generous shower of blended oil used in the topping.



The blended oil is poured from these plastic squeeze bottles. Other than margarine, which is the main component, the rest of the ingredients are trade secrets :P



If you are in Batu Pahat, swing by and try Mr. Chai's min chang kueh.

Another min chang kueh stall in Batu Pahat is in near by Nam Wee kopitiam run by Mr. Yaw. The two gentlemen are related.




Restaurant name: No name push cart stall

Address: At the junction of Jalan Abu Bakar and Jalan Mohd Akil. Just outside a coffee shop and opposite the famous Swee Kee herbal soup restaurant

Map: http://g.co/maps/hsbdr
GPS: 1.852493,102.928526
Hours: 12:30pm until sold out (usually at 4:30pm)
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert

Date visited: 19 Mar 2013

I grew up on min chang kueh or apam balik (a form of Chinese peanut pan cake) which is an affordable, popular snack in Malaysia and Singapore.



This well greased and well loved push cart stall has been here in Batu Pahat for decades.



Mr. Chai, the owner had been making min chang kueh here for 20 years and before that, his father had been running the push cart stall for 30 years.



This humble push cart stall, unnoticed by many outside Batu Pahat, has half a century of history, wow!



This time worn knife slicing through countless min chang kueh, silently tells the story of steadfastness and quiet determination of the push cart stall hawkers.



These stacks of min chang kueh will disappear fast, mostly to regular customers at RM4.40 for the whole pan cake and 50 sens for a slice.



My 50 sens slice of min chang kueh. It's quite greasy, slightly savoury, sugary, bouncy soft, and peanutly. This was the "usual" type, so it did not have the crispy edges.



Mr. Chai will make you the skinny type of min chang kueh with the crispy edges, if you ask for it. Next time I shall ask for this type.





The first key to a good min chang kueh is actually strong arms.



It takes a lot of elbow grease to beat the batter to create that fluffy crust.



The other key to good min chang kueh is a generous shower of blended oil used in the topping.



The blended oil is poured from these plastic squeeze bottles. Other than margarine, which is the main component, the rest of the ingredients are trade secrets :P



If you are in Batu Pahat, swing by and try Mr. Chai's min chang kueh.

Another min chang kueh stall in Batu Pahat is in near by Nam Wee kopitiam run by Mr. Yaw. The two gentlemen are related.




Restaurant name: No name push cart stall

Address: At the junction of Jalan Abu Bakar and Jalan Mohd Akil. Just outside a coffee shop and opposite the famous Swee Kee herbal soup restaurant

Map: http://g.co/maps/hsbdr
GPS: 1.852493,102.928526
Hours: 12:30pm until sold out (usually at 4:30pm)
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert

Date visited: 19 Mar 2013

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