I passed by 源记 chicken rice stall several times during past food hunts and noticed that it was always crowded during lunch. Every time, I was either too full or on my way to somewhere else, and so I have never tried 源记 till today.
Today, I made a special trip to 源记 to find out why their chicken is so popular.
When I arrived and looked at the glass case, I was a little disappointed that it was almost all deep fried chickens. (The boss took out that white poached chicken after I asked if they served it.) So far, I found deep fried chickens at most chicken rice stalls quite uniformly bland in taste, and thus am not a big fan of it.
But, since I already came all the way from downtown JB to TUTA, I ordered a drumstick and rice (RM4 per set) just to try.
One bite and I realised that 源记's delicious chicken rice is a blog worthy stall. And, wondered what took me so long :P
The golden brown chicken skin and the flesh are tender and sweeter than what I tasted at other stalls. The moist chicken flesh has a nice mouth feel of bouncy juicy meat.
源记's rice was good too. Just nicely fragrant and not overly greasy. The long grain rice were of good quality with firm yet tender grains that separate easily.
The small bowl of chicken soup was sweet with tastes of cabbage.
The chili was watery, salty, tangy and mildly spicy. I prefer my chicken rice chili to be pure ground chili peppers. In the end, I hardly used the chili dip as I like 源记's chicken just by itself, to savour it's lovely flavours.
After my meal, I asked the friendly lady boss Mrs Kang how come 源记's deep fried chicken tastes different from others. Mrs Yang shared that 源记's chicken is charcoal grilled first and then deep fried.
(Note: Most average chicken stalls poach their chicken, air dry it and then deep fry.)
Mr Kang, the boss, said they use chicken of an optimum size when the meat is sweetest and has nicer texture - not too young nor too old. Mr Kang shared that 源记鸡饭 has been in business for 20 years.
源记 also serves poached chicken though their top draw is their deep fried chicken. Still, this plump poached chicken looks invitingly yummy and should be worth a try at my next visit.
I like 源记's grilled-then-fried chicken a lot.
If I am in the mood for a lot of chicken, I would be going to 源记 to indulge my craving wholeheartedly without wasting calories and cholesterol. 源记 also sells their whole deep fried chicken at RM25 each. It would be an excellent idea to buy and eat at home :D
Restaurant name: 源记鸡饭 chicken rice stall in Kedai Kopi Yee Chia Ler Address: Jalan Temanggong 11, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai. Johor Map: http://goo.gl/maps/yzXhA GPS: 1.509252,103.652329 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (usually sold out earlier) (Closed on Monday) Non Halal
Date visited: 13 Nov 2013
I passed by 源记 chicken rice stall several times during past food hunts and noticed that it was always crowded during lunch. Every time, I was either too full or on my way to somewhere else, and so I have never tried 源记 till today.
Today, I made a special trip to 源记 to find out why their chicken is so popular.
When I arrived and looked at the glass case, I was a little disappointed that it was almost all deep fried chickens. (The boss took out that white poached chicken after I asked if they served it.) So far, I found deep fried chickens at most chicken rice stalls quite uniformly bland in taste, and thus am not a big fan of it.
But, since I already came all the way from downtown JB to TUTA, I ordered a drumstick and rice (RM4 per set) just to try.
One bite and I realised that 源记's delicious chicken rice is a blog worthy stall. And, wondered what took me so long :P
The golden brown chicken skin and the flesh are tender and sweeter than what I tasted at other stalls. The moist chicken flesh has a nice mouth feel of bouncy juicy meat.
源记's rice was good too. Just nicely fragrant and not overly greasy. The long grain rice were of good quality with firm yet tender grains that separate easily.
The small bowl of chicken soup was sweet with tastes of cabbage.
The chili was watery, salty, tangy and mildly spicy. I prefer my chicken rice chili to be pure ground chili peppers. In the end, I hardly used the chili dip as I like 源记's chicken just by itself, to savour it's lovely flavours.
After my meal, I asked the friendly lady boss Mrs Kang how come 源记's deep fried chicken tastes different from others. Mrs Yang shared that 源记's chicken is charcoal grilled first and then deep fried.
(Note: Most average chicken stalls poach their chicken, air dry it and then deep fry.)
Mr Kang, the boss, said they use chicken of an optimum size when the meat is sweetest and has nicer texture - not too young nor too old. Mr Kang shared that 源记鸡饭 has been in business for 20 years.
源记 also serves poached chicken though their top draw is their deep fried chicken. Still, this plump poached chicken looks invitingly yummy and should be worth a try at my next visit.
I like 源记's grilled-then-fried chicken a lot.
If I am in the mood for a lot of chicken, I would be going to 源记 to indulge my craving wholeheartedly without wasting calories and cholesterol. 源记 also sells their whole deep fried chicken at RM25 each. It would be an excellent idea to buy and eat at home :D
Restaurant name: 源记鸡饭 chicken rice stall in Kedai Kopi Yee Chia Ler Address: Jalan Temanggong 11, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai. Johor Map: http://goo.gl/maps/yzXhA GPS: 1.509252,103.652329 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (usually sold out earlier) (Closed on Monday) Non Halal
I am a fan of curry pork and also of pork ribs, especially that part with the cartilage. So when Mdm Chan, the lady boss of Fourstorey 四楼小吃 told me that their signature curry pork ribs is made with that part with the cartilage on, I didn't wait long to return to the stall. Actually, I was back the next day.
Old Bukit Indah stall.
Fourstorey 四楼小吃 used to be the very popular curry rice stall in Taman Bukit Indah. At the Bukit Indah stall, they used to sell the whole range of curry meat and vegetable dishes to go with their fragrant rice. Old Bukit Indah stall. Recently, the stall moved to the 4 storey flats at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. The lady boss told me that they decided to move because their previous stall was a mobile road side stall. Though business was good, whenever it rains, it would wash out the day's business. So, they decided to move indoors into this stall in a kopitiam. It's been nearly four months since they started business here and Fourstorey is gradually getting their old clientele back and building their new customer support. The two pieces of chunky pork ribs came smothered by a layer of smooth, almost creamy curry. The "cream" came from santan and potatoes, so the curry had a pleasant natural sweetness blended with both hot and fragrant spices. The curry was a blend of sweet, mild spiciness, savouriness from the pork and aromas from the ground spices such as star anise. The spiciness of the curry was just right - it did not overpower but instead complement the subtle, natural flavour of the pork. Ah.. that tender and delicious curry pork rib. That piece of cartilage between the flesh gave the tender, perfumed meat an interesting crunchiness. I plopped a couple of dollops of the curry onto the rice. The rice was cooked with pandan leaves, lemon grass and fried shallot oil. The rice had a nice fragrance and subtle oiliness that made it an additive pleasure.
The curry pork rib rice is served with this tangy, sweet and savoury archar (crunchy vegetable pickles). I found that the archar went very well together with the fragrant rice at Fourstorey 四楼小吃 .
This curry pork ribs is definitely a Must Try (curry pork ribs is available only during the weekends).
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
Date visited: 10 Apr 2013, 12 Apr 2013
I am a fan of curry pork and also of pork ribs, especially that part with the cartilage. So when Mdm Chan, the lady boss of Fourstorey 四楼小吃 told me that their signature curry pork ribs is made with that part with the cartilage on, I didn't wait long to return to the stall. Actually, I was back the next day.
Old Bukit Indah stall.
Fourstorey 四楼小吃 used to be the very popular curry rice stall in Taman Bukit Indah. At the Bukit Indah stall, they used to sell the whole range of curry meat and vegetable dishes to go with their fragrant rice. Old Bukit Indah stall. Recently, the stall moved to the 4 storey flats at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. The lady boss told me that they decided to move because their previous stall was a mobile road side stall. Though business was good, whenever it rains, it would wash out the day's business. So, they decided to move indoors into this stall in a kopitiam. It's been nearly four months since they started business here and Fourstorey is gradually getting their old clientele back and building their new customer support. The two pieces of chunky pork ribs came smothered by a layer of smooth, almost creamy curry. The "cream" came from santan and potatoes, so the curry had a pleasant natural sweetness blended with both hot and fragrant spices. The curry was a blend of sweet, mild spiciness, savouriness from the pork and aromas from the ground spices such as star anise. The spiciness of the curry was just right - it did not overpower but instead complement the subtle, natural flavour of the pork. Ah.. that tender and delicious curry pork rib. That piece of cartilage between the flesh gave the tender, perfumed meat an interesting crunchiness. I plopped a couple of dollops of the curry onto the rice. The rice was cooked with pandan leaves, lemon grass and fried shallot oil. The rice had a nice fragrance and subtle oiliness that made it an additive pleasure.
The curry pork rib rice is served with this tangy, sweet and savoury archar (crunchy vegetable pickles). I found that the archar went very well together with the fragrant rice at Fourstorey 四楼小吃 .
This curry pork ribs is definitely a Must Try (curry pork ribs is available only during the weekends).
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
Kway teow kia stalls are in every corner of Johor Bahru. Most are the mildly herbal Teochew style and there are a few stalls selling the more robustly flavoured Hokkien style. This was the first time I tried what the stall owner Mr. Chan called the Cantonese style.
Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 is family run, by Mr. Chan, his wife, and Mun, the son. The Chans previously ran the famous curry pork ribs and chicken/pork chop stall in Taman Bukit Indah before reopening here in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah about two months ago. The Chans still sell their famous chicken/pork chops here but the popular curry pork ribs are available only on weekends.
The very friendly Mr. Chan.
Mun slices the kway teow kia and fries Fourstorey's famous chicken chop.
We had a couple of mixed plates of kway teow kia with a bit of everything from braised pork, innards, skin, to chicken feet.
The pig skin, like everything at Fourstorey was very well trimmed and cleaned. There was neither excess fat nor unwanted odours, just the lovely savoury flavour of bouncy braised pork skin.
Lovely slice of braised pork with skin, fat and meat in one tender, savoury piece.
This tender braised pork tongue was crunchy and nicely, lightly flavoured. This is one of the best pork tongues I have tried.
The braised chicken were tender, delicious and smooth as they were not fried before braising.
The braised eggs and braised fried tofu. The tofu has a nice crisp outer layer while the inside was soft and smooth.
I noticed that the different innards here have slightly different tastes - a subtle difference in flavour and not only in texture. Usually the KTK parts taste identical in average KTK stalls. I asked the lady boss about this and she told me that she braised the different parts separately in different pots. This retained the unique flavour of each part, which would be lost in those stalls that throw everything together and braise it all in one big pot. Attention to details like this set Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia apart from the average KTK stall.
The cabbage stir fried with chopped shallots and dried shrimps was crunchy, fragrant and savoury.
I strongly recommend this fried sayur manis which is seldom seen in kway teow kia stalls. Indeed, I have not seen this anywhere else. The fresh sweet sayur manis blends well with the savoury sauce with hints of spicy hot from the chilis.
The kway teow kia in the savoury, subtly herbal brew.
Unlike the Teochew style, in the Cantonese style, the kway teow is not served with the same braising sauce used in cooking the innards.
Instead, it is served in a tasty broth made specially for the kway teow. The broth is made with stock bones and flavoured with pork lard crackles and fried shallot crackles.
The perky, stinging spicy and fragrant chili sauce for the kway teow kia.
Besides the kway teow kia we also had Fourstorey's famous fried chicken chop. The crispy batter encased the tender juicy chicken meat inside its crackly crust.
The chicken chop is served with not one, not two but three(!) types of sauces (as they say in those afternoon tacky Hollywood Sellavision commercials).
This is the tangy, sweet and spicy hot chili sauce.
The savoury sweet sauce is made with honey and apple jam.
The creamy mayonnaise dip.
The chicken chop is a hot seller for take away customers.
Fourstorey kway teow kia is at the right hand corner of this four storey flat at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Fourstorey stall and its surroundings might look humble but the quality of their kway teow kia and fried chicken chop which I tried today are among the best in Johor Bahru.
If you want to impress your friends that you know the unlikely nooks and crannies where the good food of Johor are, Fourstorey should be on your food trail.
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
Date visited: 10 Apr 2013
Kway teow kia stalls are in every corner of Johor Bahru. Most are the mildly herbal Teochew style and there are a few stalls selling the more robustly flavoured Hokkien style. This was the first time I tried what the stall owner Mr. Chan called the Cantonese style.
Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 is family run, by Mr. Chan, his wife, and Mun, the son. The Chans previously ran the famous curry pork ribs and chicken/pork chop stall in Taman Bukit Indah before reopening here in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah about two months ago. The Chans still sell their famous chicken/pork chops here but the popular curry pork ribs are available only on weekends.
The very friendly Mr. Chan.
Mun slices the kway teow kia and fries Fourstorey's famous chicken chop.
We had a couple of mixed plates of kway teow kia with a bit of everything from braised pork, innards, skin, to chicken feet.
The pig skin, like everything at Fourstorey was very well trimmed and cleaned. There was neither excess fat nor unwanted odours, just the lovely savoury flavour of bouncy braised pork skin.
Lovely slice of braised pork with skin, fat and meat in one tender, savoury piece.
This tender braised pork tongue was crunchy and nicely, lightly flavoured. This is one of the best pork tongues I have tried.
The braised chicken were tender, delicious and smooth as they were not fried before braising.
The braised eggs and braised fried tofu. The tofu has a nice crisp outer layer while the inside was soft and smooth.
I noticed that the different innards here have slightly different tastes - a subtle difference in flavour and not only in texture. Usually the KTK parts taste identical in average KTK stalls. I asked the lady boss about this and she told me that she braised the different parts separately in different pots. This retained the unique flavour of each part, which would be lost in those stalls that throw everything together and braise it all in one big pot. Attention to details like this set Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia apart from the average KTK stall.
The cabbage stir fried with chopped shallots and dried shrimps was crunchy, fragrant and savoury.
I strongly recommend this fried sayur manis which is seldom seen in kway teow kia stalls. Indeed, I have not seen this anywhere else. The fresh sweet sayur manis blends well with the savoury sauce with hints of spicy hot from the chilis.
The kway teow kia in the savoury, subtly herbal brew.
Unlike the Teochew style, in the Cantonese style, the kway teow is not served with the same braising sauce used in cooking the innards.
Instead, it is served in a tasty broth made specially for the kway teow. The broth is made with stock bones and flavoured with pork lard crackles and fried shallot crackles.
The perky, stinging spicy and fragrant chili sauce for the kway teow kia.
Besides the kway teow kia we also had Fourstorey's famous fried chicken chop. The crispy batter encased the tender juicy chicken meat inside its crackly crust.
The chicken chop is served with not one, not two but three(!) types of sauces (as they say in those afternoon tacky Hollywood Sellavision commercials).
This is the tangy, sweet and spicy hot chili sauce.
The savoury sweet sauce is made with honey and apple jam.
The creamy mayonnaise dip.
The chicken chop is a hot seller for take away customers.
Fourstorey kway teow kia is at the right hand corner of this four storey flat at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Fourstorey stall and its surroundings might look humble but the quality of their kway teow kia and fried chicken chop which I tried today are among the best in Johor Bahru.
If you want to impress your friends that you know the unlikely nooks and crannies where the good food of Johor are, Fourstorey should be on your food trail.
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
Teresa is an exchange student from Miami, USA. Teresa and her Malaysian host family have been exploring Johor food with my Johor Kaki food guide. As Teresa will be returning to the USA next month, Teresa and her host family wondered if we could meet up for a meal, which I gladly accepted.
I asked Teresa if she had tried yong tou foo during her stay in Johor so far. Since she hasn't, I decided to show her the famous yong tou foo shop at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Choy Kee in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah are actually cousins with the famous yong tou foo shop in Ampang near Kuala Lumpur. I am a regular at the yong tou foo shop in Ampang, having lived in KL for a few years and returning regularly to my favourite food places there ever since. Over the years, the two shops have developed their own styles and are today rather different in the food offered and the work processes.
At Choy Kee, the yong tou foo are all laid out on the counter table and we just pick whatever catches our fancy at RM1.10 per item.
The lady boss, Mdm Sak, explaining to Teresa and Baptiste (a French exchange student) how the ordering system works at Choy Kee yong tou foo.
These were some of our random picks.
The yong tou foo pieces were floating in a savoury soup made with soy beans and stock bones. The soup was delicious, though it tasted a little salty towards the end, when it was cold. It would also have been perfect for me, if the soup had a little anchovy flavour.
All three of us enjoyed the pieces of yong tou foo. I especially like the traditional Hakka filling at Choy Kee which uses fresh minced mackerel fish, pork and salted fish. The fillings have a more substantial feel, softer, sweeter and more savoury than the "fish only" paste fillings found in many other yong tou foo shops nowadays.
I like to eat my yong tou foo "dry" with yellow noodles. The noodles were tossed in a soy and lard based sauce which I liked very much.
I like it that everything in Choy Kee is made fresh at the shop. How fresh? The yong tou foo were all made right there as we ate.
I applaud Choy Kee for keeping to the Hakka traditional by making the filling with fresh mackerel fish, pork and salted fish. More and more shops are just using "fish" paste filling for cost and labour reasons.
Good sambal is crucial for good yong tou foo and at Choy Kee, the sambal was great. The not overly spicy, savoury sambal is cooked at the shop everyday.
Even this thick savoury bean sauce is made at the shop. In the sauce department, Choy Kee pips their cousin in Ampang (near Kuala Lumpur).
Choy Kee is located deep at the far end of the row of shophouses in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. Mdm Sak said the shop lot was initially quite isolated when they first started business here 11 years ago. Fortunately, their customers tracked and followed Choy Kee to this new location. Today, the large shop is busting at the seams with customers, especially on weekends.
The huge mango trees ringing the shop were planted by Mdm Sak 11 years ago.
Mdm Sak kept reminding me to come back for their pork trotter braised in vinegar and ginger, and their Hakka fried pork. I shall definitely come back for these.
Restaurant name: Choy Kee Yong Tou Foo Address: 1, Jalan Temenggong 9, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai, Johor Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Oxy1o GPS: 1.510820,103.652969 Hours: 8:30am to 6:00pm (Closed last Weds and Thurs of the month) Non Halal
Date visited: 22 Mar 2013
Teresa is an exchange student from Miami, USA. Teresa and her Malaysian host family have been exploring Johor food with my Johor Kaki food guide. As Teresa will be returning to the USA next month, Teresa and her host family wondered if we could meet up for a meal, which I gladly accepted.
I asked Teresa if she had tried yong tou foo during her stay in Johor so far. Since she hasn't, I decided to show her the famous yong tou foo shop at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Choy Kee in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah are actually cousins with the famous yong tou foo shop in Ampang near Kuala Lumpur. I am a regular at the yong tou foo shop in Ampang, having lived in KL for a few years and returning regularly to my favourite food places there ever since. Over the years, the two shops have developed their own styles and are today rather different in the food offered and the work processes.
At Choy Kee, the yong tou foo are all laid out on the counter table and we just pick whatever catches our fancy at RM1.10 per item.
The lady boss, Mdm Sak, explaining to Teresa and Baptiste (a French exchange student) how the ordering system works at Choy Kee yong tou foo.
These were some of our random picks.
The yong tou foo pieces were floating in a savoury soup made with soy beans and stock bones. The soup was delicious, though it tasted a little salty towards the end, when it was cold. It would also have been perfect for me, if the soup had a little anchovy flavour.
All three of us enjoyed the pieces of yong tou foo. I especially like the traditional Hakka filling at Choy Kee which uses fresh minced mackerel fish, pork and salted fish. The fillings have a more substantial feel, softer, sweeter and more savoury than the "fish only" paste fillings found in many other yong tou foo shops nowadays.
I like to eat my yong tou foo "dry" with yellow noodles. The noodles were tossed in a soy and lard based sauce which I liked very much.
I like it that everything in Choy Kee is made fresh at the shop. How fresh? The yong tou foo were all made right there as we ate.
I applaud Choy Kee for keeping to the Hakka traditional by making the filling with fresh mackerel fish, pork and salted fish. More and more shops are just using "fish" paste filling for cost and labour reasons.
Good sambal is crucial for good yong tou foo and at Choy Kee, the sambal was great. The not overly spicy, savoury sambal is cooked at the shop everyday.
Even this thick savoury bean sauce is made at the shop. In the sauce department, Choy Kee pips their cousin in Ampang (near Kuala Lumpur).
Choy Kee is located deep at the far end of the row of shophouses in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. Mdm Sak said the shop lot was initially quite isolated when they first started business here 11 years ago. Fortunately, their customers tracked and followed Choy Kee to this new location. Today, the large shop is busting at the seams with customers, especially on weekends.
The huge mango trees ringing the shop were planted by Mdm Sak 11 years ago.
Mdm Sak kept reminding me to come back for their pork trotter braised in vinegar and ginger, and their Hakka fried pork. I shall definitely come back for these.
Restaurant name: Choy Kee Yong Tou Foo Address: 1, Jalan Temenggong 9, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai, Johor Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Oxy1o GPS: 1.510820,103.652969 Hours: 8:30am to 6:00pm (Closed last Weds and Thurs of the month) Non Halal
