Tony Johor Kaki Travels for Food · Heritage · Culture · History

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Sin Soon Li Mee Hoon Kueh in Johor Bahru, Permas Jaya 新顺利面粉粿专卖店

I was on a solo food hunt in Permas Jaya, combing the streets of Permas on foot for good food.

It was past breakfast time and not yet lunch time.

The shops were generally quiet. The hawkers were taking a short breather before the lunch crowds.

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I spotted Sin Soon Li mee hoon kueh 面粉粿 shop.

Sin Soon Li is the low key type of neighbourhood food stop, not much talked about beyond the local area.

Stepped in to check it out :P

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Two ladies were quietly tearing pieces of thin dough. "Hand torn mee hoon kueh, must check this out", I told myself.

I ordered a RM5 bowl of mee hoon kueh to try.

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My steaming hot bowl of old style mee hoon kueh. I like it that the mee hoon kueh was served in a heavy deep porcelain bowl.

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The irregular shaped mee hoon kueh were stretched so thin! And, they were so smooth and still have a slight al dente bite. The kueh were also not greasy.

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Ingredients were just some tender pork slices, hand kneaded balls of minced pork, fried anchovies, an egg dropped raw into the broth, and sayur manis leaves.

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According to tradition, mee hoon kueh is always best eaten with fresh sayur manis.

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The savoury, slightly sweet broth had nice round body. It was also not greasy. Lovely broth actually.

The flavours were mild and gentle.

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You can give it some kick with this fresh ground chili.

This mee hoon kueh is just like the way it is done in any many Hokkien homes.

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Mdm Lim told me the broth was made by boiling pork socket bones, whole old hens, anchovies and soy beans i.e. in the time honoured way.

Mdm Lim cooks her mee hoon kueh, the way her grandmother did it at home.

I sat and chatted with Mdm Lim for a while. Mdm Lim ran a mee hoon kueh stall at Gek Poh hawker centre in Singapore for over 10 years. She returned to JB due to escalating hawker centre rent.

Mdm Lim is proud and grateful that she raised her 3 (now adult) children selling the humble mee hoon kueh.

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Mdm Lim's best friend Ah Mei 亚梅. The BFF (Best Friends Forever) have been together for decades.

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I asked Mdm Lim if she serves the trendy chili pan mian aka Kin Kin style of KL (and now Singapore).

"No" she said. Preferring to stay faithful to the traditional recipe. All soup, no "dry' version.

I respect her for that. 

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Unfanciful and unfancied, but close, very close to my heart.

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As lunch time approached, the lunch crowd streamed into the shop like patrons streaming into a cinema for the next screening. They walked in and walked to their seats like their own homes, into a space familiar and comforting.

If you are looking for simple homecooked style food, Sin Soon Li mee hoon kueh would be comforting, and satisfying.

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Restaurant name: Sin Soon Li mee hoon kueh 新顺利面粉粿专卖店
Address: Jalan Permas 10, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru (few doors from Sin Yong yong tau foo shop)
Maphttp://goo.gl/maps/NMY4k
GPS: 1.496832,103.815347
Hours: 8:00am to 8:00pm (Closed on Tues)
Non Halal

Date visited: 30 May 2013

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1 comment:

  1. I like hand-torn mee hoon kueh! The irregular thickness of the dough makes it very shiok to bite into!

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