Food Quest: Johor-Specialty Dishes in Johor
- Rick
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
I have done a couple of food quests before to hunt for Hokkien mee and laksa dishes, which are also part of my travel objectives. Over the last few weeks, I conducted another quest to seek out Johor specialty dishes in Johor, which include popular dishes created in Johor Bahru, Pontian, Muar, etc.
I consolidated a list of 8 Johor-specialty dishes — so far, and more will be added. Some of these dishes may be available in Singapore or other parts of Malaysia, but I seek out the authentic flavours while travelling around Johor. Check them out.
1. Laksa Johor
Laksa Johor is said to be created by Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor in the late 19th century due to his love for Italian spaghetti. His royal chef created a Malay-style broth for the spaghetti, resulting in a fusion dish. Local Malays claimed this as the "royal" laksa Johor.
Laksa Johor is prepared by placing cooked spaghetti and fresh ingredients (cucumber, onions, beansprouts, etc) in a bowl before adding thick gravy-broth on them. Many ingredients are ground to make the laksa paste, including fish, dried prawns, chillies, etc. The spicy broth carries a citrusy flavour that resembles assam laksa — but it's from lemongrass. This flavourful dish is easily mistaken as vegetarian.
It was said that the process to prepare the thick gravy paste is so tedious that very few places are willing to sell it. Well, seek and you shall find!
Many articles claimed that "Johor laksa" and "laksa Johor" refers to the same thing — language wise. On the ground, "Johor laksa" refers to laksa dishes that was created in Johor or by Johorians, and the "royal" laksa Johor refers to the spaghetti version. Don't be surprise to find a "Johor laksa" stall and be served with a laksa dish similar to Nyonya laksa.
Where to try it?
2. Kacang Pool
Kacang pool is believed to have originated from an Egyptian dish, called Ful medames, a stew of fava beans (or broad beans), with other ingredients that is widely eaten across the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. The Malaysian twist of the Egyptian dish is popular in Johor.
Kacang pool added minced beef, or other meat, to the thick bean stew and is often served with a sunny-side-up egg and toasted bread for breakfast. A lime adds extra flavours. To eat, use hands to tear a piece of the toast and use it to scoop up some of the sweet-savoury stew.
Where to try it?
3. Mee Rebus Johor
The origin of mee rebus is much debated. Some said it is known as mee jawa in Java, Indonesia, yet there are few resemblances. Some said it was created in northern Malaysia and bought to the southern lands. Another version claimed that it was peddled by Indian Muslim immigrants in the early days.
Mee rebus is typically served using yellow noodle, added with hard-boiled egg and beansprouts, and covered with a thick sweet-potato-based gravy made from tiny shrimps, herbs and spices. Other toppings and/or sambal chilli and a lime may be added. The Johor-version of mee rebus uses mashed tapioca and beef stock to prepare the rich gravy, giving the dish different flavours.
Where to try it?
4. San Lou Mee Hoon (三楼米粉)
In 1979, a Johorian chef, named Ah Kaw (阿九), created a dry rice vermicelli dish and served it on the 3rd storey of a old building. The dish became popular and was coined as san lou mee hoon (三楼米粉) — translated as "third-storey rice vermicelli", not "三捞", meaning "three tosses" in Cantonese, which is a cooking style originated in Singapore.
The dry rice vermicelli dish is stir-fried with egg, chicken meat, slices of fish cake, greens, dark sauce, etc, and served in "clustered" pieces — the rice vermicelli are bonded together by the dried sauce. The key characteristic of the dish is its strong wok-aroma with mild-savoury flavours.
Due to its popularity, san lou mee hoon is served in many Chinese zi char restaurants in Johor Bahru. Restoran Ah Kaw is the restaurant of the Johorian chef who created it.
Where to try it?
5. Pontian Wanton Mee
Wanton mee, or wanton (meat dumpling) noodle, of Cantonese origin is a common dish in Southern China and Southeast Asia where there are large Chinese populations. The noodle dish is typically served with char siew (barbecue pork / chicken) on thin egg noodle, dry-tossed in a light sauce, and shrimp / meat dumplings in a separate bowl of soup.
The Pontian-created wanton mee deviates from the norm by using a sauce that is a mixture of tomato ketchup, oyster sauce, shallot oil, etc, for tossing with the egg noodle. The char siew is typically very thinly cut, drier, leaner and looks paler with lesser use of the sweet red-coloured char siew sauce — probably due to the tomato-flavoured sauce. Aside from meat dumplings, fishballs may also be added.
In Pontian, typical and new flavours of wanton mee can also be found, aside from the tomato-based Pontian-style wanton mee, and they are all "Pontian wanton mee". By default, tomato-based sauce will be used. Outside of Pontian, be sure to specify the tomato version if the eatery serves more than one Pontian flavours.
Where to try it?
6. Muar Otak-Otak
Otak-otak is a popular Southeast Asian (Singapore, Malaysia & Indonesia) dish, of Peranakan origin, consisting of ground fish or other seafood (prawn, calamari, etc), spices, and coconut milk. Typical otak-otak are usually wrapped in banana leaves, like a parcel, and grilled or steamed before serving. The dish is usually spicy-savoury and with a smoky flavour (if grilled).
The Muar version of otak-otak is smaller in size and wrapped in slimmer nipah palm leaves. These sticks of Muar otak-otak are faster to grill as compared to the banana-leave-wrapped version and easier to eat as snacks or as accompaniment to meals.
By the way, "otak" means "brain" in Bahasa Melayu. The name "otak-otak" was coined in the early days due to minced fish paste looking like brain matters. So, when addressing the food, it is often termed as "otak-otak" instead of just "otak" — if you ask locals "where to find otak?" off-handedly, they may probably point at their heads.
Where to try it?
7. Mee Bandung
Mee bandung originated in Muar and is a true blue Muar- or Johor-specialty dish. The noodle dish typically uses yellow noodle with an egg and greens and drenched in a thick gravy-broth. Other ingredients such as seafood, fish cake or chicken may also be added. The gravy-broth is made from finely-ground dried shrimp (key ingredients), spices, chillies, etc, giving well-balanced flavours of spiciness, sweetness and savouriness.
Note that mee bandung has nothing to do with Bandung (万隆), a city in West Java of Indonesia, although some restaurants translated the name of the dish as "万隆面" in Chinese. "Bandung" is a Malay word for "mixture" or "combined", referring to how the gravy-broth is made with a mixture of ingredients.
Where to try it?
8. Mee Siput (Snail Cracker)
Mee siput, another Muar-specialty, was created in the 1950s in Muar. The old-school snack is handmade using long strips of noodle-like dough and deep-fried until crispy — like crackers — and the final product looks like the shell of a snail (siput). The crispy cracker is near-tasteless and should be eaten with its accompanying sauce, which is typically sambal chilli. However, the sambal chilli tastes different by different makers and may be sweet, sweet-spicy or sheer spicy.
As a specialty snack of Muar, mee siput is widely available in restaurants, coffee shops, product shops and also the food stalls along Muar Food Street.
Where to try it?
I am sure there are more Johor specialty dishes in some corners of Johor and waiting for me to discover. I will add them to this list after I have tried them, like I did for other food quests.
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