MELAKA, Mar 12 — The bowl of curry mee is a declaration, a promise: its surface glowing a deep orange beneath a glistening slick of red oil.
Steam carries with it the gentle funk of fermented shrimp paste, persuasive rather than pungent. The broth is thick, savoury and fiery enough even for the most jaded of palates.
This is part of our breakfast at Joy Ho Kopitiam, a home-style coffee shop in Kota Syahbandar, Melaka. The kopitiam is known for traditional Chinese noodle dishes alongside other kopitiam favourites.
The intermediate shoplot sits comfortably among offices, and its clientele reflects that. Indeed, by mid-morning the tables are occupied by office workers out for breakfast or an early lunch.
We feel like tourists by comparison (though I’m a bona fide Malaccan by birth) but that slight self-consciousness disappears as soon as we order our coffee.
Frothy ‘cham’ and robust ‘kopi O’. — Picture by CK Lim
One of us opts for kopi O, black and kaw, its bitterness more of a restorative than a punishment. The other chooses cham, creamy and frothy, a small indulgence before our noodles arrive.
(Our choice of coffee rarely changes, one black and one white, yet each time feels like the first time choosing. Marriage can feel like that too, I reckon, as every morning brings fresh smiles as we wake up next to each other.)
While waiting, the proprietor appears with a plate of homemade kim kuah kuih, also known in Malay as kuih labu. The steamed pumpkin cake is cut into neat cubes, its soft yellow-orange flesh topped with fried shallots and white sesame seeds. A decent dab of chilli sauce is smeared on one side.
Homemade ‘kim kuah kuih’. — Picture by CK Lim
Warm, gently sweet and almost custard-like in texture, this is comforting food, the savoury garnish keeping the pumpkin’s sweetness in check.
Finally our noodles arrive (it’s a busy morning and every customer seems to have ordered the same dishes as us). There is char kway teow, redolent of proper wok hei, and the aforementioned curry mee.
The old school char kway teow here leans darker and richer than the Penang version many are familiar with. It is wetter, glossed heavily with dark soy sauce that lends sweetness and a caramel depth, staining the noodles a deep brown.
Old school ‘char kway teow’. — Picture by CK Lim
Strands of noodles slick with savour and smoky aroma. Sinful, maybe, but we offer no apologies for our gluttony.
How could we, when plump prawns provide sweetness and bean sprouts a fresh crunch. Eggs dominate: folding softly through the noodles (a mix of yellow mee and flat rice noodles) and a crowning sunny side up.
Yet — if I must be honest — it is the curry mee that lingers in the mind.
Strands of noodles slick with savour and smoky aroma. — Picture by CK Lim
Poached chicken nestles among tofu puffs that have soaked up the curry with enthusiasm. Beneath all this, yellow mee and rice vermicelli coil together neatly, absorbing flavour without losing their integrity.
Above all, the seehum or blood cockles: fat and succulent, plasma-red, unapologetically briny, leaving behind a faint metallic note that rewards aficionados of these molluscs.
A spoon of sambal deepens the heat for those inclined (that means us, fervently so!), while a squeeze of lime sharpens the broth, lifting its richness.
The fat and succulent ‘seehum’ or blood cockles. — Picture by CK Lim
Both the char kway teow and curry mee are generously portioned. Regulars return time and again, assured of this liberal hand at the wok and the pot.
In fact, you could even say that at Joy Ho Kopitiam, a big breakfast means curry mee, char kway teow and a slice of pumpkin cake. Comfort food, nourishing the soul as much as the belly.
Joy Ho Kopitiam 聚好茶餐室
38, Jalan KSB 13,
Taman Kota Syahbandar, Melaka
Open Mon-Sat 7am-3pm, Sun closed
Phone: 016-607 4954
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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