PETALING JAYA, Sept 17 — When I am feeling a little down and in need of a health boost, I tend to reach out for a bowl of green happiness like lui cha. There's something comforting about the bounty of vegetables, beautifully arranged in a bowl that makes me smile.
I'm always on the lookout for a good lui cha and my most recent find is Popo Thunder Tea which I saw on Plats Selangor's website (https://platselangor.com).
I came across the website which promotes various food businesses in Selangor one day and this one caught my eye. It was started back in April this year by two young guys.
The menu is a simple one. You have a choice of white rice or brown rice with your lui cha. The white rice is RM7.50 while the brown rice is RM8.50. For takeaways, it's an additional 50 sen. There's an option to add more vegetables, peanuts, soup or even your choice of rice, if you pay extra,
I always zoom in on the brown rice version as it makes it a much healthier bowl. Their brown rice is excellent with large grains of slightly chewy rice that have a lovely toasted flavour.
Toss it with the assortment of vegetables from long beans, leeks and sayur manis. You also get soft cooked black eye beans, firm beancurd and preserved radish.
What is also unusual is this version has soft cooked sliced onions. They also add a sprinkle of dried prawns to boost the flavour.
Rather than give you the herbal soup on the side, they provide it in a thick sauce texture. I do see some people add it "as is" to the rice bowl to create a drier bite. I prefer adding a little hot water to mine to create a more liquid bowl. Their version tends to be on the milder side but luckily there's no bitterness.
They also provide toasted peanuts in a separate packet so sprinkle that over the rice for a nice contrast of textures. Just mix it all and enjoy.
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The highlight is the chewy nutty rice which blends so well with the cooked vegetables that are not mushy. You get a bit of crunch from the peanuts and a hit of saltiness from the radish. Since the herbal soup is mild, it doesn't distract you from the taste of the vegetables. It's definitely a big bowl of comfort that soothes the soul.
You can do a takeaway from their stall inside this coffee shop or get it delivered to your doorstep. Delivery details via third parties are all on this link https://linktr.ee/popothundertea
Popo Thunder Tea, Restoran Hong Kee, 29, Jalan 2/32, Section 2, Petaling Jaya. Open: 9am to 2pm. Closed on Sunday. Tel:+6012-8403048. Facebook:@popoleicha Instagram:@popothundertea
