JOHOR BAHRU, Aug 29 — Few things bring me back to my childhood like an unexpected treat.
A long forgotten candy, maybe, the sort of boiled sweet that was caked in tangy sherbet powder? Or one of those elegant bottles of fizzy drinks with an enticing but inscrutable name like “ice-cream soda”?
All good guesses but alas, I did not have a sweet tooth as a kid. Instead, my tongue always leaned towards the savoury.
Which is perhaps why my mouth is automatically watering when these hedgehog-like orbs arrive at our table looking. The surface has been scored into tiny cubes, the way you might score the flesh of a mango before turning it inside out.
I bite into one and there’s a satisfying bounce before the crust gives. This is fresh squid, chewy and a little briny.
The batter isn’t fancy panko breadcrumbs used for tonkatsu or a thick craggy coating typical of Southern fried chicken. No, the cook merely dusted the spheres in a whisper of cornstarch or rice flour, just enough for a delicate crispness.
That and the sheer heat of a hot wok of oil.
The kitchen in question is at New Lucky Seafood Restaurant in Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru. And this is one of their signature dishes, a plate of Traditional Crispy Sotong Balls.
Founded in 1978, this nearly 50-year-old JB institution is older than many of its customers. Many of my local friends fondly remember visiting the longtime eatery with their families when they were younger.
(Strange how their childhood haunt is stirring up my own cherished childhood memories, no? Strange but also wonderful.)
Naturally, one of my JB friends is doing the ordering; most of these are classics and safe bets, he tells us.
While I am enamoured with the old-school squid balls, the true showstopper for the rest of the table is New Lucky’s Crystal Ice Vege Salad (沙律冰菜).
Known as bing cai or “crystal ice vegetable”, it looks as though it has been left out in a hard frost, every leaf studded with tiny beads that catch the light like dew.
Honestly, the flavour is barely there at all: a faint salinity, a mineral coolness. What stands out is its texture: bite into a leaf and it shatters pleasingly, crisp and brimming with juice.
Which is probably why it is best served raw and chilled, tossed in a salad alongside some fruits. Grapes (both green and purple), lychees and cherry tomatoes; a fruit salad, really,
Dressed with nothing more than a fragrant roasted sesame sauce, this salad isn’t overly fussy yet is majestic in its simplicity.
Yet not all dishes need to be a dazzling display or a breathtaking centrepiece.
The popular Crispy Roasted Pork is basically stir-fried siew yoke but everyone loves it. New Lucky’s Homemade Golden Bean Curd is no less compelling; the comfort staples is punched up by some braised luffa (angled gourd).
We complete our meal with a seasonal offering, Asparagus with Scallops, and a huge platter of their Fried Kway Teow with Cockles, which they kindly separate into smaller bowls for us.
Our friend rhapsodises about other house specialties, from their Steamed Salted Kampung Chicken to their Braised Fish Lips with Dry Scallops. Celebrated claypot creations include their Salted Fish and Pork Belly in Claypot and Braised Taro Paste and Pork Ribs in Claypot.
Since I’m Cantonese, he assures me I’ll approve of their Hong Kong Style Steamed Giant Grouper too. We need to visit a few more times for you to try them all, he insists.
And we will. For the best part of discovering a good restaurant isn’t really about trying every dish on the menu but for the promise of gathering again and catching up.
Old friends in old restaurants: now that’s a true treat.
New Lucky Seafood Restaurant
Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru.
Open daily 11:15am-10:45pm
Phone: 07-338 3822
For more food fables and café chronicles, visit Life for Beginners.
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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