SEMENYIH, Oct 3 — Food adventures don’t always begin as food adventures.
We don’t always head out with a clear gastronomic destination in mind, though that is common enough. Especially for Malaysians, ahem.
(I’m sure we have all had the experience of driving across state lines at the oddest hours to simply reach a popular stall just as it opens, yes?)
But this time, it wasn’t for pan mee, pani puri or pisang goreng (though I still prefer to call it goreng pisang; it works if you read it as "fritter of banana”); we were out hunting for plants in Semenyih where several garden and landscape nurseries are located.
What we ended up finding were very local, Hakka style pork noodle dishes where we least expected to find them (but more on that later).
To be exact, less of actual hunting and more of arguing over whether to get more flowering plants such as hibiscus and rain lilies or greener, leafy species such as an Alocasia or a glossy Philodendron.
All that spirited discussion (to put it mildly) would make anyone hungry; indeed, who knew debating passionately could be such an intense calorie burning activity?
We certainly were famished. Time for munchies.
It’s early enough that most places were still offering breakfast but rather than drive around looking for an eatery that’s not too crowded, we decided to just walk around and see what turns up.
Which is how we found ourselves at Backstreet Time, literally a back lane kopitiam at the rear of a terrace house. It’s not a place you’d just happen to walk past unless you happen to be exploring the area (that’s us; it was just a few minutes’ stroll from a nursery).
A father and daughter team manned the cooking and coffee stations, respectively. Looking around, it’s clear that the shop caters mainly to local customers from the surrounding neighbourhood.
As the daughter busied herself making drinks and toasting bread — we started with the requisite kopi and butter kaya toast — her father continued cooking every plate of noodles to order.
A simple, unhurried rhythm, with friendly smiles. That small town, close neighbourhood ambience. Easy to fall in love with, hard to replicate in the big city. Certainly not in a crowded albeit air-conditioned mall.
The first plate to arrive was the nam yu fried pork noodles. The aroma of the nam yu or fermented red bean curd marinade was not too strong, not too subtle. Just nice.
The slices of pork looked lean at first but there was the gorgeous layers of juicy fat too, infused with the bold, savoury flavour of the fermented red bean curd.
Whilst waiting for the second plate of noodles, we shared a bowl of their handmade fish balls. This wasn’t on the menu but the daughter suggested it when taking our orders.
Coarsely shaped, fresh tasting, with enough of a bounce to make every bite a joy. A good recommendation.
Finally the Hakka zhar yoke noodles arrived. This is an unctuous dish of braised pork chunks with wood ear mushrooms, full of five-spice powder fragrance. Good on rice, maybe even better with noodles given it’s breakfast time.
(Breakfast time always feels like a time for noodles, somehow. Mornings are made for noodles.)
We left Backstreet Time with full bellies, energised for further plant hunting and debating. One adventure leads to another, and so on.
Food adventures don’t always begin as food adventures. And these might be the best sort of adventures of them all, don’t you agree?
Backstreet Time 后街的光阴
No.93 (back lane),
Pekan Semenyih, Semenyih.
Open daily (except Thu closed) 6:30am–2:30pm
Phone: 012-727 6065
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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