KLANG, Feb 9 — Water. It’s the stuff of life, right?

Like a mother’s nurturing when you’re in the womb – except for me, it was bak kut teh.

Though I’m neither Hokkien nor have family from Klang, my mother’s one and only pregnancy craving was inexplicably bak kut teh.

No wonder I popped out resembling a fat piece of pork, with dong quai (female ginseng) and black garlic coursing through my veins.

She wouldn’t settle for just any random bak kut teh either.

Lord knows, my dad tried bringing home whatever was on the way back from work, but only Telok Pulai Bak Kut Teh would do.

The original – spelled with an "o” – which my parents had been going to since before they were married, right on Jalan Teluk Pulai itself.

If the name rings a bell, you’re probably thinking of the famed Teluk Pulai Bak Kut Teh in Taman Intan.

But Restoran Telok Pulai Bak Kut Teh is where it all started – opened in 1979 by the father of its current owner, who prefers to be known only as Ang.

He took over in 1984 and has run it with his wife, Chan Poh Lin, 60, for the last 40 years.

The Taman Intan business, run by Ang’s younger brother, operates independently, with no ties to the original.

Telok Pulai was my introduction to bak kut teh as a child, and our typical order of sai kuat (small bone) with added fu chuk (beancurd skin) is ingrained as indelibly in my mind as the stray dogs that used to hang out by the alleyway, waiting for scraps from al fresco diners sitting under the canopy.

As indelibly as the kettles positioned on stands around the tables – towering over me, a daunting mix of heat and weight that always made me scurry to the other side.

As indelibly as the first sip of this rich, herbal tonic, the first piece of tender, fatty pork, the first spoonful of fragrant, oily rice.

The canopy above the alley is gone, replaced by some colourful fluff.

The fresh coat of white paint comes courtesy of the new neighbour – now a dolled-up café.

The stray dogs are no more. The kettles now come up to my waist instead of towering over me. Still hot though.

But on a recent revisit, the bubbling clay pot of bak kut teh stayed true.

True to its beautifully balanced broth, it ticked all the boxes. Herbal, but not bitter? Check. Depth of flavour, with savoury and sweet notes? Check. So rich and fatty that a layer of oil congeals on top if you leave it untouched for a while? Mega check.

The inclusion of button mushrooms and what feels like three leaves of lettuce still persists, much to my amusement.

Aromatic as ever, the rice is best enjoyed with a topping of fried shallots.

A portion for four – with three plates of rice and tea – came to RM98.

Ang laments the state of the bak kut teh business, recalling a time when there were "around 70 places in Klang; now it’s closer to 400.”

The rising cost of traditional herbs hasn’t helped either. "It used to be around RM40 per kilogram, now it’s almost RM600!”

As a result, he has no plans for his children to take over. "It’s a tough business,” he says.

As I finish the last spoonful, the bowl sits empty, a quiet reminder that nothing lasts forever. For now, at least, this does.

Come for the bak kut teh while it’s still around, before this piece of history, too, fades away.

Restoran Telok Pulai Bak Kut Teh

27-H, Jalan Teluk Pulai,

Teluk Gadong, Klang

Open daily, 7am-2pm.

Tel: 012-383 2121

*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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*Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and mildly self-deprecating attempts at humour.