JOHOR BARU – Who knew you could find such fresh-tasting bitter gourd soup?

You could argue this isn’t surprising, given our whereabouts. Nearly every street is inundated with food shops, cafés and restaurants. There is a bank here and there, the requisite convenience store, but largely the neighbourhood is dominated by eateries.

We are in the foodie paradise of Permas Jaya.

A suburb in Johor Bahru, Permas Jaya is well known for its plethora of dining choices. Some are catered more towards the young crowd such as Old Street 2, which is influenced by Taiwanese night markets such as the famous ones in Shilin and Keelung.

But we’re not after boba tea or spicy stinky tofu. We are craving for something more local and reassuring.

After a long drive from KL (we’re in town for belated tomb sweeping duties given Qing Ming prayers weren’t possible during the nationwide lockdown in early April), we are also keen on something rejuvenating.

The common belief is that when you travel, you want to eat something exotic. Not necessarily foreign, just not from where you are.

Something particular to your destination such as Seremban siew bao in Seremban or Penang char kway teow in Penang.

(Though these days you can find just about anything from every state in your own neighbourhood if you look hard enough, and sometimes you don’t even have to try that hard.)

But after over four hours on the highway (we kept to the speed limit; safety isn’t just  social distancing and washing our hands frequently but driving carefully too, no?), what we crave is simple and nutritious food, to be honest.

If only we could enjoy home-style, mom’s cooking.

Refreshing bitter gourd soup (left) and tofu with minced pork gravy (right)

Which every spoonful of the aforementioned bitter gourd soup counts as. Delicate, tasting still green and fresh as though just blanched before serving, the soup revitalises us. Lifts our weary spirits. Thin slices of lean pork are tender rather than a chewing assignment.

Simple shop furnishings to match simple, wholesome food at Kah Kah Loke

The restaurant, Kah Kah Loke, is famous for this signature dish but also other home-cooked dishes. No one warned us that they also pride themselves on their speed of service; we had barely taken a sip of our winter melon longan drink when our main orders began arriving, one after the other.

Perfect for those who have just arrived in town and are famished.

We have an entire slab of wobbly soft tofu slathered in a savoury minced pork gravy. Nothing fancy, just like something you could dish up at home, which is the idea basically.

Hakka style deep fried pork, flavourful thanks to a 'nam yue' (red fermented beancurd) marinade

The unlikely highlight is the Hakka-style deep fried pork. The pork loin is still moist thanks to the speed of frying, its exterior crunchy (like popcorn chicken but better, of course). The surprise is in the lightness of touch here; the nam yue (red fermented beancurd) marination lends a gentle fragrance without overpowering the meat.

'Belacan' stir-fried sweet potato leaves (left) and winter melon longan drink (right)

We complete our selection with some greens: belacan stir-fried sweet potato leaves. Still crunchy and green, redolent of the fermented shrimp paste and not too spicy chillies. No heartburn after this meal, that’s for sure.

This is a meal meant to be eaten with a bowl of rice, perhaps two, just as we would at home when we honour our mom’s hard work in the kitchen by requesting "More rice, please.”

Later, after some rest at our hotel, we venture out for some early dinner. Korean BBQ outlets and Thai hotpot restaurants beckon, but we are still hankering for something Malaysian. Something that tastes homemade. Something wholesome.

What better than a bowl of hand torn mee hoon kueh?

We enter Sin Soon Li, an unusual shop in that it basically serves just one item: mee hoon kueh. Not chilli pan mee, and not even dry style mee hoon kueh in a soy sauce gravy. Just irregular squares of smooth, thinly stretched dough – the way you’d only achieve tearing by hand instead of a pasta press.

The pasta allusion isn’t a bad one: every piece retains an al dente chew to it even as we make our way to the bottom of the bowl. The sweet soup, tasting of something deeper than simply anchovies, stays hot thanks to a traditional porcelain bowl.

Sometimes having fewer choices can be a good thing especially when your mind feels drained after a long day. Every bowl comes with the requisite slices of pork, bouncy meatballs (also made by hand), vibrant green sayur manis and crispy fried anchovies.

Yolk spilling out from a poached egg into 'mee hoon kueh' soup

Topped with a single barely poached egg, the yolk spilling out into the hot soup, and this is all the dinner we need.

Perhaps it’s the soups that make it comforting. Be it the anchovy-laden flavour of the mee hoon kueh soup or the cloudy umami of the bitter gourd soup, it all tastes of home. Home, even though we are away. No small blessing, this.

Restoran Kah Kah Loke

22, Jalan Permas 10/5, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, Masai, Johor

Open daily (except Mon closed) 10am-9pm

Restoran Sin Soon Li

1, Jalan Permas 10, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, Masai, Johor

Open daily 9am-6pm