ME AND MEE

The famous Mee Bandung Muar of Pak Abu

Shrimps and meat pieces swim in the thick gravy

Having my first taste of Pak Abu Mee Bandung
'John Wayne' also had a go of his mee bandung at Muar

Satay is eaten with peanut sauce, rice cubes and cucumber

Pak Abu sells his gravy paste to his customers

Watermelon juice with a zest of lemon. Melonlicious!

Thanks for the generous portion Pak Abu

Yusuf with the youngest customer of Pak Abu

The satay man fanning the charcoal for a good fire

Charcoal-grilled chicken and beef meat

The road opposite Wah San Coffee shop

Pak Abu Hanipah the man behind the success of Mee Bandung Muar

Selling the box of paste for RM 10

ME AND MEE BANDUNG MUAR

After watching an episode of 'Warung Kita', I told my husband that we must stop by at Muar for the famous Mee Bandung and satay which were given the thumbs up by the foodie commentator.

We were in Negri Sembilan recently and dropped by at Muar on the way back to Singapore. It took us about twenty minutes driving around Muar town to find the rightly named Wah San Coffeeshop which was highlighted in the programme. A row of big bikes from KL fronted the shop. The riders are regulars and would have their Sunday breakfast there. Cars with plates from Johor, Negri Sembilan and Selangor lined the road. That was a clear mandate that the iconic Pak Abu's Mee Bandung of Muar started in the 1930s and his hand-me-down secret recipe sill have its magnetism to pull in the crowd who are willing to drive hundreds of kilometres away.

Stepping into the coffee shop gave us an aura of simplicity and a relaxing atmosphere; inviting and easy-going feeling which are only offered by people who want to see you revisit their stall. Pak Abu gave us his wide smile and bantered away at the list of guests who had been his patrons. Newspaper cuttings on 'Who's Who' in Malaysia political and entertainment scene were fighting for space on the walls of the shop and on his glass display cabinet.

We planted ourselves at a table a long the five-foot path and ordered the speciality of the shop. I ventured into the cooking area. Pak Abu fried his paste of chillies, onions, peanut, beef and shrimp fresh before adding the stock, vegetables and the yellow mee into the big wok. His scooping of the condiments and giving a quick dash of sauce here and there into the wok with his ladle and deft hands reminded me of an image of a conductor holding a baton and making music with his orchestra. I marvelled at the quickness of how he portioned his ingredients that should go into the cooking of the gravy. Only a maestro of the ladle like him would be able to perform that!

Pak Abu's recipe of forty years had satisfied the gastronomical desires of many local and faraway customers. The mee bandung served had a generous portion of thick gravy, shrimp and meat. To me, the gravy was more like a mixture of satay peanut sauce and the mee rebus gravy. A bit too sweet for my liking. As for the satay, I prefer mine to be coated with more spice such as coriander, fennel and lemon grass rather than the caramelised meat we had.

Getting to Muar:

Take the Tangkak exit (Exit 235) from the North South Expressway and drive past Sg. Mati and Parit Bunga (Highway 23 and 5). Muar town is situated approximately 27km from the Tangkak exit.