1.
If you were born in the 80s or earlier, the fervent cry of Thunder Thunder Thunder Thundercats may be nothing new to you. After all, there were only 3 TV channels those days: RTM1, RTM2 and TV3 and like it or not, one didn’t have much choice and everyone watched the same TV programmes. That is, if one even bothered to tune in. But now, just like how I am repulsed at the sight of ikan kembung goreng (fried mackerel), the only type of fish which was forced down my throat on a daily basis at the university’s dining hall by those affable makciks for four traumatic years of my life, similarly, I have the same repulsion for the 3 local TV channels. I am accumulating my therapy bills in my tattered Badminton Master shoebox…..bills which will make me rich one day when I find a lawyer foolhardy enough to take my case. Thunder thunder thunder……..
2.
Since my Chinese ethnicity is as watered down as the toddy served in most restaurants these days, you will understand how my mind normally draws a blank when someone mentions Hakka food. Khaw yoke, a dish of pork belly and yam slices is usually the first thing that comes to mind, but really, there is a myriad of wonderful food that I’ve always enjoyed, not knowing its origin until I researched it further. I later found out that two of my favourite dishes, chicken in rice wine and pork trotters in black vinegar had Hakka roots.
Last night, after the usual humming and hawing about where to go for dinner, we ended up at Ho Boh Hakka Restaurant at Bukit Tinggi Klang. On an aside, I am amazed how Bukit Tinggi has exploded into a culinary diamond in the rough, when only 20 years ago, it was an undeveloped piece of land. Where did all these restaurants come from?
We had the house specialty – Lui Cha (Thunder Tea Rice) (small – RM5.90). It consisted of a bowl of rice covered with various crunchy vegetables like chopped long beans and leek, a mixture of dried shrimp and hard bean curd, and roasted peanuts. A serving of mint tea in a bowl stood by the side; one can choose to either pour the tea over the rice or drink it separately. I found the tea refreshing, although somewhat thin, but was assured that they could make it thicker to my liking if I so preferred. It had a rather grainy texture due to the combining of mint leaves, peanuts and tea leaves which were ground to a paste and later diluted with water to form a soupy consistency. The overall flavour of the Lui Cha was very refreshing, partly due to the illusory effect of its green appearance.
Naturally, I couldn’t resist the Chicken in Yellow Wine (small -RM7) but found the wine a little too strong…..
…and the Pork Trotters in Black Vinegar (large RM9.90) which was just perfect.
Also check out Jules Eating Guide to Malaysia for more Hakka favourites at this restaurant.
Restoran Ho Boh
No. 8, Ground Floor, Jalan Batu Nilam 3,
Bandar Bukit Tinggi, 41200 Klang.
Tel: 03-3324 0547/ 012-322 6781
Open 10.30am to 10.00pm
okay, enough photos. have to wipe the drool off the floor.
PS: 5 years old and got specs already, started very early.
Funny, I just had Lui Cha in Oasis Food Court, Mid Valley on Sunday.
lol… great blog.. thunder tea! luckily not thunder thighs… :):) eating lai char how to have thunder thighs… so healthy !!
Lui Cha can be a love/hate relationship sorta dish. I’ve had it all but twice … first time was lovely (pungent and thick and wholesome); the second time less so (diluted and slightly odd-tasting — an additional unknown herb perhaps?).
I guess I’ll have to try it again before saying Nay or Yay. Third time’s the charm, yes?
P.S. I so heart Cheetarah. She is HAWT.
This is an awesome food for a royal feast . . . the only problem I have is to get through the horrified Klang city centre traffic jam in order to reach Bukit Tinggi.
Good enough for youngsters to start eating greens at his age. Cz I for one, found them repulsive when I was small. hehe… I love the pork trotters as well
All I could think of when I saw your title was, ‘Thunder thighs..’ Bad girl, very bad!! 😛
After tasting my (former) neighbour’s homemade version, everything else outside pales in comparison.
i so remember thunder cats..remember watching it just hours after my appendicitis operation..how to forget???
this is in klang you say? brilliant..no ned to drive down town after fetching gf for makan..kekeke..
talking about toddy, what happen to indian food and toddy?..dont think i forgot haha..
i believe lui cha is something very healthy with lots of veggie… but have yet to try
not too familar with Klang though >.<“
Personally I prefer She-Ra! Hahahah!!
Ok now, back to food. I just had lovely vinegared pork which was left marinated overnight in the fridge. Absolutely wonderful. Cooked by Hubby! Hehehe!
I don’t mind Lui Cha as long as the soup is kept away from me.
Henry: Got lots more photos, but I’ll take your advice. 😛
Simon Seow: Great minds? 😉
Cumi & Ciki: Well that’s the thing…how can it be healthy when there’s so much rice there? But I guess the vege kinda makes it healthy. 🙂 Kinda.
Kenny Mah: I guess you should keep eating at the first place then?
BBO: Don’t go thru Klang town. Use the Kesas highway. Much easier to get there.
J2Kfm: This little boy definitely loves his greens. He definitely puts me to shame. I even pass him my greens when I’ve reached my quota. 😛 A case of aunty abusing her nephew. 🙂
kat: Aiyoh….I look at thunder thighs every morning in the mirror. 🙁 How to get rid of that ar??
Joe: Once my peak period is over, will definitely call you for that toddy. 😛
ling239: You can get it in KL too (see Simon Seow’s comment). But I haven’t tried it at Midvalley before.
Precious Sista: LOL!! YOu’re always tempting me with your homecooked food lah!! FYI, this is one of my most favourite of all favourite foods in the entire universe. 😛 (just a hint only lar)
Your lui cha pics look so nice wan… I don’t remember the dish to look so appetising before… hahahaha
i love lui cha! simple, filling, nutricious, karlerful! hmmm, why does Ugly Betty comes to mind…
oh, our wonderful channels…the endless, melodious patriotic songs of Setia or Dirgahayu Oh Tanahairku, the Sang Kancil dan Kura-Kura and the Alis, Ah Chongs and Mutus.
Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu, bukan? hehehe…
woo.. your nephew likes this? that’s wonderful! Alot of kids dont like to go near this because it’s green!
i love this! heard there is a good one in Potong (or something like that?)
I don’t know how to eat Lui Cha….an acquired taste required! :o)
the only hakka dish that i can cook well is pork trotters in black vinegar..sadly, never got to learn lui cha..oh well, guess i can eat it here! hehe
isn’t the soup accompanying lui cha made of basil, not mint? i LURVE lui cha, i’m always on the lookout for it. but heck if i’m gonna get jet lag in trying to get it…bukit tinggi klang, is that near switzerland?
its such a cleansing dish….
You mean, it was just a hint that I could ignore?? Haha…am trying very hard coaxing Hubby to cook vinegared trotters for the lunch but after he learned who are the guests…he said too pressured!
Cannot, dear. First place (better lui cha) closed down. Second shop (lousy lui cha) still open. Goes to show there’s no accounting for tastes, eh? 😛
As for thunder thighs, if you really don’t want to see that every morning in the mirror, I’ve got the perfect solution for you, dear.
But.
I’ve promised you never to harangue you on that subject anymore, though it’s a good RM135 down the drain every month that you could use for great makan-ing… but like I said, I promised not to kacau you anymore on this subject.
So I won’t. 😛
Bernsy: Maybe you should try it at some other place? 😛
Nic: You are not THAT old, so stop pretending. 😛
Daphne: I’ve never seen a kid gobble up his greens so enthusiastically before. The leafier, the better. Sheesh. And Potong?? Hmmm….never heard of it leh.
wmw: Does lui cha fall in the same category as stingray??
sc: Okay..you’re my new best friend. 🙂
AA/HH: You’re such a drama queen! And the soup accompanying my lui cha was just mint. No, Bukit Tinggi is closer to the Kalahari Desert.
Precious Sista: Tell my Brother-in-Law (hehe…suddenly claim blood relations!) that I’ll be eternally grateful to him.
Kenny Mah: Maybe your tastebuds kaput already? 😛 😛
Brilliant photography, gets better by the day … 🙂
Thanks for putting my blog link in your write-up too!
cheh, with all that expensive equipment, photos better be good ler, otherwise dig out those eyes lar hor….
evil cackle.
munching away on grapes. oooh, unripe….
who ya calling a drama queen yo? only mint in the thunder thighs? sheesh, certainly not worth going to the kalamari for,
the 1st time i had lui cha its also here..and i remember asking for more dried shrimps..you can always ask for extra thing free oh charge..they are reshowing thunder cats at tv2 lately also..i prefer she ra too..haha.
So cute lah, your nep-few!
Is that Kenknee harassing you? Wait till I spank his skinny backside blue and black. (Sound familiar?)
just out of interest, what is “badminton master”?
james, its the brand of shoe that all national school kids used to wear in the 70s and 80s. of course, the more well heeled ones would wear better brands. ah, it was a whole subculture, badminton masters. we’d use kiwi chalk (a kinda shoe whitewash) to paint it white. you’d need two pairs, one to dry, one to wear. [getting all teary eyed at the trip down memory lane]
Where did the James above get the ‘Badminton Master’ bit, lah?
I’ve never had Lui Cha – hope to try it one day. Sounds really interesting and quite different from the usual Chinese cuisine.
Ah, OK, sorry, missed the first para altogether. Must be going blind in my middle age. *sheepish* Baa!
Badminton Master not Bata-ah? I remember that kiwi stuff, very satisfying to put on. Heyy I grew up eating this food – usually when my aunties were pregnant in Penang – that vinegar trotter stuff especially. Err, it’s good for mums making milk for the babies. I can cooook it! You like ah? One day make for you-lah. And that chicken in wine too. Mum puts liver and kidney innit. Maybe I had Lui Cha and I didn’t know it. It sounds familiar, must try some day.
Julian Si: Thank you!
fbb: Always knew I could count on you to make me feel better.
AA/HH: Bring your own basil lar.
Christine: Really? I should try my luck next time. Then can feed two people for the price of one. 😛
Argus: My saviour! Yes, spank da fler! He notty.
james: See AA/HH’s drama queen explanation…with tears and all.
AA/HH: Thanks, dear. I couldn’t have said it better. Btw, I noticed you’re not so Abandoned or Haunted anymore, are ya?
argus: I suppose it’ll be easy enough to make even in the Alps. I have a recipe which I can email ya, if you like. 🙂
Msiagirl: Badminton Master’s from Bata, isn’t it? I hated doing my shoes every weekend coz they were usually very muddy and I had to scrub them clean first before putting the white stuff. You can cook it too? Nice. 🙂 I should get a good recipe and try it some time.
I just love lui char! Hmm will go have it again? You mention refreshing only…. yes? Hard to find lui char kaki.. so far i know Boo likes it only.
For a second there, I got confused with the Phoenix Claw stew in FBB’s. (Hard to find ‘claws’ in these here parts.) Yes, yes, do email me your recipe for Lui Cha. Thanx, sweetie.
i’m surprised u like lui cha. like durians, i think it’s an acquired taste. most find it bland, but i like the minty aftertaste of the tea, as well as the crunchy texture of the chopped ingredients in the rice.
for the record, teckieee, if you ever looking for LUI CHA kaki, call me, i lurve it. its so cleansing….. with all that fibre, its like sending a chimney sweep’s brush through your colon
teckiee: I love it too. Yes, count me in. 🙂
argus: Okay, will do!
Jun: My tastebuds can be quite surprising. 🙂 Buzz me when you’re down and we’ll go makan lui cha.
AA/HH: Hmmm. I wouldn’t wanna be that chimney sweep’s brush. Eeeeaarrgghhh.
hey, should we troop down to singapore with james when he goes?
fbb, sure ar not??? let me know earlier cos i need to roll out the red carpet across the causeway leh…hehe
this is all bcos of hooters isn’t it? 😀
fbb: The things you’d do for Hooters!
Nic: The things he’d do for Hooters. 😛
no lah,i saw the website…. them singapore hooters look like the donkey type…. ya haw hee haw bad hawww….
i said should WE troop down…all in the name of good food and good company
Hooters was supposed to open in dubai, so reported one year ago. Of course not surprisingly, now there is not even a hoot about it…
*hands up waving frantically*
I oso lui cha fan, esp after what FBB aka AA/HH mentioned about chimney sweeping the colon. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were a remedy for thunder thighs too… 😀
We tell B fbb wanna go to Hooters. What’s the girls version-lah –noooo definitely don wan donkey type…
Taiwan has a lot of Hakka food too! The MeiCaiKouRou (braised pork belly with preserved veg) is Hakka, right?
Ho Boh – in Hokkien, sounds like asking “How are you”? or maybe if the food is good?
Your nephew wears glasses at age 5 – must be reading your blog excessively 😛
msiagirl, for girls, there’s a place called shooters… they shoot you milk tea with their very sophisticated equipment. you have to open mouth big big or they might miss.
Heehee, yes I remember Thundercats from my toddler days when being babysitted by grandma. Gosh these are some superb Hakka dishes that are making me drool
Oh no, lil’ sis. There’s a milk tea shooter above. ;-P
ur 5 yr-old nephew eats lui cha!*bows*
i just found out about lui cha a few weeks ago. it’s rare here in kk. love it, so light n healthy.
ur chinese is as bad as mine, but i do have help in tt area. the ‘lui’ (lei in mandarin) is close to thunder in pronounciation BUT does not mean thunder. Lui/lei means to mill, or to grind something. as such, this is ground or milled tea, refering to the green soup. thought u would like to know 🙂
uh oh the Pope has waded into the fray. Well I always like my teh tarik, even better with cardammom, or was that grapes…
deal 🙂 let’s hope lui cha remains palatable to ur tastebuds by the time i go home ;p
Sounds like the modern-day new bloggers’ Lui Cha — milk tea milled with cardamom and grapes.
Happy Mum’s Day to everyone who’s a mom. By the way, I’m ‘expecting’ a pup late-Sept onwards. A lab — black, brown or cream is anyone’s guess. Dogmom, yeah!