Lui Cha @ 31°C Food Station

D said to meet him at shops near Public Bank at 3rd mile. It wasn't our regular area for lunch as it was far away from his office. But that day, D was running some errands nearby ... and so we ended up there, where we just picked any coffee shop to eat at.

31°C Food Station was spacious and airy, but looked rather empty at lunch time. I saw only a few stalls still operating - the roti stall, the lui cha stall and the fast food stall. D had rice and a few dishes from the fast food stall ....

But I opted for lui cha ....

Lui cha, RM5.00

It came in two bowls - a bowl of rice generously topped with vegetables and other dried condiments, a bowl of muddy green soup, and a saucer of roasted peanuts. 

Now, I loved the rice bowl, but not the soup bowl. The rice was tinged purple, fluffy, soft but not overcooked. So that was great. Then I loved the loads of vegetables on the rice .... the leeks, cangkuk manis, french beans, and the other ingredients like chopped beancurd, dried radish, and I think a sprinkling of chopped dried prawns too. Pour in the peanuts, give everything a good mix .... and yum .... very textural and tasty. 

The soup, however, was bitter. It was just plain bitter with no pleasant or "gan" aftertaste. It was served warm, not boiling hot, and I also found it a tad too diluted. Of course, my yardstick for a good bowl of soup was that of this operator at Jalan Intan - my favourite lui cha. This lui cha broth did not sooth my tummy at all.

Even after I had finished the rice, I still had two-thirds of the soup left in the bowl. "Eew .... bitter. Should I drink this?" I asked D, pointing to the bowl. He refused to even have a sip of it.  

"Up to you," he replied.

I braved myself and drank the soup off the bowl in a few gulps ..... "Detox," I said, though my face was all wrinkled up to brace with bitterness. Lol.