Food from Johor Bahru to die for - 'Mee Rebus Haji Wahid'.

A few chapters of my life were in overseas but now I am back to my country for good. When I was living outside Malaysia, the one thing I always missed was the local food. Lucky enough, I do have the ability to cook few local dishes although not as professional to be commercialized.

Malaysian food is special to me as they have been blended into our multi cultural orientation. Some Malaysian food like ‘roti canai’ were originally from overseas but have been 'Malaysianized' to adapt for the local taste. I still believe that our local Malaysian food here is relatively cheaper compared to food prices around the world.

There were some local food that I really missed when I lived overseas and the most is ‘mee rebus’ from my hometown, Johor Bahru. In particular, I was missing ‘Mee rebus Haji Wahid’ when I was away.

‘Mee rebus Haji Wahid’ is synonymous with Johor Bahru with a long history of family business establishment even during the time when my mother was a child. Almost all of Johor Bahru residents are familiar with the ‘mee rebus’. Today ‘Mee Rebus Haji Wahid’ is managed by the children of Haji Wahid with many branches in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur.

I say, they prosper over the years from a humble beginning of hawker stall while maintaining the same quality as the original of yester year. For them, modern business expansion techniques, such as the fast food franchise system have no relevancy to them, yet they are able to maintain the SOP (standard operating procedure) of any modern western fast food with the many branches.

I guess, the business SOP is something of their well kept family business secret. I am sure that there are lots of things that a Bumiputera entrepreneur can learn from the home grown ‘Mee Rebus Haji Wahid’, starting from their branding to quality control.

The 'Mee Rebus' is made of yellow noodles with slightly spicy gravy. The gravy is made from sweet potatoes, salted soya beans, dried shrimps, beef, spices and peanuts.

The inexpensive dish is garnished with hardboiled egg, lime, spring onions, celery, green chili, fried shallot, 'pendaram' and bean sprouts. The gravy is thick and fragrant without being too starchy. The high protein, low fat and nutritious dish with remarkable taste furthermore goes well with 'satay'.

I was happy to be back to my hometown Johor Bahru during the Hari Raya and enjoy my ‘Mee Rebus Haji Wahid’.

Ps: Sometimes, retaining our way of traditional food business can be quite as successful or more than the modern fast food business less the huge capital.