Story and Photos by Grace Chen
Sunday April 12, 2009
Bidor town is a favourite stopover for travellers seeking fruits and local snacks.
LAI Yoke Kuan, the owner of Ah Yew Fruit Shop, stopped us dead in our tracks when she jumped out and playfully hollered, “Halt! Who goes there? Friend or foe?”
Once she got our attention, the 46-year-old mother of five broke into a charming smile and handed out slices of red, juicy bell fruit for sampling. Lai’s shock tactic worked because when we left, she had managed to sell us two packets of bell fruit, a few kilos of seedless guavas, a bag of tamarind pods and a few stalks of lotus fruit.
Khong Siew Kit of Pun Chun showing the restaurant’s famous chicken biscuits and shat ke ma.
Welcome to Jalan Besar in Bidor!
This small town is touted as one of the most popular stopovers for travellers and the foodie community. For many, no journey is complete without stopping at Jalan Besar.
“Location, location, location,” was Lai’s opinion on what draws people to this place. “To reach all the best tourist destinations like Cameron Highlands, Fraser’s Hill, Pulau Pangkor and Teluk Intan, you have to pass Bidor,” pointed out Lai who has been running her fruit shop for 10 years.
So what does Bidor’s Jalan Besar have to offer?
For one, it is famous for freshly plucked petai. According to Ken Yee, 22, who has been selling this pungent favourite for the past 10 years, the petai is harvested from the hilly areas of the Titiwangsa Range by the orang asli near Tapah. It is a gut-wrenching exercise which requires the gatherer to scale up trees the height of five-storey buildings.
To sample the taste of stir-fried petai with prawns and belacan, go to Hup Kee Rice Stall on the same street. Here, in addition to a variety of noodles and other dishes, they also have fish ball tang hoon soup.
The best of Pun Chun: The duck thigh noodles.
Jalan Besar also has the best to offer in pomelos, juicy bell fruits and seedless guavas.
Don’t be fooled by the innocent countenance of the lasses employed by the shop proprietors to attract customers.
Take 18-year-old Hong Siew Yee and her friend, Kok Puei Sin, 19, who have been working at one of the pomelo stalls for half a year. You want to know if the pomelos are from Tambun or Penang? Just look at the texture of the skin. Tambun pomelos have a thinner and smoother covering.
How do you know if a pomelo is sweet or sour? Just scrape the skin and sniff the fragrance. Sour pomelos tend to have very sharp citrusy notes.
“You can say that it boils down to experience. Also, we are given on the job training,” affirmed Hong.
The real star of Jalan Besar is none other than Pun Chun Restaurant which is well known for its duck thigh noodles, dim sum offerings and the all-time favourites – chicken biscuits (kai chai peng in Cantonese) and baked egg flour drizzled with molasses (shat ke ma). It is rumoured that big Hong King showbiz names like Alan Tham, Hong Po Po, Lydia Shum and Alex Man have dined here. Apart from Bidor, Pun Chun also has a branch in Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam.
Established in the 1940s, the restaurant is very much a family-run business with no less than six family members working round the clock at any one time.
According to Khong Siew Kit, 47, who is from the third generation, their late grandfather Khong Huen Chew, a Chinese immigrant, had started life in Malaya by selling wanton noodles.
Once he had saved enough money, he went back to China to fetch his wife and children. He also brought back the recipe for Pun Chun’s trademark – their famed chicken biscuits which are made from wheat flour, beancurd, winter melon, lard, eggs, spices and chicken flavouring.
“My late grandfather’s original intention was to offer more variety to his customers. He already offered steamed buns, deep-fried yam cutlets, some siew paus and celebratory biscuits with lotus paste fillings,” explained Kwong.
Bidor is also home to another famous name – Kwong Heng soya sauce and fermented bean paste. Established in 1945, Kwong Heng is credited with creating the yellow bean paste which Malaysians have grown to love.
To get to Bidor, if you are coming from Sungkai, exit at the next interchange. The distance from Sungkai to this town is 15.5km. If you are coming from Tapah, the distance is 15km. As you exit the toll, go towards the direction of the town and you will reach Jalan Besar. -- Sunday Metro
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