You asked me to…

My blogger friend in Singapore, Chef and Sommelier, asked me to tell him what 八珍猪脚 was when he saw it on the banner of the coffee shop that I was blogging about the other day. Oops!!! That was Greek to me but these days, it really isn’t much a problem. I resorted to the help of Google Translate and I got “Bazhen Pig” and clicking on the first word for the alternative translations, I got “Eight Treasures”. Ahhhhhh!!!! It dawned on me there and then that, in fact, that was pek ting eyok pork in Mandarin characters.

It has never been my favourite even though this herbal delight is very popular around here. Pek means eight and eyok means medicine or herbs while ting, if I’m not mistaken, means steam or double boil or something along those lines. The name alone would give you an idea how it is cooked but I’m afraid I would very much prefer those medicinal roots that I had not too long ago.

Anyway, to let my friend know what it is like, I made my way to this coffee shop near my house and ordered a bowl (RM8.00)…

Good grief! It certainly is by no means cheap…but never mind! I don’t think I would have it again…or at least, not so soon.

There you are – the Eight Treasures or pek ting eyok pork trotters…

I would say it was quite nice as the one here seemed to be a little bit watered down. Of course, when you’re in the business of selling this, you would not be all that generous with the herbs and would probably dilute the soup as far as possible but I would say that it was all for the better. When my missus cooked it, it was rather sweet or tangy with the lemon peel in the combination of herbs and I can’t say that I like that very much. I find it very much nicer this way…and I wouldn’t mind having that sometime should I happen to be looking for something different for a change.

I did enjoy the mee sua...

…and the coffee was good too…

…and if you may recall, the kampua noodles here aren’t too bad as well and are cheaper than some other places in town.

All things considered, this is one good place to stop by for a bite and for coffee instead of making your way to that once-very-popular place further up the road in Sungai Merah. Just don’t order the dim sum…