LIGHTNING TEA

Contrary to the name suggest, “Looi Char” doesn’t have any “ZING” taste to it. One needs to have an acquired taste* when it comes to eating “Looi Char”. Lightning Tea is the direct translation from Cantonese for this delicacy. I know.. it sounded kinda silly.

*Not many people know how to appreciate this delicacy. Some of my colleagues said it taste weird.

It is a perfect vegetarian dish. It consists of 9 ingredients; finely chopped long beans, white radish, taufoo, beans, sesame seed, coriander leaves, the green leaves that pan mein uses (dunno wads the name!), and some other unidentified leaves or greens. Dried shrimps could be added to taste for non vegetarians.

The thick greenish yellow gravy that comes with it, is made of a type of tea leaves (not green tea even it is green in color) mixed with peanut and sesame oils. You may want to add some hot water to it before eating with rice and the mixture of greens.

The greens are lightly stirred fried in peanut oil, which brings out the aroma of the dish.

This can be found in Taman Muda, Ampang (in front of a Dobby shop, behind the market, next to Ruby Ice Kacang stall) for only RM3.50 for one serving. For small eaters, one serving could be shared by two person. Open only for breakfast from Monday to Saturday.

One good thing of eating this – probably you get all the fibre you need in one meal for the entire week. The downside of it, you need to floss your teeth vigarously every time after eating as the finely chopped vegetables tend to stick to your teeth. I went through the whole day with a green spot on my front teeth. So embarrassing.

Guess this is gonna be my staple diet for awhile.