Muar, Johor – 5 Meals That Embody “Southern Comfort”, Muar, Malaysia (B)

After almost a year of planning and countless postponements, it has finally been realized – I have walked the streets of Muar to hunt for her delicacies and plundered I did. A seaside town close to Melaka, Muar has often been overlooked by its more illustrious neighbor when it comes to bringing in tourism dollars but this is actually a blessing in disguise as Muar retains its friendly small town charm to the unassuming visitor. As far as its food goes, the tastiness and variety speaks for itself. It’s a place where mom-and-pop shops still rule the roost and any form of culinary quirkiness is greeted with a shrug of “So what? It’s still good food.”

Literally meaning “sour spiced,” asam pedas is a stew concocted by mixing tamarind, chili and other spices before throwing in the catch of the day into a cauldron of fiery delight. The fishing village of Parit Jawa, about 15 minutes south of Muar, is asam pedas central where all the shacks serve their own concoction. The fish is assuredly fresh evidenced by the fishing boats lining the river right in front of these stalls. We went with the red snapper since experience tells us that the hot stew blends in perfectly well with the sweetness of the fish and boy it was heaven. Everything was rich from the thick asam pedas stew to the juicy flesh of the fish that makes you want to lick the whole bowl clean. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).