The Ringgit is low, our appetites are high and only the open road stands between us and culinary Nirvana. Good thing we have the keys to the new Touareg.

SINGAPORE — The Volkswagen Touareg TDI may run on diesel, but greedy motoring writers are fueled on stuff that’s altogether higher on the Deliciousness Scale.

So with keys to the newly-facelifted model in hand, we plotted a trail of tastiness in Johor and drew up a simple battle plan: seek out the most bingeworthy calories within a day’s drive, and splurge like foreign exchange millionaires on them.

Here’s where the Touareg took us:

Otak-Otak Char Kway Teow

Where to find it: Inside Medan Selera 333 hawker centre on Jalan Ali, Muar, Johor
GPS: 2°02’43.6″N 102°34’02.5″E (2.045446, 102.56736)
https://goo.gl/maps/y40EO

The low-down on the chow-down:
Muar is famous for its otak, and char kway teow is famous for its ability to make you want to jump up and shout “Praise the lard!” So this classic dish featuring otak is to food what Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar is to popular music, only yummier.

The noodles flood your mouth with a moreish, greasy, smoky collection of flavours that provide the perfect background for the occasional spicy hit of otak, while the addition of chai poh provides random bursts of sweet and salty intensity.

If you’re not in the mood for char kway teow, there are other stalls in this hawker centre, but a true foodie is never not in the mood for char kway teow.

We paid: RM6 for a plate with the works, meaning slices of otak, one egg over easy, and some cockles.

Yuen Fatt Biscuit Sdn Bhd


Where to find it: No. 39, Jalan Haji Manap Nordin, Kluang Baru, Johor
GPS: 2°02’33.3″N 103°19’59.8″E (2.042592, 103.333269)
https://goo.gl/maps/7xmmq

The low-down on the chow-down:
Head here for mouth-watering Chinese pastries, though if you need another reason, Jalan Paloh (the road that takes you from Yong Peng through the town of Paloh and to the fringe of Kluang) is a corner-filled delight.

At Yuen Fatt, you’ll find lotus-paste filled delights instead. The place is renowned for its Shanghai-style mooncakes that look like tasty stogies. Their filling doesn’t overdo it on the sweetness, while the buttery crust (also available in Pandan flavour) disintegrates on the tongue to unleash an army of savoury notes that soon overrun your desire to maintain your current trouser size.

While there, have a go at the other pastries like the salty tau sar piah (delicious) and be sure to try the cream-filled sponges; your waist is a lost cause by now, anyway.

We paid: RM1.10 for a pandan sponge, RM8.90 for a single-yolk pandan mooncake, RM0.70 per tau sar piah

Nasi Baryani Mohd Shah


Where to find it: Gerai No. 14, Kompleks Niaga Peserai (Benteng Peserai), Batu Pahat, Johor
GPS: 1°51’31.1″N 102°55’19.4″E (1.858645, 102.922047)
https://goo.gl/maps/TNB9x

The low-down on the chow-down:
Batu Pahat is apparently the nasi briyani capital of Malaysia (which is just as well because it is the kind of place whose wikipedia page lists a Tesco as a tourist attraction), but Nasi Baryani Mohd Shah seems to call the shots here.

During our time the stall saw a constant stream of customers and a non-stop string of takeaway orders on the phone.

It’s not hard to see why, either. The basmati rice oozes fragance and unctuousness without being too oily, and the mutton strikes a nice balance between fall-apart tenderness and chewiness from being cooked for hours in coconut milk. The meat saturates the tongue with sweetness at times, but that only makes the nasi all the more complementary.

Before you set off, it’s worth noting that if ambience is your thing, the humble settings of this stall might be a put-off. Flies and grubby cats are fellow diners here. Come to think of it, that might explain all those take-away orders…

We paid: RM11.70 for a mutton briyani with a double-shot of meat

Min Chang Kueh

Where to find it: Inside Nam Wee Coffee Shop on the corner of Jalan Soga and Jalan Sultanah, Batu Pahat, Johor
GPS Coordinates: 1°51’05.0″N 102°55’35.9″E (1.851376, 102.926630)
https://goo.gl/maps/qGMJ4

The low-down on the chow-down:< br />The world is divided into halves: Coke lovers and Pepsi fans. Rolling Stones fans and Beatlemani
acs. And when it comes to peanut pancakes, there are those who like them thin and crispy, and those who enjoy the thick kind — but only because they haven’t had these ones from Batu Pahat.

Served piping hot on a sheet of parchment paper, the min chang kueh here has the ability to redefine your idea of oral pleasure.

As you bite into the crispy exterior there’s a wonderful snap to the skin that gives way to a comforting chewiness, and instead of brittle dry chunks of peanut the interior is filled with a nicely textured paste. You get a dose of sugary pleasure and then a salty, oily finish from melted margarine (trans fatty, yes, but also transcendental), with all the flavours in perfect balance.

Ultimately, the min chang kueh might well be worth the drive to Batu Pahat by itself (that’s saying something, trust us). We might have hit town in a Volkswagen Touareg, but we ended our food trail with the Rolls-Royce of peanut pancakes.

We paid: RM2.50 for half a pancake. Then we paid RM2.50 for another half