Aside from satay, Kajang town is well known for its spicy soup (lat tong), a peppery concoction with meat and herbs. Now, people living around Subang, Puchong dan kawasan2 yang sewaktu dengannya will not have to travel far – you can get it right here in Bandar Puchong Jaya at Ju Yuan restaurant.

I was there for a food review for work, but I don’t see the harm in writing about it here as well. The restaurant isn’t new, but the owners recently took over from their friend and they have retained all the chefs and recipes.

….Also I can’t believe how dumb I am because I forgot to take a photo of the main dish – the pepper soup. Here is the photo by my photographer instead.

So how did the main dish fare? The soup is well done and chock full of ingredients like innards (pork stomach and liver), stringy needle mushrooms, vegetables and herbs like wolfberries. The ginger and pepper got rid of all the offal’s gamey smell, leaving the meat tender and soft.

The pepper wasn’t too hot and did not overwhelm the overall flavour. If you like it to be more spicy, you can always ask them to add more pepper into your soup. It’s perfect with rice on a cold, rainy day.

If you don’t like spicy stuff, there’s also bittergourd soup and fishball dumpling soup. 

I also liked their steamed tilapia. The presentation was super simple, but the fish is sizable, fresh and had soft, supple flesh.

Shrimp cooked in black sauce, garlic and chilli. The shrimps were of largish size and tasted decent.

Stir-fried long beans with onions/cabbage with dried shrimp.

Another one of my favourites was their claypot roast pork – an invention by the current owners. The pork is first roasted before it is braised again in a claypot with lots of onion, chili, garlic and dark sauce on a bed of cabbage. The result is a melt-in-your-mouth texture with crispy skin. Absolutely addictive!

Claypot tofu. The uniqueness of this is the use of pork belly slices in it instead of regular seafood.

This was for two people…. @-@

Overall a satisfying meal, especially the roast pork, fish and soup. I’ll come back for another meal with my family soon.

RESTAURANT JU YUAN (Sup Pedas Kajang),
18-01, Jalan Kenari 18A, Bandar Puchong Jaya,
47100, Puchong, Selangor.
Tel: 03-8074 0073.

11am-3pm, 6pm-10pm daily.

Closed on alternate Wed­nesdays.