Hearty breakfast meal

From The Star

Storey Otak-Otak in Johor Baru serves up splendid otak-otak and delicious nasi lemak to boot.

IF you are craving for otak-otak that is delicious and different from its Kempas or Gelang Patah counterparts, then check out Storey Otak-Otak.

Located in Jalan Storey, near the Johor Baru (South) Traffic headquarters and behind the abandoned Pacific Mall shopping complex, the shop is famous for its nasi lemak and otak-otak.

Unlike other otak-otak, which is reddish and has the sweet taste, Storey’s otak-otak is rich with the meat of ikan tenggiri, coupled with a spicy and savoury taste.

Easy does it: Shop owner Chung Wei Sun (second from left) grilling the otak-otak with another family member.

Grilled to perfection, the smell of the otak-otak, wrapped in coconut leaf, is enticing, luring customers to the shop. Eating it with nasi lemak completes the recipe for a good and hearty breakfast.

Shop owner Chung Wei Sun, 36, says the shop has been around for over 20 years and boasts of a huge number of patrons.

“We start business at about 6am and the shop closes only in the evening.

“However, the otak-otak and nasi lemak would be sold out by 10am,” he says, adding that Singaporeans were also frequent customers.

Chung says they make about 2,000 sticks of otak-otak daily and they would be snapped up quite fast.

When asked about the secret of the otak-otak, Chung only mentions that they used imported chillies to add to the fish meat.

Even though it is a Chinese shop, Chung says the nasi lemak and otak-otak are halal and they have a great number of Muslim customers.

For food lovers and curious eaters, here is one important tip: come to the shop early, preferably at about 7am, as the shop is less crowded then.