In a sleepy morning, you need a cup of coffee to refresh.
A small but warm city – Muar, with countless humanity coffee shop, and See Wei coffee shop is one of them.
This old wooden house is full of memories. You can’t imagine that it has experienced more than forty years of ups and downs.
The people inside come and leave, whatever they are stranger or familiar, they are all the customers of this coffee shop.
Every day, the owner has to wake up at four o’clock and get ready before five o’clock to open the shop. Year after year, day after day, she had become a qualified woman from an ignorant girl.
“Rumble…”, the sound of the rolling door is the sound of the morning. Time passed by, some customers came and sit on their regular seats, drinking the familiar coffee, eating the bread that baked with heart, and the protein needed for a day – half-boiled eggs.
After the boss’ daughter and son-in-law finish their work, they will come to the shop to help their mother. Her daughter explained that her father currently had some serious injuries on his knee, so he couldn’t stand for a long time. So, at that time, he considered closing the shop.
“But my mother could not bear to those old customers who cannot eat these foods anymore, so she insisted on keeping it open” daughter smiles and continue says, “I don’t want too, so I came back to help her.”
I drink the coffee quietly while listening to the story of this traditional coffee shop. Her eyes are full of perseverance and memories, but I can see her smile is full of happiness.
The aroma of coffee is even stronger while the hot water is dripping on it. However, a cup of coffee is not enough. As a child who born in 90th centuries, a cup of Milo is essential for breakfast.
The spoonful of Milo powder is blanched with hot boiling water, some of which stuck together quickly, while others are compatible with hot water. The Milo sticks on the spoon caused my saliva is secreted in my mouth. I quickly lick on it, huh! Sweet Milo is the taste in my memories.
White and tender bread is cut in half from the middle and it is placed on the charcoal for baked. This step cannot be sloppy. Daughter stands beside and stares at the bread, she is ready to flip the bread at any time, so that both sides will become golden brown.
The black lines on the bread are the result of this step. If you look at the lines, you can know how well the bread is baked.
It’s time! Daughter takes the bread and walks to the place where the chopping board is. Open the bread where it had been cut before and applies a thick layer of kaya. The owner said that some customers will ask for “kaya, gao gao”, which means that kaya need to be painted a little more. Because the kaya of this coffee shop is the result of the owner effort after eight hours. Therefore, it has become a must-order food for every customer, no matter they are young or old.
The bread is coated with a thick layer of kaya, which seems unsatisfactory. Daughter takes out the frozen butter from the freezer and cuts it into a thick slice. After that, she puts it onto the bread and the upper and lower pieces will be overlapped. Then, you can enjoy it!
The crispy crust of the bread is felt through the skin, and the smell of carbon roasting enters the nasal cavity through the nose. I put the bread into my mouth gently and chew it.
The first bite into your mouth will let you think that you are eating a whole butter, but it doesn’t, because it has melted into a liquid. The heat of toast made it unknowingly turned into a liquid. However, the aroma of butter and kaya were subtly blended together, and then matched with the white bread. I can feel the crispy of the outside while it is soft inside the bread. It is unexpectedly a perfect match.
At every bite, I can feel the heart of the daughter. The bread is crispy and just right!
A traditional breakfast for every Muar people – coffee/milo, white bread baked with charcoal toast, and two half-boiled kampung eggs.
Knocked down the egg, the egg white and golden egg yolk were exposed. I poured them onto a plate, drizzle a little sauce, and sprinkled with pepper lightly, I can see the egg are still hot. I blow to the egg to make it calm down, then poured them into my mouth. I can feel that the egg yolk is exploded in my mouth, and the heat kept coming out from the mouth.
However, some people like to stir the egg yolk and egg white together and pour into their mouths; others like to put the bread in the mixture liquid and stick a thick layer of egg liquid. Either way, they are still eating the half-boiled eggs.
Just like every different type of people, they come to the same coffee shop and eat the same food for different reasons. They will eventually become the history of this coffee shop.
See Wei coffee shop is an old taste of Muar people, and it has become an unforgettable taste of every Muar people.
More pictures:
video link: https://bonjourjyt.wixsite.com/behindfoods
More information:
Address: 129-4, Jalan Temenggong Ahmad, Muar
Phone: 0105089913
Business Hour: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
from 6am-6pm
The combination of kaya butter toast and kopi O are definitely one of the most classic breakfast choice in Malaysia and it is also one of my favourite order in the kopitiam! It will be good if there is another two half-boiled eggs be at the side of the delicious breakfast. Your post has wet my appetite, I can't wait to have a chance to visit to the See Wei coffee shop in Muar, a place that I never been to before.
It has reminds me how the kaya butter toast taste together with their signature traditional Kopi O! Not only the food there taste great but also the cozy environment and the friendly boss. I like the way how you describe your feeling when having a coffee in the traditional coffee shop!