Raja Uda Tom Yum Mee Trend

If you ask me recommend what to eat in Raja Uda, I would probably say tom yum mee. There are a few things in abundance in Raja Uda. One is Chinese temple, from the oldest Leng Eng Seah Temple, the famous Tow Boo Kong, to the under-construction, more grandiose, new Simpah Kuan Im Teng Temple. Many more smaller lesser known temples are spread out the whole stretch of Raja Uda.

The second thing in abundance must be tom yum mee stall. It wasn't the case a decade ago though. I think there used to be only the Ju Heng Tom Yum, and then the Kwong Hwa Tom Yum. Rumour says the owner of Kwong Hwa Tom Yum used to work together with Ju Heng. For reason unknown (I think most probably because of profit splitting problem), the partnership was broken. Nowadays, we can call it a rivalry between them. Customers are divided into two camps, arguing which tastes the best. 

Trend is a funny thing. It comes out of nowhere and then takes the world around you by storm. Like fidget spinner, it is impossible to pin point the time or the event that triggered the craze. All I notice is started a few years ago, more and more tom yum mee stalls popping out around Raja Uda, to the point of having its own franchise (Liang Khee Tomyum). Even though each stall has its own taste, they all in fact are just ever slightly different from each other. Most importantly they are not even authentic. However inauthentic doesn't mean bad taste or whatever. I always consider myself to be not choosy on the food I eat, so they all taste good to me. It's just that I always wonder why it is a trend. Having a bowl of tom yum mee as supper has become a "à la mode" thing to do now. Food blogs write about it, young people and outstation hipsters come here to have a taste of it and hastag it for bragging rights.

Only one reason I can muster to explain the popularity of tom yum mee is the offer of choice and customization. These tom yum mee stalls are often buffet-styled, which means you pick your favorites from an array of ingredients, pick your noodle type or porridge if you fancy, then they cook all of them in the tom yum soup base for you. In a time when we all desire to put our initials on everything we own and has everything customized to our taste, this style of tom yum mee stall offer just that : customization. You can have your special bowl of tom yum mee with exactly 3 fish nuggets, 3 fish balls, maggi noodles, and an egg, and claim it as the best combination ever. It is not objectively the best but the best because it is your choice. If you are newbie in this extravaganza, then you have the chance to slowly fine tune your combination to craft your personal taste, because order a simple regular bowl of noodle soup is just the "lame" thing to do.

Whenever I tell people I live in Raja Uda, they always ask me if I know about them or which one I prefer : Ju Heng or  Kwong Hwa. The thing is I live in Raja Uda for more than a decade now but I had never tried either before. So every time I was asked the same question, the reaction I got was : are you serious?! Just recently I finally succumbed to the peer pressure and tried both tom yum mee. Finally, I can call myself a true "Raja Uda Lang" (people of Raja Uda).