GEORGE TOWN, March 25 — A bowl of soup is the ultimate comfort food and for Muslim-convert Gimi Lim Burge, that is the reason he created halal versions of the herbal soups he grew up drinking as a child.
The 50-year-old and his wife Lina Hassan, 43, started a small home-cooked food delivery business during the pandemic in 2020 but soon — craving the flavours from his childhood — he thought about making Chinese herbal soup using halal ingredients.
“A friend recommended a Chinese herbal soup master to us and after meeting with him, he agreed to train my wife on how to make herbal soups,” he said.
After learning the recipes and how to make herbal soups using halal ingredients, they experimented and came up with their own version of herbal soups using local herbs and spices such as tongkat Ali, cinnamon, cloves and ginseng.
“We use 15 quality herbs and spices in the soups,” he said. They offer two herbal soups: chicken herbal soup and mushroom herbal soup.
Lina said Malays mostly do not like the taste of herbal soups because of the strong smell and flavours so she tweaked the recipes.
“I personally find Chinese herbal soups too strong… we are not used to the herbal aroma… so I adjusted the recipe to make it milder so those who don’t really like herbal soups will still be able to take it,” she said.
Lina learning how to make ‘char koay teow’ from the owner of Tiger Char Koay Teow. — Picture courtesy of Gimi Lim Burge
Gimi said Chinese herbal soups are known for their health benefits.
“I wanted to offer a soup that’s warm and also good for health,” he said.
The couple opened their restaurant The Herbal Soup Shop in August last year, offering the halal herbal soups as part of the set meal in their menu.
“In the beginning, most of our customers would order the other items such as chicken rendang or mutton curry,” Gimi said.
So, they would offer complimentary small bowls of the herbal soups for their customers to try.
“Most of them were pleasantly surprised that it was not as strong tasting as they thought it would be,” he said.
He said now there are regular customers from as far away as Kedah who would travel to Penang to order packets of their herbal soups to bring back.
The Herbal Soup Shop also has Nyonya ‘laksa’ on its menu. — Picture courtesy of Gimi Lim Burge
Aside from the herbal soups, the restaurant also offers fried dumplings and steamed dumplings sets and Nyonya laksa.
A few months after opening the restaurant on Carnarvon Street, the couple quickly made friends with the other businesses nearby including the famous Tiger Char Koay Teow.
Gimi said the Tiger Char Koay Teow owner even taught Lina how to make his iconic char koay teow.
“He taught her how to fry the koay teow so now we have the halal version of it on our menu,” he said.
Gimi said they are always open to learning new recipes.
Though Lina used to work in a Chinese Muslim restaurant in Kuala Lumpur previously, both of them are relatively new to the business.
Gimi Lim Burge and his wife Lina Hassan opened the restaurant along Carnarvon Street last August. — Picture by Opalyn Mok
“We are still learning the ropes and doing what we can to keep going,” said Gimi, who was a musician in a band in KL before this.
The couple relocated to Penang in 2019 to take care of Gimi’s mother who was ill.
Their home food delivery business took off during the pandemic as they were getting repeat orders from offices and organisations.
Even during Ramadan while the restaurant is closed during the day and only opens at 7pm for buka puasa, they still take lunch delivery orders from non-Muslims.
“We are also doing drive-thru deliveries for Muslims to pick up their orders for buka puasa in the evenings,” he said.
He said this is to make it more convenient for customers as it is not easy to find parking near their restaurant.
The Herbal Soup Shop is at 79, Carnarvon Street and is open from 7pm to 2am during Ramadan.
