Even if you were as old as I am, you probably would not know this song which was on the flipside of the hit single, “San Francisco” by Scott Mckenzie. But if you were growing up in Sibu at that time, most likely you would remember two coffee shops in particular - Kiaw Siong and Ban Chuan.  Both of them had nice kampua stalls but between the two, I would rather have the one at the former.  Now, what’s the difference, you may want to ask? Well, actually there can be a world of difference between the kampua at one stall and another, what more to say in between towns or countries. But I guess it all boils down to a matter of preference or taste.

In the past, we only had the noodles with a few pieces of thinly-sliced pork coloured red and a sprinkling of spring onions and fried shallots but today, we may get them with a slight twist or we may find a bit of variation from the original.  Some die-hards will search high and low for the authentic stuff but in my case, I do not mind a change time and again.

In an earlier post, I posted a photo of seafood kampua where other than the meat, you get a few shrimps, fish balls and crab sticks with the noodles. Besides that, there is also the kampua with goo tor soup (Those caterpillar looking things from the inside of a cow. The intestines, I think!) or one may opt for this instead…

I remember how in the 70s, I used to love the mee kosong (plain noodles) with gu bak cheng (beef soup) at Ah Mui located in the Open Air Market in Kuching but the last time I went a couple of years ago, it was such a disappointment! The soup tasted like salted veg soup! Well, we have something like that that here at the coffee shop behind the Sibu Kidney Foundation building – beef soup with plain kampua for only RM2.50. Nice! But do go earlier; by around 10, it would all have been sold out, and do avoid the peak hours – 8.30 to 10.00 a.m. because the lady always seems to be in a foul mood when under stress!

Or you may prefer the kampua at Rasa Sayang, near the Sibu Bus Station (They’ve got a new name now it seems, but I can’t recall what it is!)…

I think I’ve said somewhere before that it is more like a cross between kampua and Kuching kolo mee…considering that with the noodles, you do not get the few miserable pieces of meat, but instead they put some phak-lor (cooked with soy sauce and five spice powder, like what some people do with duck) pork and minced meat. This one is the cheapest in town – only RM2.00 whereas elsewhere, it’s at least RM2.20 now.

For those less adventurous people, one good place is Soon Hock at the Delta Commercial Centre here, a stone’s throw away from my house. What they serve here is more or less like the conventional kampua…but interestingly, if you buy back home to eat, even when it is cold, it still tastes very nice, or perhaps even nicer, unlike the kampua in some places. Of course, whenever I go, I would ask for pian sip (or kiaw as they are called in Kuching or wanton elsewhere) instead of the pathetic four slices of pork…and I would ask for extras. So for RM3.00 I would get this…

Indeed it is quite substantial, so I can have that for a late breakfast and then, skip lunch! Two birds with one stone!

Well, the weekend’s here!!! Having anything special?…Kampua anyone?