When I was young, I always had kampua noodles that were white and I really do not know when or how it came about that we now have the black version where they use dark soy sauce instead of the lighter-coloured chio-cheng (light soy sauce).
Perhaps you can put it down as a case of an old habit dying hard but I prefer the kind that I’ve always been used to eating – where the noodles are a whiter shade of pale. That was why in most, if not all, of my past posts on the Foochow delicacy, you did not get to see the dark version and there are people like Shereen, it seems, who would very much prefer their noodles to be “coloured”.
Well, I relented a bit the other day when I stopped by this coffee shop for the kampua and asked for the dark version…
LOL!!! It wasn’t that dark actually. Probably it seemed so because of the shadows…or perhaps it was the result of the contrast with the other things around it – including the complimentary bowl of soup and if anyone’s interested, the kopi-o-peng (iced black coffee) was only RM1.30 a glass.
This particular stall serves the noodles with meat braised in soy sauce and one bowl cost RM2.50 even before the prices of things started increasing. That was why I thought it was kind of expensive…and one thing that I did not like was the poor quality control. Some days, it would be very nice but on other days, the noodles would be overcooked and too soft for my liking.
Now, the good news is that the lady has retained that price but she has added a choice of a bigger-sized bowl for RM3.00…
Other than that, it is not quite the same as the rest in that she does not actually use dark soy sauce from the bottle…or at least, that was what it seemed to me. When I ate it that morning, I found the taste very different. I think she must have used the sauce from the braised meat instead and I thought it was kind of nice.
The big bowl, however, was too much for me to handle…
…and I had to struggle to finish the whole lot. I think the next time I have that, I would just stick to the small RM2.50 bowl…and I would still ask for the original kampua noodles – the ones that are a whiter shade of pale. You can have the black ones, Shereen. LOL!!!
Comments on: "A whiter shade of pale…" (26)
That did it! I am soooo going to hunt for blackened kampua mee this morning! See you in town!
But you’re in Kuching, aren’t you? Anyway, bon appetit!!!
I still prefer black soya sauce kampua..it taste nicer for me.
To each his or her own.
I’m with you Arthur, plain pale kampua does it for me everytime. The only dark version that I wouldn’t mind is soy with garlic instead of the usual condiments. No kissing afterwards though.
Oh? With garlic? I wonder where they have that here… Never mind! There’s always Listerine or Clorets…or what I used to take a lot – Fisherman’s Friend! LOL!!!
I agree with the whiter kampua.. the less dark sauce the better! If only they sell them like this in Ipoh…. less dark sauce, lesser chemicals.. hahaha…
Oh? I wonder how they make it these days. In 1973, next to the flat where I was staying in Singapore was an open air area where they had hawker stalls at night and right next to it was where they were fermenting the soy sauce in so many big drums, some wide open…and they said if I went in to get a closer look, I would see all kinds of things inside…including dead rats! Ok…now who wants dark soy sauce? Muahahahahaha!!!!
hey..serious or not!! Dead rats?? Singapore some more.. maybe those days, they are not so strict yet… now if that were to happen, the owners will be jailed! oh dear, i better stop buying dark sauce…
That was what somebody told me…and it was 1973. People today more advanced already lah! I think we had a similar place here too when I was small…but not anymore. Guess it’s all factory made now…and a lot cleaner…like mee sua but factory mee sua isn’t as nice.
My son told me not to take too much soya sauce black or white for it will turn your hair white faster……but I got Loreal for the rescue! Lol!
You? But you’re so young? And lau-pan niang, lady of leisure…no worries at all. Hmmmm….maybe there is some truth in what your son said. LOL!!
Stella not true at all! I love the white version and my hair is completely white!
She said black or white…so you must have taken drums of the sauce. Look at your hair now! LOL!!!
Edgar, was yr hair natural white? If not, isn’t that already a testimony on its own? LOL!
Ya…he probably took a lot of light soy sauce. LOL!! I do not dip my food into any of these sauces…unless the food is bland/tasteless…so maybe that’s why my hair has not turned white yet. But in the photos at Yvonne’s wedding, people asked me if I dyed my hair…as it looked brownish. I certainly did not! Now, I wonder what I’ve been eating… Hehehehehe!!
Art,like you I am a lover of the original pale version, and any outlet in Sibu would somehow always outshine versions elsewhere, with the exception of a handful of stalls in Kuching; and maybe one or two in Sarikei and Bintulu!
The foochows have it down to an art – the perfect kampua – and everytime I have a nice bowl the memory of Sibu in the ’70s would bring a little bitty tear to my eye! (Last phrase courtesy of Burl Ives!)
Thanks for your usual great posts on memorable foods!!
LOL!!! Your little bitty tear let you down… Hmmmm…a confirmed fan of Sibu Sibu kampua. I wonder which one was your favourite. Probably Dr Xavier’s – Liong Yu’s…opposite the Methodist Church in town. Your Borneo Company office was right next door. Btw, did you bring home to Kuching one of the very expensive (at the time) Hock-chiew bor (Foochow wife)? Don’t tell me you escaped the Foochow net – the big fish that got away?
Procol Harum truly made my hairs stand on end with the opening organ intro and chorus and can even feel it now while typing here. Woohoo one of my favorite hits.
Yes…the haunting intro. I hear it’s Bach. I love this song…and it is probably one of the very few songs that I like even though I can’t make head or tail out of the lyrics. I remember how, in my younger days, we used to sing “…one of sixteen vestal virgins…” every time we saw a nun! LOL!!! Annie Lennox (Eurhythmics) did a cover but I don’t think it is as nice as the original.
You are not trying to tell me Bananaz is whiter shade of pale with thalassamia? lolz
Is that a side effect? But I did notice you’re very fair. Many ladies would love to be as fair as you…
As a kid, relatives when they visit our house would tell Bananaz to stop biting my nails else turn pale and yellow. Firstly I never bite any of my nails and secondly when I looked myself in the mirror I saw a monster..oops not exactly haha..cant tell my face is yellow or pale aiya color blind mah..Really scratching ma head then, confused, bemused and questioned myself what’s wrong with the adults huh. I was like 8-9 years old then. Now Bananaz can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day. What else can be said for a person with Thalassamia & color blindness muahahaha.
Well, since you can’t see your colour, you’re not yellow or jaundiced. Neither are you pale or anemic. You’re just fair – like rich people who never go out into the sun. Many would love to have a fair complexion like yours…
How I wished I am rich and not like rich kakaka..
Rich people will never say they are rich… Hehehehehe!!!
Nikki calls Bananaz ‘curry face’ and like wise you would be called ‘kampua face’ kakaka. She will not have any problem to tapao back lunch or dinner for me, if got curry mee kow thim. hehe
Nah! I’m not so much into kampua. In fact, I would like a variety – different time, different thing.Btw, this month’s Reader’s Digest – top wok food, Malaysia…in the list, curry mee in Ipoh. So good kah? Alongside KL Hokkien mee and Penang nasi kandar. Poor thing, Penang char kway teow not given special mention.
Kampua dark version is aka ‘King of Spade’ of rather ‘Kampua of Spade’?
Lucky thing not really curly…or else can call Afro-kampua! Oops! Racist joke! LOL!!!
Aha~! Black kampua noodles… I think Shereen would be pleased with this black kampua noodles.
She hasn’t been online since yesterday…but yesterday, she was out – went to see “Miss Saigon” and she sent me an sms saying that she cried buckets! Hahahahaha!!! Can’t say I did not warn her – told her to keep a box of tissue handy!
What is the difference between the dark noodles than with the white noodles other than the color?
Is the taste different?
It is. As different as light soy sauce and dark soy sauce are different. I guess the dark ones have stronger taste – that of the soy sauce…and the light ones, one can taste the flavour of the noodles and every little bit of the ingredients used.
Ah…now I know.
Good! LOL!!!
I go for the dark version only. The order goes this way – kampua buat dao you! Rach and Chris follow my order, not the daddy. I remember on a bad mood day, hubby ordered for me the original, I was very mad and remarked that we have been married for over 20 years, yet he did not know my kampua! Ha ha I can be mean! Fighting over kampua?
Ummm…some men are quite insensitive to such things – never bother to notice, too many important things on their minds. LOL!
Am not a great fan of kampua noodles but today when I see the dark version of it, I feel it looks kinda nice. A perfect plate of kampua noodles to my taste. I think maybe the soy sauce give it a tasty look. YUMMY!…YUMMY!….
But Kuching kolo mee also a whiter shade of pale leh? Unless you opt for the char siew oil…in which case, it is red…
Duno leh…to me kampua noodles whiter shade of pale looks not so appetizing when compared to Kuching kolo mee. Never opt for char siew oil…too oily!!!…..
I guess the VERY red edges of the charsiew meat and the colour of the minced pork plus the green veg sort of made up for the lack of colour in the kolo mee. Otherwise, they would look EXACTLY the same – taste different though…
now that you’ve mentioned it, i noticed all your kampuas have been whiter.. thanks for sharing this wan tam mee lookalike kampua.
by the way, i’m in neverending awe of the prices you get for a meal over at your place. Wish we could get it here in KL. sigh ..
KL people kaya raya mah…!!! Hehehehehe!!!!
I vote for black and with chili sauce please!!!
kekekekkeke..tomorrow night i will taste my kampua already. yum yum!! This round my mum get me the uncooked kampua noodles, maybe i should bring the mee to the stall that sell kolo mee i frequent lately, ask him to make me kampua!!!
Aiyor…so easy to cook your own lah. Maybe one of these days, I’ll post step by step. You want with black soy sauce…even easier. Ever ready in the house…
Arthur,
I think most of your readers agree that black kampua look more appetising…and I agree with Annie, with chilli sauce please,muahahaha! ( I win! )
Anyway, dolu-dolu (dulu-dulu) yalah soy sauce can be disgusting…the way they were made but nowadays where got like that somemore? Semua use high tech machine and hygiene also tip-top ler!! You don’t sabo my beloved soy sauce,ya!!
Quoting, ‘ one can taste the flavour of the noodle and every little bit of the ingredients used’….which mean, the pale version got no taste la since not much ingredients I see being used! Like that, might as well just buy the noodle and celur with some salt water at home and makan!…hehehehe
Your last photo really got me by the b@#&*..(opps!!).Cannot tahan see la..meleleh my air liur..look so good!!!
No lah…the white one…you can taste the lard, the spring onions, the fried onions…all tossed together giving it a very nice unique taste…even with chilli sauce added but with soy sauce, all drowned out already. But the main reason is I have dark soy sauce at home and I can cook similar types of noodles at home, no need to go out to eat – cheaper some more, if eat at home. One of these days, I cook and post on it. Wait ah! You cook there, sure your anak suka…will ask for more. LOL!!!
looks like Wantan mee.
Yalor…wantan mee also with black sauce like this…but usually, portion so very little.
heard so much bout this kampua mee cos my fren is from sibu and he oways gushes about how delicious the dish is.
that portion? easy peasy for me though hahaha!
Come on over…and give it a try. They use lard though…so I’m not sure whether you can eat it.