I want it that way…

Mee sua literally means thread or string noodles, a name accorded to it probably due to the resemblance. It is believed that in ancient China, it was reserved for the imperial dining table. Today, it is eaten on birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and other auspicious occasions in the hope that one will be blessed with long life and good fortune.

The photograph on the left shows how mee sua has been served all these years – in a bowl of steaming hot soup of chicken cooked with ginger, dried shitake mushrooms and traditional red wine. The hard-boiled eggs are usually served unpeeled with the shell coloured red. As a matter of fact, women after childbirth, especially those from the Foochow community, will eat this every day throughout their confinement period.

However, today, an alternative would be to have it fried. This is getting quite popular among diners and is available in a few restaurants in Sibu. The above photograph (on the right) shows fried mee sua served with “golden” eggs (hard-boiled eggs that have been lightly-browned by deep frying them in oil). I have another photograph below (stolen from clare aka kampua talk) in case anybody wants a clearer view of the dish…

Well, other than having mee sua in those two ways that I have mentioned earlier, here is another way that you may wish to try. Take roughly a spoonful of cooking oil, a spoonful of Bovril and a bit of msg…and after you have boiled the mee sua until it is soft and translucent, drain away the water and mix the noodles with the ingredients. It will be nicer if you fry some chopped shallots and use the oil, and add the fried shallots and some spring onions as well. The end product will look something like this…

I had two half-boiled free range eggs to go with the mee sua but unfortunately, one of the yolks broke…so you may think that it looks kinda messy. (I was too lazy to use a separate plate for the eggs! LOL!!) Well, here’s a close-up shot of it…..

If you do not quite care for the taste of Bovril, you may substitute that with soy sauce…and if you like it hot, you can add a spoonful of chilli sauce as well. So there you have it – the different ways in which you can enjoy mee sua. Which way would you want yours?