Peteformation had a post recently on yellow noodles and the danger in the excessive use of the boric acid in them. I did notice that over in the peninsula, the noodles are VERY yellow…and they’re very much firmer, and maybe elsewhere like in Kuching too. The ones in Sibu are pale and soft/limp…and may get soggy very easily. I do not know whether this is because of the absence of the acid.
Whatever it is, these noodles are very popular here – fried Foochow style with sauce/gravy at around RM2.80-RM3.00 a plate. One way of doing it is to fry the noodles with garlic (and at some places, the green vegetables as well) and soy sauce, adding msg according to taste. Then, they cook the gravy and pour that over the noodles and serve…
@Jia Ping, Pedada (Delta Commercial Centre)
I do not really like it done this way as the flavour of the gravy would not have gone into the noodles yet.
Some may fry the noodles and once the gravy is done, they will throw the noodles in to soak up the gravy…and then the dish is served.
@ Xin Xin, Rejang Park
For one thing, it is often not advisable to tapao or buy the noodles home as by the time you get to eat them, they would have gone all soft and soggy after having soaked in all that sauce. However, I do know of a few places where the noodles actually taste nicer when you buy them home, compared to eating them there on the spot.
Of course if you’re willing to burn a hole in your pocket, you can go for the noodles fried in the same manner but with the giant freshwater prawns (udang galah). The last time I heard, they were RM20.00 a plate at one very popular eatery here…or at a slightly lower price at this small town – Jakar, around an hour’s drive from Sibu.
I do not think this Sibu specialty is available in West Malaysia. Over there, I know they have the very pale-looking Cantonese-style fried noodles where they deep-fry the noodles till hard and crispy and then they cook the gravy using meat and seafood and egg but no soy sauce – that’s why it is not dark-coloured like what we have here, and then they pour that over the noodles. The Hokkien fried noodles there are cooked with a different variety of noodles – huge strands fried with dark soy sauce and garlic. I do not quite care for these on both counts – taste and appearance.
Well, if you are worried about the boric acid content, you can opt to have kway teow…
@ Esan, Rejang Park
…or mihun fried in the similar way – Foochow style. They’re nice too…but personally, I prefer the noodles…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 