I’ve seen photos of kompia in Sitiawan but they did not look like the ones we have here…and I’ve seen kampua noodles in some people’s blogs – they had them in Sitiawan too but looking at the photos, they actually look more like wantan mee with the black sauce, the char siew and all and somebody even called them Foochow kon lou mee which is what the Sabahans call theirs, minus the Foochow in the name…and they are definitely not the same.
But last week, I saw this article in a local newspaper and it seems that there is a place, not in Sitiawan but at Ayer Tawar in Ipoh where there is a Foochow man making kompia…
…except that he calls them zhang dung ping.
Never mind the name but they certainly look the same except that all of ours have sesame seeds. Those without sesame seeds are called chu-nu-miang and are slightly sweet unlike kompia which is salty.
Other than that, this Foochow man also makes lay peang…
…and he calls them san dai ping, whatever that means.
I’m sure everyone will agree with me if I say that our Sibu lay peang looks a whole lot nicer…
…and I’m sure ours tastes better too.
Well, the test of the pudding is in the eating so hopefully, I will be able to go to Ipoh someday and try them and then give a true and fair judgement as to whether ours are nicer…or those in Ipoh. Right, Claire?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 