I’ve had a lot of posts on the celebrated Sibu kampua noodles and on one occasion, I blogged about the soup version…
*recycled pic*
Some may feel that it is a bit plain or even bland – as a matter of fact, in the past, many people were not crazy about Foochow cuisine, saying that it was more quantity over quality. So, those people who are more into stronger tastes may not like this that people here call chin th’ng mee (clear soup noodles).
But I, for one, love clear soup…and that is why I love Penang’s kway teow th’ng as I find such stuff a refreshing change from the spicy or oily fried stuff…and the other morning, I found some leftover mee pok (flat egg noodles) in the fridge and I decided to cook that. Instead of the usual puak tau eyew (tossed in soy sauce) or Bovril style, I decided to cook some meatball soup for the noodles instead.
I boiled two cloves of garlic in some water (of course, if you’re very hardworking, you can boil some pork bones first to make the stock…but not me) and when it had started boiling, I added the meat balls – you may use chicken or beef if it so pleases you. I allowed it to simmer for a while to get the flavour out of the meatballs and also the garlic…and then I added some light soy sauce and a pinch of msg.
In the meantime, I boiled the noodles and put that in a bowl. Then I added the soup and the meatballs and that was it…
The poached egg is optional…but in my opinion, it would be nice to fry some sliced shallots to sprinkle on top and some chopped spring onions or daun sup (Chinese celery) which would enhance the flavour and a little bit of green veg would surely add a little bit of colour to it and make it appear more appetising…
Those in the know would definitely agree with me that this is best served with some freshly-cut chillies in dark soy sauce.
And there you have it, a simple noodle dish for you! If I can cook that, I am pretty sure anybody can…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Fell in love with the egg.. lupp eating it last..muahaha
Exactly what I did… Slurpsssss!!!!! 😉
Save the best for last haha
Yes, ain’t that always the case? 😉
Eh where are the rest kinda lonely here early in the morning…?
No worries… They’ll come sooner or later. Only old people wake up so early… Oops!!! Muahahahaha!!! 😀
Who? You? muahahaha
We… Us… LOL!!! 😉
You 35 me 36 where got old lah? hehehe!!!
Yalor…young and evergreen. LOL!!! 😀
I make pork ball noodles for my kids quite often. Usually use chicken stock. Your poached egg looks perfectly done! 🙂
Not really. The white floated all over the soup… They say we have to use really fresh egg, then we will get a nice purse-like poached egg. Dunno how true… Mine was straight from the fridge – not really successful… 😦
Say that’s a new dish, I’ve never seen noodles and meatballs prepared in this way before. I was never a fan of poached eggs, so I believe I’d pass on that. However, I might prepare the noodles and meatballs (this way) for my daughter.
Can you recommend a good Malaysian cookbook? I have to say you’ve piqued my curiosity with some of the foods you’ve shared.
It has a very mild taste – something to be expected in Chinese clear soup noodles. What I cook or feature in my blog is basically Malaysian – a combination of Malay, Ethnic and Chinese…but I never follow recipes. Most would be what I picked up while helping my mum in the kitchen…and some, I would just follow my instincts – trial and error. So I do not know of any good Malaysian cookbooks. You may want to browse through this blog:
http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/
She’s Malaysian living in the states…so the ingredients that she uses in her recipes should be things that are available over there. No point buying a cookbook and then you cannot get most of the ingredients.
Thanks for sharing, I don’t follow recipes either, but I do buy cookbooks to read.
I enjoy them, since it’s obvious that the one who’s preparing the meals are passionate it, and thus it makes it worthwhile for me to purchase it, even if I don’t follow a recipe. 😉
I see… Just like my missus – lots of recipe books but I don;t think she cooks anything from them LOL!!! One of the most popular/famous Malaysian chefs would be Chef Wan. He has a lot of recipe books – you can visit his website and browse:
http://www.mychefwan.com/book-the-best-of-chef-wan-taste-of-malaysia.html
I think you can order his books directly from him.
Yuuummmm… Look at that egg!! This recipe looks easy enough to follow 🙂
LOL!!! You like? Just break an egg into any hot BOILING soup e.g. when cooking instant noodles and you’ll get that. Ya…it is an easy dish to cook…or I would not have bothered. LOL!!! 😉
My egg is usually overcooked 😦 I think if you give me a choice of kampua soup (I forgotten the name-cha nu mien? no idea haha) and meatball soup.. I much rather have the meatball soup.
Char-chu mien is different – it’s the soup version of the Foochow char mee (fried noodles – with sauce/gravy). I’d rather have the “dry” version of that, not the soup as the noodles get soggy very quickly and the soup tastes like a diluted version of the fried sauce/gravy. Hah!!! Another one who can’t cook poached eggs. Gee! It’s the simplest…compared to frying and boiling (…sometimes may explode! LOL!!!).
oh, i never know there’s a soup version of the kampua noodles, i thot the name kampua already suggested it’s a dry one?? but i think the meatballs and the eggs actually looks better, hahahaha~~ 😀
Yup!!! You’re right there! I would always order “kampua th’ng” and the people would always correct me saying, “Ching th’ng mee”. Too bad – so hard to teach an old dog new tricks…I always stick to what I’ve been calling it over the years – never mind, as long as I get what I want. Hehehehehehehe!!!!
You got my taste buds working overtime, again. I’ve forgotten the soup version of the kampua, will have to try it the next time I’m back in town.
I grew up eating that a lot…as my sis when small would not eat rice, only that…and my brotherand I would drool…and wait for the leftovers.
Eat with chilli padi or pickled green chili…nice!
Yes, sliced cili padi in light soy sauce… Yummm!!!
Oh yes, I totally agree with you on this; nothing like a simple soupy hot bowl of noodles especially on a cool rainy day. Too much spicy and fried food can get a lil tricky with the stomach at times. :s
+Ant+
And too much rich foods too. That’s why after two days of Chinese New Year, I always crave for porridge…
And I could surely do with a bowl of piping hot mee sua with a poached egg now!! YUMZ!! ^^
+Ant+
For mee sua, I would use ginger…and of course, I would add our traditional Foochow red wine. Yummmmssss!!!
Rain early in the morning in Kuching. Nice & cool weather. Just nice to have a bowl of piping hot clear soup noodles. Your poached egg looks nicely done. I can never do that. Everytime, my poached egg would turn out ugly. Yes, sometimes I would use Lee Fah Mee to cook like that too. Simple, yet yummylicious!!!…..
Why? Just break the egg and let it drop into the hot boiling soup…cover a while (say 10 seconds) and once the yolk turns light yellow – the white around it gets cooked – remove from the fire and serve. You wait too long, the yolk will be like hard boiled egg. My missus would get her poached eggs like that – maybe she prefers it that way, dunno. Never ask, never complain…just eat…in case she’ll say you so clever, you cook lah! Women! Muahahahahaha!!!!
I cook the way like you do but it never come up successful. Most of the time I would get something like your missus.
Hahahahaha!!! Have to be fast… 😉
Good morning Arthur 😀 My mum prepare noodles this way. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The egg for me is a must have!!
Ahhhh!!! Something very familiar to you eh? 😉
I think this one is akin to my Penang’s Koay Teow Th’ng, kan? In fact,I remember my grandfather used to cook very very very good Koay Teow Tn’ng cos he was a Hainan and the way he made it was really one of the kind, to be frank, I cannot find another one like his…….
As far as this kind of clear soup noodles are concerned, one thing I cannot miss to have is the “cili padi”
Yes, I had that when I had kway teow th’ng in Penang – cili padi in chio cheng (light soy sauce) – yummmmm…so nice!!!
Same like EUgene. If Clear soup Noodle, I would eat it with cili padi. Like the Ipoh Hor Fun version better than hor fun with pork.
If clear soup, all I like…and this one – no choice lah – 5/6 a.m. in the morning, open the fridge, whatever I can get hold of, I just use to cook lah… Where got want it this way, that way… 😦
WAH!!! Today’s post make my tummy growling!! I can smell the kampua ! Slurp slurp.
And your version look very very good too, so much meat and that poached egg, yummm!!
Hahahahahaha!!!! You’re like Philip – die-hard kampua lover! When you come again, I cook for you lah…but you always stay only for a few days and so many things toe at, so little time – wouldn’t want to eat this when the time comes. 😉
I love plain clear soups too. Add a little of cut chillies & presto!
Simple, cheap & healthy.
Some of these flavour junkies don’t realise that they are merely taking in loads of Ajinomoto / artificial flavouring.
That’s what you get when you get at the Chinese coffee shops and restaurants – they really add too much. I’ve seen with my own eyes – when they fry a dish, say…a plate of Foochow fried noodles, they use the scoop (for the soup of to scoop water) to scoop the msg – half of the scoop at least! *pengsan… And people would say food at the restaurants so very nice, not like food at home. Ignorance certainly is bliss. I would tell them to use less – at least by half…or I would stop going to those places completely.
Well now thank God i have already eaten when i opened this post, otherwise I wud’ve ran downstairs to grab a kolok mi sup. hahaha.
Ya, kolok mee sup would be similar… Not exactly the same but almost. I think kolo mee soup is a bit sweeter, has a stronger taste that is similar to wantan mee soup – perhaps due to the sauces or other ingredients used…not as mild or plain and clear as kampua mee soup.
When I was young, my father cooked soupy mee sua for supper. FIrst, he made scambled egg. Remember Foochows simply love oily stuff. A bit of oil matters a lot to us! He cut into pieces. Then, he put in some mee sua into boiling water. Later, he used boiling water infused with Maggi’s chicken stock as clear soup. (Where to find minced meat in the middle of the night?) Can’t wait for minced meat to defroze. There, mee sua in clear soup with scrambled egg.
He should have cooked the simple Foochow egg drop soup. Fry ginger (use a lot if you like strong gingery soup – pound if you do not mind eating bits of ginger. I hate that!) in sesame oil and add water – when boiling, add in beaten egg, beating the water simultaneously so you’ll have the egg all spread out in the soup like in sharks’ fins soup…and add salt and msg according to taste. Pour the soup into boiled mee sua…and serve. Of course, I would also add lots of traditional Foochow red wine to it. Yummmmm!!!!
I can actually smell the fragrance of the ginger while reading your reply! Your recipe is much more authentic, making my Dad’s a .. ciplak one? Hahaha… Thanks for sharing.
Ya…instead of salt and msg, you can use chicken stock granules or stock cubes instead. Same thing as using the seasoning from instant noodles… LOL!!! 😀
Boil garlic in water – why? Meatballs – home made? Your bowl of noodles looks quite yummy. Arthur can cook 😉
Yup…just minced meat, rolled into balls. Squeeze a bit to drain excess water in the meat (after defrosting)…but not too hard or you’ll get very hard meat balls… Oops!!! 😉 Muahahahaha!!!!! The garlic is to remove the meat smell from the soup and to add extra fragrance. For chicken or beef, I would use ginger – they’re more compatible. Of course, I can… I can cook if it’s not too much of a hassle. Hehehehehe!!!!
Oh?? Ooooooo….I didn’t know that, that bit about squeezing too hard and the result will be…!! We are talking about the minced meat, yes? hahahahaaaa!!! Have a great morning (pls check msg in FB) 🙂
Yes, we are… Muahahahaha!!!! Yup, I’ve replied your FB msg. 😉
simple but nice.
Precisely. 😉
I can feel the taste now….macam Penang Koay Teow Th’ng (except no fried garli oils and chopped spring onions).
Yup…and noodles instead of the nice hor fun/kway teow… I love that! 😦
I like noodles in clear soup too and sliced chillies with soy sauce is not optional.I’ve never heard of bovril tossed noodles.Is it just bovril and nothing else?
A bit of oil (preferable pre-used to fry sliced shallots for that extra fragrance), a teaspoon of Bovril (and I usually add a teaspoon of soy sauce – nice blend of tastes), a pinch of msg…and toss boiled noodles like this:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/better-than-nothing/
except that in the post, I only used soy sauce. The Bovril would definitely make it taste nicer…but it’s getting too expensive – RM20-30 a jar these days. 😦
Ah yes! I used Bovril in this post. Have a look…
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/roll-it/
I oso never heard of it before… bovril… usually I used it with porridge…
There! See my reply to Shereen and click the links to my old posts. But truth be told, I never heard of it either – only ate with porridge or sapu on bread until I got married and my missus tossed her noodles using Bovril and it was soooo nice so I also would do the same…except now, Bovril’s too expensive. Can’t afford. Soy sauce will just have to do… 😦
This is something I can make… but u kno me la… kasi me recipe, i sure modify punya. LOL!
Use ginger and minced beef to make the meat balls… Should be very nice too.
That looks really really good!! Great job! wow. 😀
I certainly enjoyed it… 😉
wah new template!!!
ya i love clear soups too… 🙂
that bowl of noodles do lack some colours hehe! and the egg is so huge it seems! 😀
New template? What new template? I checked and it’s exactly the same…. Ya, that’s why I suggested sprinkling with spring onions and fried shallots and adding a bit of veg and what not. But if you remember the very colourful and attractive sup campur in the previous post – it certainly is clear that what looks nice may not be nice… 😦
You are a great cook! I can see from the poached egg, it’s nicely done! The bowl of clear soup noodles makes me really hungry now…. I always prefer the clear soup, more authentic taste.:)
p/s: My gal didn’t make the doll house, she just helped me to paint it. I made it for her.;)
Easy peasy recipe…anyone can do it, not cos I’m a good cook lah…. Blush! Blush! Well, your girl certainly painted it very nicely – well done, both of you. So very nice.
Gosh … how I WISH there is this bowl of noodles in front of me now!!! I am still recovering and longing to take hot soup to soothe my throat… by the way, those are dry flat noodles, right?
Those were fresh mee pok – like our kampua noodles – the flat version. Poor thing… If I were staying anywhere near you, I would surely cook more and give some to you. Slow down, take care….no spring chicken anymore so when sick, it takes a longer time to recover.
That soup is very easy to make and it looks delicious!
It certainly is… 🙂
Looks yummy… you are a good chef at home.
Only the simple stuff…
Aaah!! the clear soup looks exceptionally mouth-watering.. That’s just what I want now.. Left me yearning fr it now.. 😦
It is nice. I love simple clear soups…
if pui can cook!, you also can! .. now where did i hear this from.. think it was from the Yan can cook show right? 🙂
Yes, if Yan can cook, so can you – from Wok with Yan…though I can’t stand the guy – his accent and the things he cooks – like phian ang moh one (bluff the foreigners)… Well, at least, I do not cook things the same way that he does.
wah the eggs looks very nicely poached. Yummy
That’s what everybody keeps telling me… 😉