I felt like having some mee kua aka mee sanggul that day so I went and bought a bag of it. I blogged about it here once and it was RM4.80 a bag then in 2010 but now it has gone up by 50 sen, to RM5.30 but I do think that’s all right considering that it was so many years ago and since then, the prices of flour and everything else have gone up. Still, with 11 pieces in the bag…
…that works out to less than 50 sen each so it is still rather cheap especially if one compares that to the noodles sold outside.
I remember how they used to have these noodles in big rattan baskets outside the grocery stores and anyone buying would pick the number of pieces he or she wanted and have them weighed and pay the total – it was only 50 sen a kati then. I also remember how there were boll weevils in them and these would float up in the water in the process of cooking and one would have to sieve these away. But somehow or other, they tasted much nicer in those days compared to these that I had bought. Maybe this particular type was not so nice and I should avoid it in future, I don’t really know. But the pieces of noodles were bigger than usual and I was quite disappointed that they were not round like a sanggul (hair bun)…
I cooked some…
….and I felt that the fragrance that this type of noodles usually has just wasn’t there…and somehow, it did not seem as nice as when my mum cooked them during my growing up years. I remember that she did not use a lot of ingredients – just soy sauce and msg and in those days, everyone used Ve Tsin but everytime she cooked it, I would enjoy it to the max. Ah yes! Perhaps it was the lard that she used to toss the noodles – I do not have that in the house as I do not use it in any of my cooking.
But still, it was quite good. I fried some sliced shallots in a bit of oil (my mum never did that) and used that to toss the noodles and other than the soy sauce and a bit of msg, I also added a spoonful of my missus’ pounded chilli and some chopped spring onions…
…and I would say I did enjoy it and one thing’s for sure, it was a lot nicer than the more expensive noodles at some of the places outside but somehow, like it or not, things do have changed. Despite the fact that my mum did not do all those little extras, hers did seem a whole lot nicer…
Could it be that it was all so simple then,
or has time rewritten every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again,
tell me, would we…could we?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
That looks really good. It looks really fresh too. How soon had they made the pasta? I have a manual pasta machine, it has numerous attachments so I can make a variety of pasta. My daughter loves the freshness of homemade pastas and I must say it tastes much better than many of the pastas I could purchase since it is freshly made.
I also have a vegetable spiral slicer. It turns vegetables into “noodles.” I must say, I use that more than my manual pasta machine, but can’t say which is my favorite since enjoy making pasta both ways. 🙂
These should be fresh and cleaner…but not necessarily nicer. 😀 I think they’re factory machine-made now unlike the old days when everything was made by hand and dried in the sun. Hence, they had boll weevils in the noodles…but they tasted so much better then. These that I bought are no different than any of the other noodles we have around, fresh or dried. There is supposed to be a subtle difference that puts it a head above the rest.
Veg noodles? Ummmm….no, thank you. In Sabah (our neighbouring state in North Borneo this country), they have fish noodles, noodles made of fish or from fish paste. I tried and I could not get used to it – it was like eating fish cake/fish balls. I’d stick to our regular pasta and noodles, thank you. 😀
That is a yummy plate of fried noodle. I dont usually eat mee kua (in Kuching,we call it mee pok) because it has slight different taste than normal kolok noodle.
When can I come over and taste your cooking? 😉
This was tossed, not fried…and mee pok is different – we have that too – the flat version of our kampua. Mee kua is dried but different from dried mee pok – it is more yellow in colour. Supposed to be a bit different in taste too, nicer.
Well, how many days of your confinement do you have left? 😀
I dropped you a msg in Facebook. 😉
Oh? Didn’t notice… Let me check again. Ok, will reply there.
Looks like mee pok. Mee kua is hard & dried when raw and mee pok is soft, Guess that is the only difference I know. That plate of mee kua looks yummy x’pecially with that fried egg.
We also have dried mee pok – not so yellow and faster to cook. Mee kua takes much longer…like pasta.
I have not eaten this type of noodle before. Yours looks so good! Love the color and I can see bits of chilli there. I could eat a big plate of it 🙂 Somehow, mum’s cooking is the best. I have replicated some of my mum’s dishes too but somehow not as good. Lacks that certain something that I just can’t put my finger on it. Perhaps mums have that special touch 🙂
Yup! The problem is their “agak agak” (estimate) style of cooking that one can’t really put one’s finger on. They had the feel for it, something which may or may not be inherited or acquired. We’ll just have to do the best we can.
Oh this one me likey, more sambal please! And the egg yolk must be runny, mix together with the noodles….. fuyo~
Of course. If I fry the egg and the yolk’s not runny, I’ll save that for my missus. Hehehehehe!!!! 😀
The Way We Were? Barbara…
Yes, everything seems to be changing….. slowly the food will not be as tasty as during our younger days… the flat noodles looks like “tau chim”… my mom likes to cook that too… and I love to eat!!
Come, come. I buy for you to take home…plus more of our dried kampua too! 😉
your mom’s secret ingredient might have been a mother’s love 😀
Most likely so. Irreplaceable…
This is local fettucinis. hehe.
Ya, I always thought fettucines are our mee sanggul…
RM5.30 for check big pack is kira cheap la. Not bad leh.
It is. A bag of mee sua like that is not over RM9.00!!! 😦
Looks like my telephone extension wire hahaha
Don’t sleepwalk and end up eating them, ya! 😀
Yum this looks so delectable and is making me crave
Drool! Drool!
I like to cook noodles, but I always cook it with the soup instead of dry one cause it will become oily in the end!!! =[
Then don’t add so much oil. There shouldn’t be a lot of oil left on the plate after you’ve finished eating. If there is, then you’ve used too much oil. Same thing with fried rice and everything else.
But when it isn’t that much oil, it will stick to the wok?
This is tossed, not fried…and even when fried, so far, I have managed with just a little bit of oil. They say my wok is well-seasoned, that’s why. An alternative would be to use a non-stick pan or wok but things cooked using that usually do not taste as nice.
Mee kua if fried with dry prawns, (hey bee),,,,it is really delicious….
Ok, noted. Was thinking about it the other day but imagine me pounding away at 5-ish in the morning. Will try one of these days, thanks. LOL!!!
Maybe it’s bcos “mum’s cooking is best” theory?
…which is indeed very true, no? 😉
In those early day, a simple meal is a luxury and unlike now, you can have meat and fish each meal plus so many eatery that serve good foods outside.
I guess some things remain unchanged – like how I still take delight in simple food and simple things… 😉
Yoh!!! I pun miss this too!!
You do? Next time you come home, buy a lot and stock up. They’re non-perishable.
Your plate of mee look superb. Have not eaten this kind of mee kua. We only have mee pok type.
Best regards.
They say this type of noodles can only be found in Sibu…and those in Kuching are not really the same and not so nice. That’s why my relatives will only buy the ones here.
I love these type of noodles and my grandma (maternal) used to cook it like you do too! Was a treat during weekends although we’re not very close to that side of the family.
I didn’t know they were so expensive though – there’s some noodles we buy (dry, packaged, from wet market) that’s slightly cheaper but it’s a different kind of noodle.
They’re all over RM5.00 now…while mee sua has gone up over RM9 for a bag like this. Still cheaper to buy these and cook one’s own though.
I remember my grandma cooking ve tsin noodles. not sure if anyone does that anymore.
It’s still available but most people use aji these days.
Wa….very nice very nice…simple and nice.
I think that’s the beauty of our food here, typically Foochow…very simple, yet so very nice.
Yummm…love this noodles you make. Simply satisfying with an extra topping…i meant the egg..hehehe
But I have to cook everything all by myself, not so fortunate like somebody. Hehehehehe!!!! 😉
Hi Arthur! I know what was lacking…. some homemade char siew!! 😀
Quick! Quick! Courier some of your awesome ones over!!! 😀
I missed “qian mien” & my grandma. She is the one that always cooked this for me when I am young, simple just tossed it with bovril. Now i am hungry looking at it.
But I think now the taste not as good already? My mum bought me some, it doesn’t have those olden days taste. If you have find some good one let me know.
Exactly how I felt about this one, probably factory machine made and dried. Not the same at all. The one I bought previously was not bad. Will go out and see where I can find those old-time ones. So fragrant – even with soy sauce and lard and msg, so very nice.
The noodles themselves look near perfect! The shape and such 🙂
They looked good, tasted good too…just that they were not the same as what I had when I was a kid, not as nice. Something seemed to be missing… 😦