Sometime ago, I got this pack of made-in-Johore mee teow from my friend, Pete, in KL…
…and the other day, I decided to cook it.
It looked like our hung ngang (big bihun) but that would not be salty. Our mee sua (longevity noodles) is salty and that is why when we cook the chicken soup to serve it with, we do not add salt…or I will use a lot of water when boiling it, the same as what I did with these noodles from Pete…
The salt would be dissolved and go into the water and after cooking, I would rinse in water some more…
…a few times, to get rid of whatever saltiness that may be left and also to remove any excess starch so the noodles would not be sticky and would not stick together when tossed or fried.
My cousin in Australia told me that she liked the grilled clams, this particular brand, so I decided to give it a try and other than those, I also had these ingredients…
– some shallots and garlic, peeled and sliced…and what was left of some fish cakes that we had in the freezer.
I tossed the noodles with a bit of mushroom soy to give it a little bit of colour…
…not too much in case it was still too salty.
Then, I fried the shallots and garlic in a bit of oil, added the clams and the fish cake slices…before putting in the noodles and after frying everything together thoroughly, I added some eggs and a pinch of ikan bilis (dried anchovies) stock and when I was satisfied that it was done, I dished it all out and served…
…garnished with a bit of chopped spring onions. It was very nice, the noodles…
…nothing like bihun or kway teow or mee sua – I think it is in a completely different category of its own. I did not think the clams were very nice though – they lacked the taste and fragrance of the Amoy ones that I would usually use even though the clams in the latter would be so small you would need a magnifying glass to be able to see them.
We all enjoyed that and even though the pack did not look all that big, there was so much that we had that for breakfast and also for lunch that day.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Oh interesting, i didn’t know that the mee sua in Sibu is salty. How do you reduce the saltiness? Just rinse with water?
Nope, rinsing is actually to remove the excess starch so the strands will not stick together especially when you want to toss the noodles dry like for my Bovril mee sua. Just boil with a lot of water, the salt would be lost into it in the cooking.
Nice of Pete to inform u that it’s salty and not to add salt…
Yes, I would not have expected it to be salty like our mee sua.
I love noodles like these! Great job!
Me too! The usual routine here is to have noodles for breakfast or morning tea break…or supper.
Ahhh fried noodles with clams.. I know you cook pretty delicious bihun+clams, from all your previous posts.. I’ve never eaten canned clams before, but judging from your picture (and your cooking skill), I bet they taste nice, very nice..Looks like spaghetti in the last picture.. Looks good, enuff ‘wok hei’ (direct translation: wok heat), really looks very good.. Slurrppppp..
Nope, not nice…nothing like fresh clams but the Amoy ones are perfect for frying bihun – that one is nice, can hardly see…but they give the fried bihun the wonderful fragrance and taste. I find canned clams like rubber and the taste is also different, nothing like the real thing…never mind grilled or in curry or what, all not to my liking. I’d rather go for canned sotong. Nicer!
Though it is fried noodles but it looks like bihun to me. It would be nice if some greens is added but I know you use whatever is available in the fridge. Anyway, it is still a nice plate of fried noodles.
True, very true. No greens in the fridge. Taugeh would be nice too.
Not much? Now I know why you are tuapui (same like me) 😀 . One packet of those is enough for 6 to 8 servings leh. How many of you eating? 2 or 3?
3 of us…but we had that for breakfast and lunch…and there was a little bit leftover so I finished it off for afternoon tea. 😀 It did not look like a lot though, small packet but very compact.
First thing I saw on that packet was the warning hah..hah… Yeah, it is good to inform. Even though the clams were not to your liking, the fried noodles certainly looked good!
Tasted good too, despite the clams.
I like what you did with it, it looks very good!
It was.
The Sitiawan meesua is also saltish.. no need to add salt too.. I like them! I haven’t tried tin clams before, yes, I think it would be nicer to buy fresh clams to cook with the noodles.. never did that before though.. over here, I buy clams to cook as a dish only..
Cook with lots of water, will wash the salt away and then will not be so salty. Fresh clams, the best. Over there, can get so easily – all the Penang char kway teow. Not usually used for char kway teow here. That’s why ours not so nice, cheap…but not so nice. 😦
It’s great to have leftovers.
Saves the trouble of cooking something else, I guess?
If you didnt say it is bihun, I would think it is noodle!
I like your creative cooking by adding this and that. Trial and error. ^^
Yes, follow my nose…and usually I will get it right. Can’t go far wrong as usually, the basic ingredients are the same.
kerang panggang in a can! in a sign of how rarely i explore the supermarket, i’ve never seen that product before. but i lovvvveeeee cockles, so i’d definitely love that! 😀
p.s. no, still no plans to pop over to east malaysia for now, but you’ll be on my to-visit list if i ever do! 🙂
Right here waiting! No, no, no…they’re like rubber – the original taste just isn’t there – not nice at all. I wouldn’t bother buying it a second time.
Oh I didn’t know that’s actually from Muar!?
Looks a bit like Hakka mee to me.
Muar is famous for its otak-otak 🙂
And mee Bandung too…that’s from Muar, not Indonesia.
Well, not too bad , at least you tried out and find out how salty it was!
It wasn’t salty after I cooked it my way. I’ve a lot of experience doing that cooking our Foochow mee sua.
Yum! The Johor mee tiaw looks rather thick, not like the usual rice vermicelli we get in Sibu.
It doesn’t clump together when you blanch it in hot water too, look pretty good. I’ve had those cockles / clams before, it tastes really good in this preparation with some canned pork, which was how my late mom used to do it. Looks good mate!
I’d usually use either clams or pork, never together…but I’m game to try anything. Yup, the noodles are different, nothing like anything I’ve had before, not as coarse as bihun. Very nice.
Interesting!
I’ll see if we can find it here, should be able to, since it’s made in Johor. I thought it was funny how it was labelled “Salty! Do not add salt”. 😀
No, I think my friend wrote that…just to let me know. You wouldn’t see that if you happen to stumble upon it in the shops.