After my brief stay in Kuching, I headed on home by road and stopped by this little place…
…on my way. This small bazaar comprising those few blocks of shops, Sungai Tenggang, is actually located around 1-2 kilometres from the Kalimantan border. That would explain why, while I was there, I could hear some of the ethnic ladies by the pavement selling their agricultural and jungle produce speaking in a language that sounded like Indonesian. It is in the Sri Aman Division, on the left before reaching Lachau and the junction of the road leading to Bandar Sri Aman, if you are heading from Kuching to Sibu.
Now if you are wondering why I would want to stop there, well, this was the reason – the lor ark (braised duck)…
…served with kolo mee…
A cousin of mine bought me some once a long long time ago and I remember how much I enjoyed it then. I don’t remember anybody else doing that since so that was perhaps the one and only time when I ever tasted the celebrated Sungai Tenggang duck kolo mee.
If I am not mistaken, for the regular individual servings, one would get the kolo mee in a bowl and some pieces of the duck on top but my special order…
…came in a big plate with the lor nui (stewed egg) by the side…
…and a bowl of kolo mee kosong (no meat)…
…to enjoy together with everything else and the nice chili dips provided…
Yum yummmmm!!!! I would say that I seemed to have enjoyed it a lot more before probably because by the time it got to me, the flavours of everything had gone into the noodles but this was good too.
Now, if anyone is wondering which shop this was, well, here it is…
…somewhere in the middle. I did see some ducks hanging at a stall in the first shop on the extreme left but it was completely deserted so I did not go to that one to try and therefore, I would not know if that one was any good or not.
That handsome young man also sells chap fan (mixed rice)…
…and a lot of other things as well…
One thing that I noticed on every table as I entered the shop was this – a bowl of hard-boiled eggs…
This was something quite typical of the old-school coffee shops in the old days. If I am not mistaken, people in the old days would just eat one egg and that would be able to keep them from going hungry at least till lunchtime. In the past, when the express boats were plying between Sibu and Kapit (and beyond), stopping at Kanowit and Song, or from Sibu to Bintangor and Sarikei, at every stop, there would be people, young and old, jumping on board with their baskets of hardboiled eggs, kampua noodles, steamed paos and so on plus a few different kinds of packet or canned drinks and the passengers on board would buy something from them to eat, something that would tide them over until they reached their destination and those eggs were no doubt a popular choice, being cheap and besides, they were known to be able to sustain one for a long time.
I did not stop long at Sungai Tenggang but I certainly was glad I did as I got to enjoy the noodles and the duck and the egg and I did get to buy some bananas (real cheap compared to Sibu), mini-brinjals (These were very small, maybe two to three inches long only – the ladies said that because of the heat and the current dry spell, they could not grow till much longer)…
…and some terung Dayak (Dayak brinjals) to bring home…or did I buy those at Lachau where I did make a brief stop as well, I don’t quite remember now!
Next stop, Sarikei! Stick around, folks!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I always have difficulty trying to swallow hard boiled egg yolk. That’s the reason why I prefer to eat half boiled egg. I don’t like eating those hard boiled eggs left on the tables like that. I like mine still warm, fresh from the chicken. I mean kitchen 😛
I don’t see people doing this anymore, maybe they still do in these small pekans/bazaars or towns but it’s a very old practice, very common in my very young days. Maybe people then did not have the luxury of time and they would want to go for a hot drink and an egg…and get to work quickly, and that would be it till lunchtime…or maybe eggs were cheap – protein can keep one from getting hungry longer than crabs, things like noodles.
Same as my girl – she used to eat only the white but of late, she will eat the yolk though she may not be all too fond of it. Would like it half-boiled too or fried, with or without a runny yolk. You’re sure you don’t like your eggs hard? I know you love the yolk runny, as it oozes out slowly, thick and creamy. Slurpssss!!!! 😀
I prefer half boiled egg too, easy to swallow. Oh, I never stopped over at Sg. Tenggang but instead at Lachau. Next time, if I ever go to Sri Aman again, will drop by this place for the lor ark kolo mee. Looks great.
Exactly what my girl says – just slurp it all down, so fast and one enough to last her till lunch.
Lachau is bigger, double the size. People say the kolo mee is nice but I did try last year. Ok, nice but there are nicer ones in Kuching. When are you going to Sri Aman again? Maybe I can join you there? 😉
P.S.:
My cousin just commented on Facebook, the one who tapao-ed for me that one time and it was so very nice – I would say it was nicer than what I had this time around. She said she would always go to the first shop, the dark and deserted one where I saw some ducks hanging too. Maybe that one’s nicer.
Have you ever considered offering foodie tours in the area? Tourists would love to share a little bit of your knowledge.
Quite a few have suggested the same but no, thanks. I don’t mind doing it for those interested though, just for the fun of it and for free – even people I did not know initially but they asked nicely via my blog and we got into contact to make the necessary arrangements.
I know that little town. I think I have a stop before. The braised duck sure looks good.
It is like the small place’s practice to have hard-boiled eggs on every table in coffee shop. The very 1st time I saw it was in my in-laws’ canteen. Haha. 2nd time was in the stop on my way to Borneo Highlands last month.
Yes, I did see the eggs in the coffee shops in Kapit before – dying out now, it seems…getting to see it less and less. I thought it was nicer when my cousin bought it for me years and years ago – maybe the old folks were the ones doing it then? This one’s a very young man. But it was ok, nice also.
Oh yes, we eat our wanton mee here with roasted duck/ braised duck too!
Roast duck, I had in KK – with their konlou mee:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/on-my-own/
Here, there is one place – own made noodles, big like KL Hokkien mee…and you can choose – roast duck, roast chicken, char siew or whatever:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/a-different-corner/
…but no place here with braised duck. 😦
Yumsss!! Indeed braised duck goes very well with the kolo Mee… I had something similar to thus too at a Viet restaurant… Only that it is springy egg noodles with the duck… 🙂
I guess it can go with any type of noodles.
omigosh i would love this place. duck is always one of my soft spots, and i’ll always gleefully say yes to stewed eggs too. but i also see a lot of other things on the white board that i’d wanna try … oyster omelette, beef liver and buffalo stomach for me please! 🙂
This would be a long drive from Kuching, not likely anyone coming for a visit would come all the way here – I’ve been told that they have the same braised duck kolo mee in Serian, not too far from Kuching. Oyster omelette, can get in Kuching – not sure how they do the beef liver and buffalo stomach here. Should be interesting to get to try those.
I love boiled eggs, but I prefer them soft boiled, as in about 6 or so minutes…I like them when the white is firm and the yolk is liquid, I prefer the taste and find them easier to digest and swallow as well.
That sounds like my kind of half-boiled, white hard and yolk runny. I love eggs…in any form.
Whoa the lor ark looks delicious! I think I will enjoy that a lot. And the lor nui, I can eat three 😀
Good grief! Whatever happened to the ration of 2 per week? LOL!!! Well, I just had one that day – so good. 😀
That bowl of hard boiled eggs – what a blast from the past! I had totally forgotten about this. This is what I like most about your blog – the continual reminders of things I had forgotten about. Thank you for the trips down memory lane.
Most welcome. It pleases me much to see these little reminders, these things so simple yet we see glimpses of our illustrious past in them! Times have changed – even just sitting in a coffee shop for breakfast just doesn’t seem the same anymore.
From the picture, can see that the braised duck is yummy…
It was nice but my missus’ one is nicer, just that she does not cook it often…since she does not eat it herself…plus we eat hers with rice, no kolo mee. So this was a special treat of a different kind. 😦