We had ang chao kampua…
…before and at best, we thought it was all right. We never went back again for more so I guess that speaks volumes. The ang chao or the lees or the residue of the red yeast rice from making the traditional Foochow red wine kind of drowned out the lovely kampua mee taste.
That was why when I saw this…
…on the shelves in the shops, I did not bother to give it a second glance.
I guess my missus was curious so one fine day, she came home with a pack and even then, I was hesitating, not all that keen to give it a try. I asked her what it tasted like and she said it was just like ordinary kampua mee – the only difference was just the red colour.
Well, finally, I decided I would give it a try myself so I took a packet and cooked…
…and if there was any difference between its taste and that of the regular kampua mee, I must say that I couldn’t tell at all. My guess is red yeast rice is used in the making of the noodles, not ang chao which has been fermented and has a distinct taste of its own.
I had it with the leftover luncheon meat in the fridge, reheated, of course, and a sprinkling of spring onion from my garden…
…and yes, I enjoyed it. Red yeast rice is believed to lower one’s cholesterol level and they do sell the extract as supplements in the pharmacies. If you take a look at the photograph on the pack, it sure looks like wolfberries or goji berries, doesn’t it?
THE KITCHEN FOOD shop (2.304994, 111.847404), home of the original, the one & only Sibu instant kampua, is located in the Sibu Bus Terminal area at Lorong 7A, Jalan Pahlawan, right next to the UOB Bank there.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Old habits dies hard. I only go for original white kampua. Heard from my 1/2Foochow friend that only duck can be cook with ang chao and not chicken but over here I notice that Fastfood stalls are selling chicken cook with ang Chao. Any specific reasons behind it? Make me confused.
No, ang chao’s good with chicken or pork (belly). You have been misinformed. Foochows cook mutton/goat’s meat with ang chao too, I’ve tried a very diluted version, cooked by my neighbour a long long time ago when I was young – can’t remember the taste now.
Duck is good for phak lor…and pek ting eyok – nicer than chicken, popular with salted vegetable and duck soup too. The Cantonese loves sour duck as well. Never had duck with ang chao – my missus does not eat duck.
Since the color is from red yeast rice, then it is all right. I am usually scared of food with color in case they use unsafe artificial coloring.
Oh yes, ang chao is VERY red but I was glad the noodles did not have the taste of the fermented stuff, would have drowned out the lovely kampua mee taste and fragrance. That is why I do not like the mee with black soy sauce.
Yes, red yeast lowers cholesterol but advised by pharmacist to stop taking after a month or so … then can restart after a lapse of a month or two… something like that… I love the dry noodles too, these days I have been taking a lot, instead of rice…
I guess that applies to the supplements? Or are you talking about eating the rice? I don’t eat both, just the fermented ang chao sometimes when my missus uses it to cook chicken or pork.
Oh they even have ang chao kampua…
I’ve yet to review the pumpkin one.
Those noodles look like something I’d pick up from the store.
I enjoyed them, just that it did not taste much different from the regular ones.