Po’ in Hokkien means thin (nipis) as in a thin piece of paper, for example, not thin (kurus) as in describing a person. Mee po’, therefore, is a bowl of flat and very thin noodles.
I remember the ones I used to enjoy a lot in Singapore way back in 1973. The noodles were very thin, of course, a darker shade of yellow/orange in colour – probably due to the egg used in the making or the alkaline added, chewy and almost translucent. You can click this link to go to my friend’s blog to see what looks quite like the mee po’ I used to have in the island republic. I wanted to “borrow” the photograph to share here but I have forgotten how to log into DISQUS and comment to seek his permission. For one thing, it was the only thing they had there that was closest to Sibu kampua mee or Kuching kolo mee.
Anyway, fast forward to the other day when my Bintulu cousin posted a photograph of the spicy vinegar instant kampua she had on Facebook and a Kuching cousin commented that she had the mee pok and it was good. Somewhere along the line, for reasons unknown, mee po’ has evolved into mee pok and it so happened that my missus grabbed a pack of the latter when she went out shopping the other day…
…so of course, I took a packet to try.
Like all their other products, there are two sachets inside…
…one with the shallot oil (lard), the other with the soy sauce and in this case, it was the dark version.
As always, I emptied the contents of the sachets onto a plate and boiled the noodles and because they seemed rather thick unlike the thin round kampua mee, I let it simmer for a minute longer, around 3 altogether. Once done, I drained it well and tossed it with the ingredients provided. I had it with a few thin pan-fried slices of the leftover Aussie wagyu beef in the fridge from the soup that my missus cooked the day before…
…garnished with a sprinkling of spring onions from my garden.
No, it wasn’t like the mee pok at the kampua mee stalls – those are thinner and they are actually kampua mee, flattened and renamed mee pok and of course, they are a far cry from the ones I had in Singapore. This one was thicker, more chewy and more like our old-time traditional mee kua/mee sanggul though not exactly but closer to that than the kampua mee pok…and if you are waiting for my verdict, I would say, yes, it was nice. I enjoyed 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! 
I had instant mee pok (dry version) recently and they are very nice, cannot remember the brand, i will take a photo when i go to the supermkt and blog abt it when i can.
Not going to buy some more to cook and enjoy since you say it is nice?
I want to try this instant kampua. Somehow we seldom think about grabbing this. Usually we just buy maggi mee. 😀
Maggi is the last brand I would buy, other nicer and cheaper brands when it comes to instant noodles. Not sure if this instant kampua is available in Melaka or not. I know there are places in KL/Selangor and Penang and Ipoh selling it.
I am not a mee pok person. Mee pok of any kind, instant kampua mee pok or kolo mee pok. I only go for the original normal ones.
Here, they’re just flattened versions of the regular round ones, more or less. I would love to go for those Singapore ones again, if ever I get the chance. They’re different.
Oh! With wagyu beef some more. Sure very good hee..hee…
Ok, lah! Not used in the cooking so no effect on the noodles. I would prefer good char siew, more used to that.
I bought a few packets of these noodles during MCO… I mean the flat dry type minus the sauce. I prefer these to the fine type of noodles.
The opposite of Irene. To each his/her own!
with wagyu?! what a luxury!
It’s quite affordable though. Otherwise, I would not have bothered to buy…and boy! No regrets! We enjoyed it to the max!
So nice to have delicious meepoh conveniently at home. It looks so good especially with the added wagyu beef.
Easy to cook, good to eat! We’re well stocked with instant kampua – should last for quite a while.
Those noodles look luscious – I am a big carb addict.
They’re good, sure wouldn’t mind buying them again.
That end result looks like the one on the packet photo 🙂
I take that as a compliment, thank you!
I get you! I really missed those yellow translucent mee po (mee pok) in the old days in Singapore in the 70s. I came across Sibu Mee Pok (as in your review above) and hesitated to buy it as I got a nagging suspicion that it is merely rolled flatter sibu noodles (the classic ones). Thanks for the post, my suspicion confirmed! Nevertheless, I still love Kitchen Food Kampua Noodles, the best instant “dry toss noodle” I have tried so far. Maybe I will try the vinegar version next followed by mee po.
Yes, it is just the flattened version of the regular noodles, nothing like the ones in Singapore. I enjoyed those a lot back in 1973, nothing like our kampua mee but it came the closest unlike wanton mee which is quite different. Having said all that, I do enjoy the range of noodles from The Kitchen Food myself – even though we can get the real thing easily here, I always keep some at home to enjoy when I feel like it.
Hi! I have forgotten to mention, I’m writing from Singapore 😀 Not so easy to find Kitchen Food noodles here. But saw a good range at “Song Fish”, a frozen seafood grocer LOL. I fell in love with Kitchen Food Sibu Kampua noodles a while ago, I eat it dry and also use it to cook Putien “Lor Mee”.
Yes, I did hear that they had difficulty exporting the noodles to Singapore at first as you people over there are very strict when it comes to bringing foodstuff into the country but they did manage eventually, just very much later compared to other parts of Malaysia and other countries overseas.
There is a problem with the shipping costs though – I sometimes sent to my friends in West Malaysia – the charges were more than how much I paid for the noodles. If I am not mistaken, they cost a bit more elsewhere compared to here.
By the way, welcome to my blog and thank you for commenting!