I shared a photo of the noodles I had for breakfast that morning…
…and in the caption, I asked, “So what’s this that I had for breakfast?” Somebody commented, “Nice kolo mee!” and though it did not look like Kuching kolo mee as we know it these days, it did look a bit like some of those that I had a long time ago and enjoyed to the max.
These days, if you go to eat kolo mee in Kuching, at best, you will get some char siew and some minced meat on top – they do not even give you those light-blanched green vegetables (sawi) anymore, it seems. That is exactly what you will get when you go and eat kampua mee at some places in Sibu, even though long long ago, in my growing up years, they never gave minced meat, just a few of those very very thin slices of boiled pork, coloured pinkish orange…
…on top.
My friend/ex-student, Louis, went and tapaoed this packet of kolo mee…
…from somewhere in Kuching and I thought it looked really good, just like those I enjoyed before in the early and mid-70’s. You would get a couple of pieces of char siew and boiled meat and a bit of minced meat with your noodles, a prawn (shell removed, leaving just the tail) and a fish ball or two and a few thin fish cake slices…and at times, you might even get an inch-long pork intestine and a thin slice of liver.
I do not remember exactly where I had something like this, probably at the stall at Lao Ya Keng in Kuching – further inside, near the stage – definitely not the one there today! Or maybe I had that at one of the coffee shops along Carpenter Street. I don’t know where one can get to eat kolo mee like that these days, maybe at Kim Joo…or Noodle Descendants but no, the last time I was at these places, I did not think they were quite the same.
Anyway, going back to the noodles that I cooked for breakfast, I cannot remember where or when exactly but the last time I featured our made-in-Sibu Mee Daddy, somebody said that she always had it dry, like kampua mee, never in soup. Oh? I know they suggest three ways…
…soup, dry or as a snack but all this time, I always had it in soup and it reminds me of our chin th’ng mee or kampua mee served in clear soup…
…so I decided to give it a try to see if it would be any good that way.
I emptied the contents of the sachets into a plate – the oil and half of the seasoning powder only, cooked the noodles, drained it well and tossed everything well together.
I boiled some prawns, fishballs and thinly-sliced fish cake and grilled some slices of smoked bacon for the toppings and added an egg as well and I garnished it generously with chopped spring onion from my garden and served…
Hmmm…it was nice but I think I should have mixed the seasoning powder well with the oil till it dissolved in it and maybe it could do with a little bit more oil – a teaspoon of the shallot oil that my sister gave me that day would be nice.
Having said that, no, it did not taste anything like kampua mee – it was quite nice, that much I would say but if you are craving for kampua mee, I honestly do not think this would help. At the end of the day, I still prefer this in soup. Period!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Yeah, my favourite Mee Daddy instant noodles. Always have a packet of 5 in my pantry. Be it cooked dry or soupy, I like it. As always with your add on ingredients, it makes that bowl of noodles looks extremely good. I like the curry flavour too but hard to get it. Mostly sold in the Supermarket are chicken flavour, I wonder why.
Sold out perhaps. We can get curry easily here, maybe not as popular as the chicken. Cheaper! Oh? You have it dry too? First time trying.
Sarawak’s variations of kolo mee and (to an extent) kampua mee sometimes do get a bit confusing, especially when they’re served in KL and there are the differences between the halal and non-halal versions etc 🙂
Yes, you eat at one shop and go to eat at the one next door, you will find a difference. That is why I frown when people say this one or that one is the best. It depends on individual taste and one thing’s for sure, not all are good.
I’ve had one really good halal kampua here…and I asked for beef slices to go with it but that place has closed down for good. Dunno if there are others up to that standard.
Your kolo mee looked like the one serve in Lau Ya Keng. Indeed, now kolo mee mostly only minced meats and char siew. If you ordered special or seafood version, you will get few slices of pork, prawns and fish or meat balls.
I guess I did not order that right when I was at Lao Ya Keng that day so what I had was nothing like that. In the 70’s I went there to eat very often, my friends living at Main Bazaar and all around that part of Carpenter Street.
Don’t think we have mee daddy in our supermarket. Oh can be dry or soup, interesting. Usually our instant noodles are either dry or soup, no two in one, or even three in one.
Yes, one of a kind.
You always elevate any instant noodles that you have at your disposal. Guess that’s what a good chef can whip out. 😀
Of course you need to have the ingredients readily available as well.
I always see what’s in the fridge, what’s sitting there day in day out that I can get rid of. Presentation always makes eating something more pleasurable.
Malaysian breakfasts really look like dinners to me! 😉
Well, that’s the most important meal of the day! Supposed to have something light for lunch so one will not be sleepy when back at work in the afternoon but you go and tell a Malaysian that! It will fall on deaf ears! LOL!!!