I happened to stumble upon a Youtube video showing a family going in search of what they called “mee papan” (wooden board noodles) and of course, my curiosity was aroused. What on earth was mee papan, I wondered? I had never heard of it before. I followed the family in the video clip but unfortunately, the place there were heading to was not open that day!
Eventually, I saw a lot of others as well and I found out from one of them that mee papan was actually sizzling hot plate noodles. In Hokkien, we call it thik pan mee (hot plate noodles)…
Yes, I remember it was the craze at one time, alongside those sizzling hot plate beef or venison or what have you in the Chinese restaurants and yes, I did get to enjoy it before but I cannot for the dear life of me remember where exactly I went for it.
I was enjoying the mee sua here, my favourite in town, one day when I saw the people from the chu-char (cook & fry) section at the back serving that to some customer and boy, it sure looked very good! I made up my mind instantly that I would go back to that coffee shop to give it a try and finally, I managed to do that the other day.
I must say that I was very impressed when it…
…was served. It looked really good and had a lot of added ingredients. I did notice that they had used chicken instead of pork – that is the on-going issue here right now. The price of pork had been shooting up like nobody’s business every other day but of course, it did not matter to me whether they had used pork or chicken or whatever. We should boycott the meat completely to teach those unscrupulous sellers a lesson they will never forget! Tsk! Tsk!
There you are! You can see underneath the hot plate, the wooden board…
…that had given this dish its name.
They added an egg…
…as well and it was perfectly done, just the way I would love it with the egg yolk still soft and runny.
I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that it was only RM7.00 a plate. I had expected more seeing how much ingredients they had added to it…
Yes, it tasted great and yes, I sure would not mind ordering that to enjoy again considering how much more affordable it is compared to a lot of things we have around us these days.
NEW HEE’S FOOD CORNER (2.311365, 111.846638)…
…is located along Jalan Pedada, now Jalan Datuk Wong Soon Kai, the very first one in the block of shops to the left of the Delta Mall, with the Astro Sibu office at the other end of that same block.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
With so much ingredients and only cost RM7, it is a good deal. Somemore, like you say, taste great and you enjoy it a lot. My favourite kolo mee near my area has increased again and it is RM6 per bowl with 3 miserable pieces of char siu and some minced meat…🤦♀️. Suka Suka just increase for no apparent reasons. Everyone k iws about it… ☺️☺️. If her stall rental increase she also increase her kolo mee. Tsk!!! Tsk!!!
It does seem like nothing happens when some people increase their prices. Some are a lot more expensive than others and yet people go to eat. Some complain about the quality dropping because they increase the prices and yet they scrimp on the ingredients. Have to boycott to teach them a lesson!
Oh I see, mee papan refers to the wooden board under the hot plate. I think it is pretty much a novelty, they cook the mee the usual way and then pour it onto the hot plate for the sizzling effect. There is one at the food court near me.
Like serving food in a claypot, it stays warm longer than in a plate or a bowl.
Sizzling noodle used to be my favourite. There was one stall serving such with the wooden board underneath the sizzling plate. But the stall has ceased operation.
I also liked the sizzling noodle served in Hong Kong Noodle House in Saberkas but the restaurant no more there. Only left the Padungan branch.
Good that this noodle was good and you enjoyed it.
Oh? Hong Kong Noodle House in Saberkas is no more there? I did go there to eat (never been to the one at Padungan) and I loved the char siew and the other types of roast meat that they served. Ah well! People hardly go to Saberkas these days…with so many other nice places all over Kuching – not surprised that it closed down!
This brings back good memories. There used to be mee papan served at the kopitiam shop just behind Tai Kiong when I was in primary school. I remember the owner always wore white shorts, long white socks and shoes. The mee papan was the best! In high school no more already😔.
Yes, I remember that guy and yes, we loved what he dished out! Eventually, he just disappeared! I wonder what happened to him!
This is also one of my favourite noodles. There is a stall in the food court near to my house that serves quite good sizzling noodles.
Oh? So you have this over there too then? Don’t recall seeing it. Used to be very popular here but I do not see it as much these days, dunno why.
I dont know whats with hot plates but for some reason they make things delcious probably because it is always served on a hot temperature
It must be the extra heat plus what is served in it will not turn cold so quickly. It’s the same with food served in a claypot, I guess.
I have never heard of mee papan either. I do like those sizzling hotplates though.
They were very popular at one time, dunno why we do not get to see them so much anymore these days…or not here, that is. Probably the novelty has worn off.