I had the opportunity of sharing some kampua (dried noodles) with him since he is a Foochow of Gutien descent. Nowadays in Miri you can get both the Halal Kampua or the Non Halal Kampua. A Muslim friend can make very good kampua with chicken and his beef soup is very nice with lots of spring onions but you have to go to his shop to enjoy his dishes.
Xiao Chiang had some kampua with us a few days ago...ala "ta pao" ...We had fun having noodles together in an office.
Xiao Chiang : In Gutien we don't have this type of dry noodles or Kang Puang Mien or just kampua. We do have yellow noodles which we fry for festive season with lots of ingredients especially seafood. Most of our noodles are made from rice e.g. hoong ngang.
Xiao Chiang : We do ta pao but we use "bowls" and not plastic paper like this.
Xiao Chiang : No....No chilies for me...I cannot eat chillies like you can...too hot. This is another difference. Our tongues are different. You can really eat very hot food.
Xiao Chiang : The noodles are a bit dry but they are not bad. We eat mantou and soya bean milk for breakfast. Yellow Noodles are fried for Chinese New Year. We actually do not have dry noodles like these. A favourite breakfast dish is Ting Bian Hoo. We also eat lots of Yiu tiao or bao. And also we don't drink coffee in the morning like you do.....
Xiao Chiang has given me a good understanding of what breakfast is like in Gutien...and he confirms what many of us have believe.....that kampua was born in Sibu. What do you think?
8 comments:
Hi
Dry Noodles - may be we should change the name...now that there is a halal version...to give it a more Sarawakian identity. In West Malaysia there is another version called Wantan Mee which is different yet similar...
Kuching Kolo Mee has a different texture...
Nice post...Justin
Sibu the kampua capital of the world.. a nice ring to it :)
Hi Justin
Yeah...there are several versions of the dry noodles...there's even an Italian pasta which is just mixed with olive oil and some cheese. May be one day we can have kampua with goat cheese and herbs!! already in Sibu there are different ways of preparing kampua.
Bengbeng
Yeah...the capital of Kampua is Sibu!! People still bring like 20 packs of it to KK. Cheers.
I tasted this in Singapore, cooked by a Sarawakian friend who is a long-time PR here.
It's SUPERB! It is a class of its own.
Hi Cornelius
yes indeed. It has special taste of Sibu that makes all the difference. MANY Foochows who have emigrated to Sabah still ask relatives to "tAPOW"
and bring to Sabah. They will freeze and eat them sparingly..thanks to micro waving.
However to some it is an acquired taste.
You may try original taste of kampua at First Delicious Food Court, Permy Jaya, Miri. Just next to permy mall ( Still under construction )
Thanks Anonymous...Haven't been there yet...will go there soon when Semester ends...I think I will get a few friends together and start a Kampua Search for the Original Taste.....Good for blogging. Good for Miri too.
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