Kampua : From Home Made to Factory Made

The kampua that Sibu "people" came from noodles which were handmade, and later handmade and dried, and in recent years, factory or machine made.

But today, many stalls in Sibu depend on fresh made noodles prepared by cottage industries.

The stall owners would use the term, "giek" to mean that they buy the fresh noodles from the suppliers at whole sale price.

this famous Kampua Man, Liang Yew Coffee Shop, Island Road has been serving the Methodist Primary School students and teachers for more than 30 years. He would even deliver plates of noodles to the school in the early years.

Delivery of noodles has always been a kind of good will on the part of the stall owner. Not many practise this service nowadays.

Good kampua is well sought after.

It is an iconic breakfast in Sibu. But how good this dry noodle or kampua is depends on individual taste. It is very very Foochow in origin.

The secret according to a lot of people lies in the sauce which is used to coat the noodles until they are shiny and very loose.

Every stall owner has a secret sauce and a customer will let his own taste buds find the right kampua maker.

But by word of mouth, most people would know where the best kampua can be found.

You can tell by the occupied seats in a coffee shop in Sibu.

You have lots of choice, KPRed, KP Black, KP white, KP soup, KP with mixed pork, KP with Char Siew, KP with bian niik, and finally KP Kosong...and many more combinations.