The Hokkein Mee Variations
When we feel like eating a certain food, if we know what it’s called, we are quite sure that we will get what we want with a possible slight difference in taste only. Some food may have regional differences like the laksa* which have regional variances in Malaysia.
*Laksa is a spicy noodle dish which is popular in Southeast Asia which comes with condiments like chicken, prawns, meat and may be spicy sour or with coconut milk.
The Penang laksa is quite different from the ones from Johore, Sarawak or Thai laksa. However, in general it is 80% the same in that the carbohydrate is made up of Asian noodles, it is soupy and contains spice, has some meat and vegetable condiments with the variations coming from the level of spiciness and possibly a tinge of tartness in the soup.
The Hokkein Mee however, is a different story altogether. Hokkein Mee is a noodle dish that is famous in this region but depending on where you are, what you get may be very different from what you have in mind.
In the northern part of Malaysia, specifically Penang, the Hokkein Mee is a bowl of soupy noodles in prawn broth which can be slightly spicy. You can get this in almost all coffee shops (or kopitiams) in Penang as it is one of Penang’s most famous noodles. The sweetness of the prawns is evident in the broth which they boil the heads and shells of the prawn for hours to extract its sweetness. So, while the broth is slightly red, an authentic Penang Hokkein Mee by itself is seldom spicy. Some stall will enhance the redness of the broth by adding chili oil which brings up the level of spiciness. The noodles comes with prawns, pork slices, kangkung (water spinach) and bean sprouts. There is usually some sambal which comes with the bowl in case you want to up the spicy level.
If you travel southwards from Penang to the central region of Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley, the Hokkein Mee does a drastic transformation from a bowl of spicy sweet soup noodle up north into a braised noodle which is black in color in the Klang Valley. The noodle used is also different from the usual as they are fat yellow noodles – so some people call this either black noodles or fat noodles. The meat which is a mix of prawns, pork, cuttlefish and chinese cabbage is first fried and quickly doused in broth to cook before a large amount of black sauce (Chinese molasses) is added to the wok followed by the noodles. The noodle is then braised in high heat to give it the taste as well as the aroma (镬气). The result is a salty, sweet noodles that smells heavenly and taste even better. Similar with the northern noodle, this Hokkein Mee is also served with sambal as an accompaniment.
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Moving further south pass the southern most tip of Peninsula Malaysia, you cross into Singapore (and some parts of Johore) where there is another version of Hokkein Mee that exists, where similar to the central one, this Hokkein Mee is also braised but without the black sauce. I don’t know enough of the history of this noodles but safe to say it has its own taste and goodness, some friend says it looks a little like an Asian pasta dish. The taste is not as strong as the first two variations but it has its own merits, especially if the seafood used is fresh and you get the freshness and sweetness of the prawns together with the savory taste of the noodles. Cuttlefish and meat such as pork or chicken is added in the braising and served with a cut of lime in some places.
So which tastes batter? Each have their preferences but its worth a try driving from Penang to Singapore and try all 3 variations.
In order not to confuse consumers, the KL Hokkein Mee is sometimes known as Hokkein Fried Mee in Penang, while the Penang Hokkein Mee in central Klang Valley is also known as Prawn Mee (Noodles). Then it creates another problem as Prawn Mee also comes braised or fried.
So much to eat, so little time. If you are in Malaysia, the best thing you can do is to indulge in our favorite pastime which is eating. ?? Enjoy