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Kampua @ Rasa Sayang Cafe and other tales from Sibu

Feb 032013

kampua mee

I’m back in Sibu for Chinese New Year! The funny thing is that there’s no one at home then – my dad’s in Kuching, my mom and sister is in Singapore.

kampua tossing

My sister was supposed to come back earlier than me but changed her ticket and my dad got held up so I grabbed my keys from my grandma and had the dish I always have when I’m back in Sibu.

kampua noodle

Kampua mee!

pien nuk

Kampua noodles is a deceptively simple dish, but delicious. We also ordered a bowl of pien nuk – a pork dumpling soup that’s sold together with kampua.

kampua mee sibu

Kampua is tossed in lard and served with char siew and it’s one of the dishes I believe that only Sibu can do well (the noodles are all made daily).

kampua price

I haven’t had kampua at Rasa Sayang since it moved from their old place. The price is now RM 2.50 per bowl, which is pretty steep for Sibu standards. However, a lot of people say this is one of the best places to have kampua in Sibu.

kampua noodles

It’s a matter of personal preference, the one at Rasa Sayang is pretty good but I think Pedada has the best kampua in Sibu. The one at Siong Kee is also quite popular.

rasa sayang cafe

However, one good thing about Rasa Sayang is that they don’t use the radioactive red char siew but one with a more natural color. They also throw in some minced pork, an unusual addition that’s usually associated with kolo mee.

arthur hb

I ordered two bowls but didn’t manage to finish the second one. I figure my stomach has shrunk coz I used to be able to eat two, no problems. :x

ring for shag

Arthur was kind enough to bring me some souvenirs from his recent trip to New Zealand – there’s a bell that goes “Ring for a Shag” and a bottle opener in the shape of a kiwi bird.

cordyceps capsules

He also passed me some cordyceps capsules coz I’m still recovering from the flu.

nz shirt

In addition to *all* that – he also got me a shirt from NZ! I love it, I studied high school in Christchurch and went back to Auckland in 2010 when my mom did her first operation for small cell lung cancer. She’s still on chemo and due back on Tuesday after the course.

chicken pies

I have to say that STP is one of the most thoughtful and generous people I know – he brought me a bunch of chicken pies (still warm from the bakery!) and coconut ones for lunch yesterday. I was at home and about to head out when he buzzed me. Thanks buddy!

Arthur picked me up from the airport and pointed out one of the photos my blog posts about Kingwood Resort in Mukah is featured at a travel agent’s booth right outside the arrivals hall. How about that?

Sibu kampua mee and mixed soup

Sibu, Stalls 117 Responses »

Jul 222010

sibu kampua mee

I’m a huge fan of kampua mee and we can’t exactly get the authentic ones in KL so I make it a point to eat this whenever I come back to Sibu. It’s actually just noodles tossed with lard and sprinkled with spring onions, shallots and fried onions but it tastes delicious!

sibu kampua mee with mixed soup

I like mine with soy sauce and chilli – you can also opt for an either or if you don’t want the plain noodles. The trick to good kampua mee is in the lard. A lot of places switched to vegetable oil instead. THAT IS NOT KAMPUA MEE! A proper bowl of kampua mee is made with lard.

sibu mixed soup

There are also endless customization options – you can have it in soup, with sliced char siew, with pien nuk (dumplings – kinda like wanton) or with a side order. My favorite used to be a side order of pork liver but today I went for the Full Monty (except for tofu coz I don’t like tofu!!!).

sibu mixed soup pork

It not only has pork liver, but intestines, meat and various innards from this non-halal animal.

My favorite place closed down but this one is pretty good too – the soup was peppery and yes, the kampua is made with lard. I make it a point to check.

Monkey Kampua

Sibu, Stalls 28 Responses »

Aug 042009

monkey kampua

Kampua mee is to Sibu what char kueh tiaw is to Penang. There are a lot of good kampua places here but the best is arguably the one beside the fire station, dubbed Ang Kao kampua (Monkey kampua) after the owner’s nickname. I believe most of the locals here know about the income tax fiasco and the buzz that the owner drives two luxury cars, one of them a Mercedes, despite being a “humble kampua stall owner”.

monkey kampua business

Word on the street is, one day some people from the IRB came in and sat there posing as customers, with an increment clicker to count how many plates of kampua they serve on an average day, tallied against their reported income. The discrepancy was so colossal, no amount of hyperbole can sufficiently describe it, and thus the owner was slapped with a huge fine.

monkey kampua cook

I am not sure about the veracity of the story, but if it’s true, this has made the proprietors understandably wary about people with monitoring devices in general. I was asked if I was a reporter when I waltzed in and started taking photos of the place, and although they are friendly people, I had the distinct impression that they would not take it very well if I had stated that I represent the IRB. Heh!

monkey kampua original

However, the kampua is the best in town. This is the classic version of kampua mee - the flavor comes primarily from pork lard and shallots. It’s served with finely diced spring onions and char siew.

monkey kampua soup

Monkey Kampua also serves a mean dish of pork liver soup. It’s mixed with pork balls in this photo but kampua is versatile in the sense that you can order it with pien nuk (pork dumplings), in soup (ching tang mien) and with pork liver (tu kang in the local dialect).

monkey kampua soy

I like mine with soy sauce and chilli sauce. The accepted vernacular for this is kampua puak lak puak tau yu and should be preferably vocalized with an appropriate Foochow accent.

monkey kampua eddy

My only beef with this place is that they don’t serve beer. ;)

Noodle throwing @ Siong Kee Mee Kampua

Local food 68 Responses »

Aug 042008

siong kee

Siong Kee is one of the most famous kampua noodle stalls in Sibu. Siong Kee Mee Kampua is located in Taman Muhibbah. The proprietor is the one manning the stall and has almost acrobatic displays of noodle handling from the pot of boiling water to the bowl.

siong kee kampua

This friendly and unassuming owner is a Guinness World Records holder (!) though not for kampua noodles. He is credited under Most weddings attended by a best man. Mr. Ting Ming Siong from Sibu, Sarawak has been best man at the most weddings in the world with 1,393 occasions and counting. His record holder status can be verified here.

siong kee card

He even has a name card that lists his achievements in…er, matrimonial services, and he is also the Malaysian Book of Records holder in that department. Siong Kee Mee Kampua is very busy almost every night due to the good noodles that he churns out (and I suspect his acrobatic feats and record holder status as well).

Kampua noodles is actually very simple to make but this man is the only one who makes it entertaining to watch:

siong kee 1

1. Blanch noodles

siong kee 2

2. Throw noodles up in the air (no one else does this except him) and catch it again

siong kee 3

3. Mix noodles with a lard based sauce

sibu noodles

I’m not sure if the noodle throwing actually adds anything to the flavor (though rumor has it that it makes the noodles more pliable) but it certainly makes for a very lively performance.

Everybody loves kampua throwing!

sibu kampua

I’ve been told by kampua aficionados that you should always eat the noodles plain to gauge the taste properly. Kampua is served plain de facto but you can opt to have it with soy sauce, soy sauce and chilli, or chilli sauce.

kampua me

I ate this one plain and I pronounce it good!

kampua us

I was searching for his record in the Guinness World Records website and chanced upon a record that I could easily beat – Most Ferrero Rocher chocolates eaten in one minute which currently stands at a meager five (5).

Watch out Reuben Williams! I’m gunning for your record. I can do six easily. ;)

Stoopid

Food reviews No Responses »

Jun 192002

Ah…it feels good to sleep for a solid 10 hours. Spent the rest of the day with my girlfriend.
Today was very hot, maybe I haven’t acclimatized from the Melbourne winter. We went to get some ice
cream…found a really good one with pineapple chunks in them. Just the thing for a hot afternoon.
While driving past the Bukit Lima swimming pool, I saw the Chinese association building had a lot
of cars parked in front. Looks like they have a food court at the bottom floor now. Anyway, I found
an interesting property of milk. I bought back some fresh milk and freezed it so it will keep
longer. The color of the milk turned slightly yellow, like the condensed milk in cans. After the
defrosting, it returned to its normal…urm, milky color. It could be that I’m easily amused, but I
found that interesting. Well, I also managed to get some of that good ol’ kampua lovin’ action.
Went to my favorite stall in Pedada and had a big plate of kampua mee. It’s noodles with soy sauce,
chilli, red wine, green onions, fried onions, pork oil, pork slices, and plenty of MSG. Very nice,
and tastes very different to that nasty kolo mee stuff. Fed the cat some of that
sardine-calamari-shrimp cat food, which she loved. The Whiskas Cravers stuff must be good too. My
cat usually snubs dry food, but this one seems to agree with her. Anyway, I saw on the news that
there was stuff going down in Carlton after the Italy-Korea match. Heh. Wish I was there to take
some pictures. Then again, it’s entirely possible that I will be mistaken for a Korean and get my
ass kicked. =D

Link: Italian fans get a yellow
card [theage.com.au]

Kampua with a side serve of meat dumplings. It doesn’t look appetizing to the uninitiated, but
it is.

The heat is making me stoopid. I find myself puzzling over basic grammar and having to think
really hard to find the right words to explain something.