Mie Aceh @ Mie Aceh Seven One in Batam Indonesia (Warung Aceh Cirasa)

Stumbling upon a late night mie Aceh stall near our hotel, we settled down to give it a try - the first ever mie Aceh for me. Before this, we heard legends that mie Aceh hawkers spike their noodles with addictive substances for better business - something which I am sceptical about but hope to verify anyway 😄



Stall holder Pak Shukri hails from Aceh. He came to Batam after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami swept away his home and livelihood in Banda Aceh in north Sumatra. Starting over as a lane hawker (not even street hawker), Pak Shukri now has a proper stall with a large space under a zinc roof.



On our first visit (we came here twice), we tried the dry version of mie Aceh.

First impressions was it was like mee goreng Mamak. I like it that Pak Shukri's noodles were done quite firm and enjoyably chewy though still tender. The seasoning and sauces enveloping and infused in the yellow noodles were savoury with a rather robust spicy hot aftertaste. There were a few bits of lean beef in the noodles. It's like mee goreng Mamak - about the same savouriness but spicier. And, there were some savoury layers of flavour which I couldn't make out - were these the fabled "special substances"?

I don't know lah, but I enjoyed my first encounter with mie Aceh.





The next night, we came back for the wet version of mie Aceh. It's the same noodles and spices but stewed briefly in beef bone stock.



The wet mie Aceh reminded us of mee kuah (the kind I go to in Singapore's Beach Road hawker centre).

The noodles had a notch less firm tenderness of the dry version and the flavours were more in the soup than in/ on the noodles. Robustly savoury spicy though not as spicy as mee kuah at Beach Road (Singapore).



Enjoyed my first tastes of mie Aceh. Between the dry and wet versions of mie Aceh, I prefer the dry one while buddy like the wet one more.

I would love to try more Acehese cuisine when I have the chance. Any "special substance" in the mie Aceh? Pak Shukri confirmed that some hawkers do use something in Aceh but not outside. Well, not here in Batam lah, I don't feel the hook 😄



Restaurant name: Mie Aceh Seven One (Warung Aceh Cirasa)
Address: Komp. Seraya Mas Centre, Jl. Teuku Umar, Kp. Seraya, Kec. Batu Ampar, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29454, Indonesia
GPS: 1°08'53.1"N 104°00'53.9"E 🌐 1.148077, 104.014984
Hours: Dinner till late

Halal



Date visited: 26 Aug 2019