Hokkien mee in Penang (known in Singapore as Penang prawn mee) refers to the umami rich, spicy soupy noodle dish garnished with prawn, pork slices, hard boiled egg, kang kong (water spinach), and fried shallot. The signature soup which defines the dish is made by boiling fried prawn heads, shells and sambal chili together with pork and chicken stock bones.
A lot have been written and films shot about what is Hokkien mee in Penang, where are the best Hokkien mee stalls, and Hokkien mee recipes. However, I couldn't find any reference on the origin of Hokkien mee in Penang and hence did my own research.
As the name of the dish alludes, Hokkien mee of Penang is a dish of the Hokkien community. By the way, Hokkien mee in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore refer to completely different dishes. In Kuala Lumpur, Hokkien mee is thick noodles stir fried in dark soy sauce with lard, prawn, squid, pork liver, and cabbage resulting in a dark colour dish. In Singapore, Hokkien mee is a noodle dish fried in seafood and pork stock with prawn, pork belly slices, squid, and eggs. It is a yellowish looking dish from the yellow noodles and pale stock. Only in Penang is Hokkien noodle a soupy dish.
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| Chinese traders in Penang 1881. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore |
Hokkien people come from Fujian province on the southeastern coast of China. The earliest Hokkien immigrants came to Malaysia in the 1400s during the time of the Malacca Sultanate. The majority of today's Hokkien community in Malaysia came between 1800s and 1930s during the tin and rubber boom in British Malaya. China was also in turmoil then due to the collapsing Qing dynasty. Hokkien people settled in Singapore, Johor, Malacca, Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Kelantan and Trengganu. Singapore have the largest Hokkien community with 40% of the Chinese population here. In Malaysia, Penang has the highest concentration of Hokkien, making up 60% of the Chinese there.
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| Courtesy of Google map |
The Hokkien in Malaysia came mainly from Zhangzhou, Xiamen, and Quanzhou, all major seaports of Fujian. When I first stepped out of the airport on my first visit to Xiamen in 2004, my first impression was "I don't know why but this place reminds me of Penang".
My intuition was not wrong, apparently Penang and Xiamen have enduring, longstanding ties. Georgetown, Penang and Xiamen established "Twin Cities" status in 2021. A road in Georgetown, Lebuhraya Xiamen commemorates this close relationship.
In Xiamen today, there is a dish known as Xiamen Prawn Noodle 厦门虾面 which closely resembles Hokkien mee of Penang. It is a noodle dish in a soup made by boiling fried prawn heads and stock bones (the same way as Hokkien mee in Penang). Prawns and pork slices are the basic garnishes with other options like pig intestine, prawn balls, char siew (roast pork), duck blood, etc.
In Penang, there are some adaptations to Xiamen prawn noodle to suit local conditions. Whereas, coriander is used in Xiamen prawn noodle, Hokkien mee in Penang uses water spinach.
Sambal chili, a savoury spicy relish of fermented shrimp and chili pepper, is ubiquitous in Malaysia and Indonesia. In Penang, sambal chili is added to the prawn and bone stock during cooking, while in Xiamen there is no sambal chili. In Penang, additional sambal chili is usually provided in a spoon for those who want a further umaml spicy boost to their Hokkien mee. In Xiamen, the spicy heat comes instead from raw minced garlic.
There's an urban legend from Penang that alleges that Hokkien mee came about during the Second World War when resourceful but impoverished Penangites used discards and cheap ingredients to create the dish. For example, the Japanese took all the prawns, so Penangites resorted to using prawn heads. The existence of Xiamen prawn noodle put paid to this fanciful tale.
One of the most popular Hokkien mee stalls in Penang is Third Street 888 Hokkien Mee. The stall offers additional garnishes like sio bak (roast pork belly) and braised pork trotter over the basic Hokkien mee.
Stall name: 888 Hokkien Mee 👈 click
Address: 67-A, Lebuh Presgrave, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Hours: 5:00pm - 8:00pm (Thurs off)
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ReplyDeletePeter Yeoh said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"There's an urban legend from Penang that alleges that Hokkien mee came about during the Second World War when resourceful but impoverished Penangites used discards and cheap ingredients to create the dish. For example, the Japanese took all the prawns, so Penangites resorted to using prawn heads. "
I asked my 87-year-old Dad, who lived through WWII Penang under Japanese occupation. He said in those years, one did 𝗻𝗼𝘁 see any noodles at all in Penang, hardly any rice, and sustenance were mainly from tapioca, cassava and other root vegetables. So it was hardly a time for anyone to be "inventing" Penang Hokkien mee! 😂