Prawn mee, or Hokkien mee as we call it in Penang, is undoubtedly one of the most popular hawker dishes on the island, you would find it in almost every kopitiam or hawker centers, and being someone who hailed from Penang, it is of course one of my favorite street food dishes.
wantan mee and prawn mee stall at Mt Eskerine market
Prawn mee often comes with yellow noodle, meehun, or a combination of both (my usual go-to). However, if you find yourself on the island, there’s one special stall that offers a unique concoction you don’t find anywhere else – wantan mee in prawn mee soup & ingredients.
The reason they can do this is simple, this stall at Mount Erskine morning market offers both wantan mee and prawn mee. In fact, the first time I had this was probably some 30 odd years ago, operated by the current seller’s parents then (I assume).
wantan mee with hokkien mee soup
I like this unique combination not for novelty sake, but the thin type of wantan mee soak up the flavors of prawn noodle soup very well and offers great texture. Try it, after all, how can you say no for only RM 4 per?
Enjoy and stay safe!
Address: Mt. Erskin Morning Market
Jalan Mt. Erskine, Tg. Tokong, Penang GPS:5.4484813, 100.3013870 Operating Hours: 11am to 4pm
Ask anyone about prawn mee in Penang and chances are the name Old Green House kopitiam will be in among the top 10 lists, doubly so if the list is created by youngsters who does not like to go to bed at reasonable hours.
Green House prawn mee stall, with extras to choose
Well, if you’re one of those who likes to have your prawn mee in for dinner or in the wee hours (operating from 6pm to around 3am), the stall at Old Green House kopitiam is the perfect choice.
In addition to the usual ingredients of prawns, egg, your choice of mee/meehun, and pork slices, there’s a host of different additional “extras” you can choose from depending on availability – from pork intestine, ribs, meatball, pork skin, roast pork, and even sausages. Additionally, you can have it with classic prawn mee soup, loh mee, or a mix between the two (often my choice!)
A standard small portion goes for RM 6.00, and additional ingredients run from RM 1.20 to RM 3.00.
pork intestine, and roast pork, two additions to the standard bowl
The soup is flavorful enough, and ingredients given are plentiful (see video), I was hoping they do also provide the classic kangkung but unfortunately it was missing on my visit. Both intestine and roast pork did give it that extra edge for me, and I’d be returning for those pork skin next time!
When it comes to food, the action in Ipoh pretty much centers around the new town area regardless of time of day it is, and if you’ve already gotten enough of the various rendition of chicken rice and are longing for some good old fashion fried noodle, then Tuck Kee is certainly a place to check out.
Ipoh Tuck Kee, Ipoh New Town
Located at Ipoh New Town along Jalan Yau Tet Shin, the middle lot occupied by Tuck Kee sprawls over the parking area outside the old shop houses at night. If the weather cooperates, alfresco is a great choice, otherwise the place may get a little bit packed and you may even have to queue up for a table during busy weekends.
Menu is a simple two page affair – one with the various types of noodle, the other with a selection of 5 different side dishes (menu photos below).
braised yee mee, wat tan hor, hokkien mee, yu kong hor
For the five of us, we ordered just about a little bit of everything from the menu.
Of the four types of noodle we ordered, the moonlight hor (yut kong hor) was the best, followed by a pretty good braised yee mee and wat tan hor. The Hokkien mee though, was a bit of a let down with the texture of noodle being too easily torn. If you only have to order one dish here, get the moonlight hor.
The accompanying sambal is on self-served, take all you can basis, which was awesome cos the sambal was legit.
baby octopus, chicken feet, bean sprout
The three side dishes we ordered were all quite spot on. You can always count on bean sprouts in Ipoh and this one did not disappoint. The baby octopus reminds me of the version they served at Teow Chew Meng, which was good, and those chicken feet is almost as satisfying as the version in Kimberley Street in Penang.
Best of all, at Tuck Kee, service is super fast, and prices are super reasonable. A portion of noodle in the photo above was at RM 7 or RM 8, with the only dish over RM 10 being the octopus, no wonder the locals flocks to this place.
Address: Restoran Ipoh Tuck Kee 61, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak GPS: 4.593996, 101.084530 Tel: +6016 220 9361
Last week I went back up to Penang for a bit and managed to meet up with Evon for a late afternoon “tea time” noms. The lady suggested prawn mee at Lebuh Presgrave, I am always happy to get some prawn mee in the system, so why not?
888 Hokkien Mee at Lebuh Presgrave (or 3rd road)
Lebuh Presgrave is also known as “3rd road” in Hokkien or Mandarin, as it is the 3rd road from Jalan Magazine, which was considered as the “first road”. This in fact goes down all the way to 7th road, but that sort of details aren’t exactly important.
The Prawn Mee (known as Hokkien mee in Penang), is locally referred to as the 888 Hokkien Mee. Essentially a house converted coffee shop with the anchor tenant being this big hokkien mee & loh mee stall.
Operation starts at 4:30 pm, and there’s usually quite a healthy line in front of the stall. It goes like this – line up, order, get your food, pay, eat.
prawn mee, loh mee, or mixed loh + prawn soup?
Like many food stalls in Penang, in addition to standard bowl of prawn mee or loh mee, there’s also a list of different optional ingredients you can add. We had ours with intestine and roast pork, in addition to the usual sliced pork, prawns, noodle, egg, bean sprout, fried shallots, and even lard.
I was going to have pork ribs as well, but at that time it wasn’t ready yet (see video), bummer. There’s also apparently pork skin from time to time.
hello Evon, and hello lard!
The verdict? Well, it isn’t famous and popular for nothing. The soup was on point (I had mixed broth), and everything was “just right”. Those bits of lard certainly also contribute to the overall taste. It was that wholesome feeling that I remember from childhood, would definitely go back again.
Address: 888 Hokkien Mee 67-A, Lebuh Presgrave 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang GPS: 5.411107, 100.330574
I first came across this new-to-me Penang Hokkien Prawn Mee stall from Lionel’s instagram feed. By the look of the picture as well as the trust I have Lionel as someone who knows his food as well as the link he provides (article on The Malay Mail written by Khang Yi of masak-masak), I knew then I had to visit this place the very next day, which I did.
Penang prawn mee Red Leaf restaurant, Jalan Loke Yew
Restaurant Red Leaf is located at Restoran Red Leaf (also known as Restoran Shoong City?) at the intersection of Jalan Loke Yew and Lorong Loke Yew. While being by the main road, it also manage to stay somewhat hidden from view, so do not miss your turning.
The Hokkien Prawn mee stall is manned by the owner who’s been operating at the same spot for some 30 years and originally hailed from Penang. An easy test is to order a bowl in Penang Hokkien, which I almost always do when ordering Penang hawker food in Klang Valley.
prawn mee with extra prawns
The usual small bowl goes for RM 6, but you can also have it with extra prawns for RM 9 each. Naturally that was what I went for.
The prawn mee came with the usual ingredients of sea-caught prawns, kangkung, bean sprouts, pork slices, fried shallots, and your choice of yellow noodle, meehun, or both.
The broth carries a strong prawn note with a sweet seafood taste to it, with every ingredient jelled quite nicely to make a bowl of proper prawn mee that is my current favorite among the hawker offerings in Klang Valley.
I was certainly a happy customer
Will certainly make this one of my regular pre-work breakfast stops.
Addresss: Restoran Red Leaf No 61 & 63, Ground Floor Jalan Loke Yew, 55200 KL GPS: 3.129614, 101.711412 Hours: 7am – 12pm
