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Aho Mee Sapi Nasi Ayam Restauran (Literally: Aho Beef Noodles Chicken Rice Restaurant) is one of the best places in town to have beef noodles. It's a halal establishment operated by Malays and as the signboard suggests the two flagship dishes are the beef noodles and the chicken rice.



The place tends to be a bit packed during lunchtime and parking can be a bit of a problem. I went with Autumn, who doesn't eat beef (or pork for that matter). I'm not a big fan of chicken rice but I love beef noodles. Aho does a very good version of beef noodles, Malay style. I just love the chicken shaped menu for chicken rice and the cow shaped version for beef noodles. Heh!



I had the mixed beef noodles (RM 4) which can be ordered with the noodles in a separate bowl (dry) or mixed into the soup (wet). Soupy dishes during lunch isn't really my thing, not just coz of potential Splash Damage (TM), but coz it increases the body temperature at the warmest time of the day.



Thus, I ordered the dry version with the noodles on the side. The noodles are mixed with Essence of Cow (TM) - it's so full of mooing goodness, you can taste the beef in the noodles. It's delicious!



The soup is even better - you can opt to have certain parts of the cattle or a mixed bowl, which has everything except the genitalia (that part is reserved to make Sup Power). Aho does a very good beef noodle soup. It's hearty and has that elusive umami taste to it.



Autumn had the other specialty of the house - fried chicken rice (RM 4). Aho serves fried chicken instead of the usual steamed or roasted chicken.



However, they do a very good version of fried chicken - it's not over fried, so the skin comes out crispy but the inner parts are still tender and juicy.



Aho Mee Sapi Nasi Ayam Restauran is a great place for beef noodles and chicken rice. The restaurant name can a bit of a mouthful though (pun intended) so we just call it Aho. ;)

Moo...

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.



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.



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:



1. Blanch noodles



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



3. Mix noodles with a lard based sauce



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!



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.



I ate this one plain and I pronounce it good!



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. ;)

Umai is a raw fish dish prepared by the Melanau tribe in Mukah. It's a must try dish if you ever go to Mukah. It's the Malaysian version of the sashimi and is traditionally the working lunch for Melanau fishermen.



Umai is made of thinly sliced slivers of raw fish and served with toasted sago pearls. The popularity of the dish for the fishermen is pragmatic - it doesn't need to be cooked while deep sea fishing and the sago pearls provides the carbohydrates for a filling lunch.



The fish has to be really fresh for umai to be prepared since it's eaten raw. I tried my hand at slicing the raw fish and gave myself a nasty cut to the index finger.



Umai is readily available in the markets of Mukah and it's one of the flagship dishes that Mukah is known for (besides sago grubs). There are two different versions of umai - the traditional umai sambal campur and umai cecah jeb.

The sixthseal.com Guide to Eating Umai



Step 1: Ensure that a reputable umai stall is patronized. The fish needs to be really fresh for raw consumption to avoid uncomfortable conditions like E.Coli and explosive diarrhea.



Step 2: Find a comfortable place to mix your own umai. The ingredients for making umai can all be purchased at the stall and most of the stuff is prepackaged and premixed to the right amounts.



Step 3: Receptacles for the mixing of umai is essential. You would require a plate and a bowl in addition to forks. Sago pearls are eaten using your hand. Empty the raw slivers of fish into the plate. You can opt to retain a small portion of the raw fish for the the other version of umai.



Step 4: Inspect the contents of your umai sambal campur package. It should contain a bag of premixed ingredients essential to the umai experience containing raw onions and chillies. Calamansi limes should also be in the package for the original umai as well as a small packet of salt and the crunchy peanut cookies.



Step 5: Open the packet of crumbly peanut cookies and put it on top of the raw fish slivers. This is the secret ingredient in all good umai dishes that provides the sweet and crunchy texture to the dish.



Step 6: Crush the peanut cookie into a finely grounded powder using the fork. You need the peanut cake to be evenly distributed throughout the dish.



Step 7: Pierce the calamansi limes using a fork to enable a reasonable flow of the juice into the umai. Do not attempt to squeeze the lime without penetrating it with a fork (or another sharp utensil) first. Splash damage is likely to occur.



Step 8: Squeeze the calamansi lime over the raw fish.



Step 9: You need all the calamansi lime juice provided since the acidic nature of the fruit "cooks" the raw fish. I'll explain the scientific principles at the bottom of the guide.



Step 10: Open the small packet of salt and empty the contents into the umai. The salt offsets the sourness of the calamansi lime and makes it sweet.



Step 11: Open the plastic bag containing the thinly sliced onions and chillies and empty it into the plate of umai.



Step 12: Toss the umai with a fork as you would toss a salad. The motions are similar and so are the aims - to mix everything as evenly as possible. The traditional umai is now ready for consumption!



Step 13: The final step is to empty the sago pearls into a bowl for easier consumption. The sago pearls are eaten using your bare hands to go with the umai.



Step 14: Consume the umai with a handful of sago pearls. The umai should be eaten first and chased with the sago pearls for the authentic Melanau umai experience.



Guide to eating umai video

Optional:



There is a new variant of umai called the umai cecah jeb which is dipped into a sambal (spicy paste) concoction.



You're supposed to take a forkful of umai (raw fish) and then dip it into the special sambal sauce and eat it. It's delicious! The sambal really got oomph! Very spicy. I like!



Guide to eating umai cecah jeb video

Caution:



Splash damage is likely to occur even with the proper piercing technique as can be seen on Clare's top. Respect the calamansi lime and it shall respect you. ;)

Explanation:



The calamansi lime has acidic properties that "cooks" (cures would be a better word) the raw fish in the umai due to reasons beyond my understanding. It just works.
The left fork contains the raw fish before the calamansi lime treatment and the right fork contains the slightly "cooked" fish after being marinated in calamansi lime. You can see the difference in the coloration and texture of the fish.
The difference is clear (TM). ;)

There is a popular Foochow concoction over here called pek tin yok which is translated literally as "eight herb soup". I haven't had much contact with this particular broth while growing up, being rather adverse to soup dishes in general. I've had it a couple of times at my maternal grandmother's house (who is a Foochow) and didn't particularly like it.



Faye is a bit of a traditional Foochow in the stuff she eats. She actually loves "8 herb soup" and has cravings for it from time to time. There is an eating establishment here that doesn't have a signboards so the locals just all it "xiao yu shang" (Little Umbrella) from the seating arrangements outside which has a huge beach umbrella covering it from the rain (since the place is not open in the morning, it can't be the sun).



Little Umbrella is supposed to have the best pek tin yok in town and props should be given to the proprietor for attempting to install some fittings in the interior that makes the place look more upscale. There are glass tables inside and artsy fartsy chairs made out of real tree branches. Unfortunately, the clash of the old and new styles contrasts too garishly. A for effort, F for execution.



The place serves a bowl of Eight Herb Soup for RM 7. Eight Herb Soup is a concoction brewed in 8 different types of herbs and spices with pork leg. It's considered to be a traditional nutritional supplement of sorts and is often force fed to overactive little children. At least, that's what my mom used to do. ;)



Eight Herb Soup is served with a complimentary plate of rice in Little Umbrella. It's rather similar to bak kut teh in this sense, but the two dishes tastes totally different. Eight Herb soup tastes very "sweet" for a lack of a better descriptive adjective.



There are also other Foochow specialties in Little Umbrella - this is chicken feet cooked with peanuts and soy sauce. I don't mind eating chicken feet but it can be a bit of a bother at times coz of the little bones inside. I like the de-boned chicken feet in Kuching.

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Eight Herb Soup is brewed with chunks of pork meat. The meat is tender and juicy and absorbs much of the soup's flavors. It's eaten with soy sauce and rice and some people add a little bit of soup to the rice as well. I don't remember liking it when I was a kid, but I was force fed a couple of scoops of the stuff and found out that I actually kinda like it now. It's a little like vegetables - I hated the stuff when I was younger, but have started loving some kinds of vegetables now.



Don't make me hungry. You won't like me when I'm hungry. Feed me.

Bintangor is a town about 95 km away from Sibu. It was decided that an impromptu road trip be made to check out their rojak and orange juice - the two things Bintangor is famous for. Four of us went in my car on Sunday afternoon: 

Mary 

Clare aka KLM. :)
The secret is out, so she let me put the original photos up.

Huai Bin (me) and bengbeng

Bintangor isn't really far away from Sibu if you maintain a reasonable speed. It must have been the company of the two fine ladies coz we were there before we knew it. The "Welcome to Bintangor" signage is in the shape of the Bintangor orange. It's the symbol of the town and there's also a replica orange in front of the wharf - it makes for a good photo opportunity.

The famous Bintangor rojak stall is called Wong Hung Ping and the rojak (a local fruit salad) is so renowned that Sibu people have been known to drive down just to eat the rojak during the weekends. They also sell the rojak sauce (which is the crucial ingredient that makes or breaks the dish).

The bottles of rojak sauce goes for RM 7, which was up from the previous RM 5. That's just about in line with the oft quoted 40% price increase. ;)

The proprietor of the Bintangor Rojak Stall used to be a nice, old lady. This is her daughter manning the stall. She's the one managing the stall nowadays due to the advanced chronological age of her mother. I like her as well, she's friendly, like her mom.

Rojak is made by chopping up pineapples, tofu, cucumbers and miscellaneous other items...

...before mixing it with the special Bintangor rojak sauce.

It is then dished out and eaten with forks. It's really a simple dish to prepare, it's the special rojak sauce that makes it taste good. Bintangor is famous for their rojak due to the excellent rojak sauce that they make...at least in this stall.

This is the Bintangor rojak that we drove all this way for. Rojak is a communal dish, you'll be hard pressed to find someone eating a plate all by himself.

Here's a closer look at the Bintangor rojak. The money shot, if you will. ;)

The stall also serves Bintangor orange juice. Bintangor orange juice is not made with Sunkist oranges (which was what they accidentally served us the first time) but from Bintangor oranges. It comes in a brighter shade than regular orange juice.

These are what Bintangor oranges look like - it's also the official produce of Bintangor. It's sweet and tangy, with sour hints. It's smaller in size than regular oranges. 

The Sibu blogger contingent at Bintangor.

True to blogger tradition, we did the camwhoring thing at the Bintangor wharf. This is me taking a pole up the ass while Mary looks on with mirth. Boy, I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.

It was a fun road trip with the Sibu bloggers to Bintangor. I had wanted to go there for ages to take photos of the famous Bintangor rojak and Bintangor orange juice and the company was great! Cheers! :)

I have been told by Will that there's a famous place serving Big Prawn Mee at Jakar so I made a road trip down there with Katherine during the weekend. Jakar is a small town about an hour's drive away from Sibu. Jakar is apparently famous for their Sarawak pepper cultivation, as can be seen by their official mascot (?). It doesn't really help that Jakar sounds exactly like the Malay word for penis with their phallic looking emblem.



Peking Restaurant in Jakar is the place to go for the Jakar Big Prawn Noodles. Jakar is located to your right as you drive into the Kuching highway and Peking Restaurant is near the pepper tree ornament. I took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there due to a couple of wrong turns but only 59 minutes to get back - and that was maintaining a constant 120 km/h with a lowest speed of 80 km/h and reaching a highest speed of 150 km/h.



Katherine and I both ordered the Jakar Big Prawn Mee (RM 15). The waitress asked us if we wanted the "special" Jakar Big Prawn Noodles (which contains the large "antlers" of the prawn) and we replied in the affirmative. This is her bowl of the noodles.



This is my bowl of the Jakar Big Prawn Mee. There is no difference between the two - we both ordered the same thing, it's just here for...er, illustrative purposes. ;)



The Jakar Big Prawn Noodles contains one (1) big prawn cut diagonally with the head and the "antlers" (would someone be kind enough to tell me what this is actually called?) included. The noodles are cooked Foochow style with the soup infused with the tasty prawn essence. It tastes delicious! I would rate this as better than Min Kong Big Prawn Noodles but the 1 hour drive there would make this a costlier dish due to the recent petrol price hike.



I heeded Will's advice and wore a T-shirt in a dark shade due to the splash damage I incurred during my previous expedition for the Sarikei Big Prawn Asam Tom Yam Noodles. Unfortunately, some splash damage did occur again, but Katherine claims it's inevitable with dishes like these. Oh well...



Nevertheless, it was a nice road trip to check out the famous Jakar Big Prawn Noodles. It's a long weekend since Saturday is a gazetted public holiday so there's time to drive around and do some Rural Adventuring (TM).



...and I just couldn't resist touching Jakar. ;)

I drove down to Sarikei to sample the famous RM 14 Asam Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles at Glory Cafe on Sunday morning. I went with Faye and the journey from Sibu to Sarikei took about 45 minutes. It can take up to an hour (or more/less) depending on how fast you drive - the distance is approximately 105 km. Glory Cafe is located at the only Magnum 4D outlet in Sarikei - do note that there are other gaming operators there (Sports Toto) - it's the Magnum 4D outlet you should be looking for. The QAG 4114 arrived at Glory Cafe at just a little before 12 pm and parked right in front of a fire hydrant no-parking zone. ;)

It took about 20 minutes for our order to arrive. The Asam Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles came in a large glass serving bowl and is filled to the brim with huge big prawns, noodles and the asam tom yam soup. Asam Tom Yam is a cross between asam laksa and tom yum soup. It is made of tamarind, lemon grass, lime leaves, fish sauce and chili peppers. It is a delicious contrast of sweet and sour flavors with a hint of spiciness thrown into the mix. You can opt to substitute the default noodles with other carbohydrate chains e.g. rice vermicelli, kueh tiaw, tang hoon etc.

The big head prawns in the RM 14 Asam Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles are huge and the chef was generous enough to include several of them in the dish. Each prawn is sliced vertically for easier consumption. Nevertheless, this is not a dish for dignified foodies - you almost certainly have to manually separate the shell from the crustacean with your fingers to get at the flesh.

I went for the Asam Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles (RM 14). The egg noodles is thick and has an almost tangible sweet undertone that goes very well with the asam tom yam. The noodles go well with the sour (from the tamarind) and sweet flavors from the soup. I noticed that the noodles also tend to absorb the flavors better. The noodles taste better than rice vermicelli due to the latter being unable to absorb the flavors of the asam tom yam soup. The portion is huge and it will definitely satiate all but the most voracious appetite.

Faye went for the Asam Tom Yam Big Prawn Rice Vermicelli (RM 14). Rice vermicelli is known locally as bee hoon. It's the same dish except with rice vermicelli in place of the noodles. She thought it tasted alright until she sampled my noodles...after which she promptly took possession of my bowl. I am considering an appeal to the International Court of Justice for the disputed two-cubit Asam Tom Yam Noodle Island, I mean, bowl.

It should be noted that the asam tom yam concoction is a notorious fabric stainer. You should probably reconsider wearing white or light colored articles of clothing during the consumption of this particular dish. The splash damage can be considerable despite elaborate measures to avoid such occurrences.

I have managed to find the best nasi lemak special in Sibu while having lunch just now. It's located at Huang Chuang Cafe near Methodist High School.



The stall is a Muslim stall and it was recommended by Fang Ling who is something of a regular diner over there.



The nice lady at the stall will ask if you want curry chicken or ayam masak hitam (chicken with soy sauce).



You can also choose the parts of the chicken you prefer (drums are popular, as well as thigh meat).



The nasi lemak special is served with sambal and a fried egg on top of the fragrant santan (coconut milk) rice. The chicken is served on a separate bowl.



Faye went for the ayam masak hitam. It's really good - not too spicy, with flavorful hints of cinnamon.



Fang Ling and I went for the curry chicken. The curry is spicy, yet with sweet overtones. The place doesn't add santan like it's going out of style too. It has just the right balance of spices and coconut milk.



The best thing about it? It only costs RM 3.50.

John's Place is a small, family owned eating establishment in town that cooks up the only Fried Fresh Fish Head Mee Hoon in town (F3HMH for brevity's sake).

The place also serves a variety of fresh fish head dishes, and the photo here shows the preparation of John's Special.

The fried fresh fish head mee hoon over at John's Place is really good. I'm not much of a mee hoon (rice vermicelli) eater, much less of soup based dishes but I still think it was good.

Here's a closer look at the F3HMH @ John's Place.

BDC Taiwan Beef Noodle is located in BDC and the stall is manned by a proprietor who makes the best beef noodles I've ever had to date.

The large beef noodles (RM 5) come with a generous helping of beef and noodles. The liberal portions can be seen in the chunks of beef on top of the noodles.

This is what it looks like after being mixed up a little. The beef noodles taste great and the broth is hearty too, so you can drink it together with the noodles. I'm not a big fan of soupy noodles but this won me over.

The stall is located at the curiously named How-You Café.