Arguably the most popular breakfast for native Kuchingites, this most beloved of noodles are sold in almost all coffee shops, food courts and even some hotels’ restaurants. So passionate about the dish that it has been said a true blue Kuchingite have at least five or six of his/her favourite kolo mee stalls,  think nothing of having it every other day, even for lunch or supper, and will go bonkers if he/she goes for one week without it.

With the main ingredients of flour and eggs, the kolo mee comes in three shapes, the straight, the most common type, the curly (khew mee) and the flat (mee pok). Basically, there are two ways of preparing this dish, the dry version, which is the norm and the “wet” version where the noodle is served in a bowl of clear soup. So, when you holler “One kolo mee, please”, the default version is straight, dry and “white”. The last definition means without the extra “cha siew” red oil.

A kolo mee stall has a large vat of boiling hot water into which the raw noodle is dunked till cooked, then it is retrieved and tossed in a bowl together with the condiments of oil (usually lard), flavourings (usually a mixture of msg, fish gravy and the sellers’ supposed secret ingredients), shallot and spring onion. Finally, cut thin slices of char siew, or roasted pork meat adorn the top as garnishing. Many stalls have an additional scoop of minced pork meat placed on top besides the char siew. Though every bowl seems to look alike, a kolo mee connoisseur can straight away tell the difference just by smelling the aroma or on the first bite!

Beside this standard version of kolo mee, some stalls give their customers extra option like the addition of “red oil”, which is actually the leftover oil from roasting the char siew, and is supposed to enhance the aroma of the noodle. Yet there are some calling themselves “Sea food kolo mee” with the additional garnishing of succulent prawns, fish cakes, meat balls and so on, which usually costs more.

Another version is where the noodle is added with a dash of vinegar to give it a slight sour after-taste, and comes with slices of pork livers, kidneys and innards beside the usual char siew and seafood. Some stalls serve this extra as a side dish in a bowl of soup stock and is called “cheng”. The legendary Bishopgate kolo mee in the old town is of this genre. There are many other notable kolo mee stalls in the city and each one has its own faithful and often fanatical clienteles.

With many Kuchingites working and living in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and overseas, how do they cope with this taste-bud gnawing nostalgia? Thus stories abound of doting parents lugging the cooked kolo mee wrapped in plastic bags and packed in cardboard boxes going through custom clearances at airports on their way to visit their loved ones. Or the returning jet-setting executives sprinting from arrival at the Kuching airport to his kopitiam for a quick fix of kolo mee before heading for home. Such is the addiction to kolo mee that many will go to extremes to have their craving satisfied!

The kolo mee has won many converts outside Kuching over the years, as its taste is uniquely different from the kon-low meen of West Malaysia and the kampua mee of Sibu.
In fact some enterprising Kuchingites have set up stalls in KL and Singapore selling this fare, some even claiming the noodles are air flown in for authenticity and freshness, but nothing beats eating kolo mee in a noisy and sweaty Kuching kopitiam, coffee shops or food court! So the next when you visit Kuching, do remember to get your fix!

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