A lot of people cannot really differentiate between "Hokkien Mee" and "Prawn Mee". In Penang, Hokkien Mee is also known as Prawn Mee. When you order Prawn Mee, you are actually ordering Hokkien Mee, as it is the same dish with different names only. But in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Hokkien Mee is Tai Lok Mee, a kind of fried mee with the mee is fatter than the ordinary yellow mee. In KL, Prawn Mee is basically Penang Prawn Mee. So, Penang Hokkien Mee and KL Hokkien Mee are totally different. Prawn Mee in Sarawak is fried mee with prawn. See the differences below.
- KL Hokkien Mee
Photo taken from http://onlythebestmalaysianfood.blogspot.com
- Penang Hokkien Mee with Pork Knuckle (888 Hokkien Mee)
Since I am in Penang, obviously I am blogging out about Penang Hokkien Mee. Yesterday I went to 888 Hokkien Mee at Presgrave Street. The stall was packed with customers that even ordering was difficult. The Penang Hokkien Mee with pork knuckle above is the one sold at 888 Hokkien Mee at Presgrave Road. It is one of the best Hokkien Mee in Penang. Besides pork knuckle, you can add roasted pork, fishball, pig intestine and many more. Adding extra ingredients subject to extra charges. For the mee, the one in the picture is "Maggi" noodle but you can choose either yellow noodle, mee hoon (rice vermicelli) or mixture of yellow noodle and mee hoon. The "default" one is yellow noodle mix with mee hoon.
- Loh Mee with Roasted Pork (888 Loh Mee)
Beside selling Hokkien Mee, they sell Loh Mee too. In Penang, the stall that sells Hokkien Mee, will sell Loh Mee too because there is a dish called Hokkien Loh (Hokkien Mee's soup + Loh Mee's soup). It is like Hokkien Mee marries with Loh Mee.
- Ais Kacang
A bowl of 888 Hokkien Mee is never complete with a bowl of ais kacang too. If you follow my blog, I posted earlier about the New World Park Ais Kacang, this ais kacang is more like the original ais kacang but the one in New World Park is a fruit ais kacang. So, you will find that they look different. This ais kacang is nice as the syrup is so fragrant that when I walked pass through the stall, I can smell it.
If you are curious why the stall is called 888, in Cantonese, the pronunciation of "8" sounds like Fatt which means prosperous. So, 888 literally means triple prosperous.
Venue: 888 Hokkien Mee, Presgrave Street, Penang
(They have a branch at Bayan Baru, Penang)
Price:
Hokkien Mee with Pork Knuckle : RM5.80 (Medium)
Loh Mee with Roasted Pork : RM5.80 (Medium)
Ais Kacang with extra one scoop of ice cream : RM3.30
