t’s my first time trying #Penang style Hokkien Mee! I’m from Singapore, and growing up;
I’ve always enjoyed having two types of Hokkien Mee; the KL/JB Malaysian style Hokkien Mee that’s stir-fried in dark sauce and Singapore’s creamy yellow noodles & thick beehoon mixed Rochor Hokkien Mee, so I was intrigued to find out Penang has their version of Hokkien Mee, and it’s a soup dish!
Walking through busy Georgetown, I encountered many street food stalls advertising their signature traditional and authentic #HokkienMee, but I couldn’t have them because the broth is made with shrimp paste.
I was so excited when I found out Pinxin Vegan makes #vegan #Hokkien Mee, and I was blown away by the taste of it! The broth was full of #umami #seafood flavour; even my non-veg husband was shocked! He’s not a fan of blood cockles and described the taste as a “bloody iron taste, like a handful of blood cockles”. Meanwhile, I enjoyed it as it reminded me of certain spirulina or #kombu-based broth. If you’re not comfortable with seafood, you might not like this one.
The noodles are perfect, with the right amount of Al dente texture, and they are not soggy at all. My favourite part (besides the rich broth) was the fried pieces of monkey head/Lion’s mane #mushroom, it’s not too chewy, and it absorbed the broth like a little sponge. Overall, it gets a 10 out of 10 from me.
If you’re wondering how they made the broth to make it taste so much like it’s made with seafood, it’s because they used kombu, and you can buy a jar of their soup paste to prepare at home if you want to.
