Hokkien Mee - 1 Name 3 Dishes - Red, White or Black

The mention of Hokkien Mee (福建面) is enough to start an argument between Penang Lang (people from Penang), KLites (people from Kuala Lumpur), and Singaporeans 🤪.

If you're wondering why, it's because Hokkien Mee in Penang, KL, and Singapore are totally different—they are entirely different dishes, in fact. So yeah, we will start fighting over whose is the original and most entitled to the name 🤪. But fret not, it is all done in good spirit and for good fun.

Though they are different, to me they are all same same delicious 😋. Let me walk you through each version by the color 😆.

White – Singapore Hokkien Mee is a savory stir-fried noodle dish featuring yellow noodles and rice vermicelli braised in a rich prawn and pork broth, mixed with prawns, pork, and egg, then served with spicy sambal chili and lime for a zesty finish. It's usually whitish in color.

Black – KL Hokkien Mee (also known as Fook Kin Mean in Cantonese or Tai Lok Mee in Penang) is a dark, glossy masterpiece of thick yellow noodles braised in a savory-sweet dark soy sauce and infused with smoky "wok hei", all topped off with the essential crunch of golden fried pork lard. It is always eaten with a side of sambal belacan (chili paste with shrimp paste) for that extra umami.

Red – Funnily, AI describes the Penang Hokkien Mee as the vibrant, fiery, and soul-warming cousin 😆. In short, it is a bowl of noodle soup in a rich, spicy broth made from prawn shells and pork bones. It gets its reddish color from the prawns and sambal.

Today, my focus is Penang Hokkien Mee. Outside of Penang, this is usually sold as Hae Mee or Har Mean (虾面, prawn noodles) but almost always prefixed with Penang (e.g., Penang Hae Mee) to make it sound more authentic and also not to confuse the customers with the other versions 😆.

Within Penang, the Hokkien Mee can be broadly divided into two categories. One with a more porky soup base. The other with a more prawny soup base, making it slightly on the sweet side.

Then comes the noodles. By default, it is a mix of yellow noodles and rice vermicelli (米粉) – the best combo, trust me! But you can opt for just yellow noodles or just rice vermicelli.

Next, the toppings! The usual toppings are taugeh (bean sprouts), kangkong (water spinach – my favorite), thin pork slices, thin slices of hard-boiled egg, and the very crucial fried shallots. Wait...... how about the prawns? Err, it is Hokkien Mee, NOT prawn mee, remember 😬 ? So yeah, you may not find prawns in ALL the Hokkien Mee 😬. Even if there are, the prawns are likely to be really small, shelled prawns. Having said that, some stalls offer add-on toppings like pork ribs (you should really get this!), pork skin, pig intestines, roasted pork, and mantis prawns, so you can customize it to your own liking.

Penang Hokkien Mee is always served with a spoon of sambal. You are supposed to pour the sambal into the noodles, then use that same spoon and the chopsticks to mix everything together and enjoy 😋 ❤️.

Pro tip: Pour the sambal at one side of the bowl. Use the soup to kind of “wash” the remaining sambal off the spoon. Then use that spoon to savor the soup pure, before stirring in the sambal and fried shallots. Now, stir in everything and enjoy the full taste. You will be amazed at how different it tastes!

Insider tip: Only in Penang, most Hokkien Mee stalls also serve Lor Mee—a totally different dish that commands a whole write-up by itself, which I will do in the future. Anyway, what I was trying to get to is that sometimes these stalls refer to the regular Hokkien Mee as th’ng-eh (soup version) and Lor Mee as ta-eh (dry version)-I know, initially I was confused too 🤣. They also have cham (a mixture of the Hokkien Mee soup and the thick, starchy Lor Mee gravy)—I really like this too, as you get the best of both worlds 😬.

Based on my own makan experience, I've compiled a list of some of the most memorable Hokkien Mee in Penang - Where to go for the best Penang Hokkien Mee?