Mee Siput

Primary School Days

Long, long ago way back in the 60s, my parents used to give each of their children 10cents for them to buy food during recess in the school tuck shop.

In those days, the following was the cost of food

• mee goreng 5 cents


• air syrup 5 cents


• kuih nyonya 5 cents


• mee siput 5 cents


• kuih apung 5 cents

You see everything was 5 cents then. So, almost everyday, my set menu would be

• mee siput 5 cents


• any of the items above 5 cents (turntaking)

I still remember the 2 old folks...grandpa and grandma Soon...a Cantonese couple who manned the tuck shop during my primary school days with much care and love. The tuck shop was always spick and span. But what I also could not forget was the taste of Mee Siput.

40 years down the road, I still love Mee Siput. Not only am I the one in love with it...everyone I know of in the family loves it. Definitely this is not sold in modern day canteens and how then did the young and old in the family acquire the taste? I mean not only my immediate family but an extended one...Lau, Kan, Chong and Lam clans...I remember each time my parents visit my younger brother in the States, Mee Siput and the 434 Coffee Powder will be part of the entourage.

It must be my 90-year old dad. He is the one who feeds us with Mee Siput each time we go home ...as we watch the TV , family roundtable talks and Mahjong sessions during Chinese New Year.

Mee Siput can be eaten at anytime of the day (except breakfast la). It's crunchy, yummy and the taste stays in the tongue long after you finish a piece. Then you ask for another one...and another one. It's hard to stop. It looks too simple to be true. But it's the truth.

You know where to get it? Go to Muar. Ask the local folks and they will lead you to the right place. So almost without fail, every trip to Muar will end up with us storing it up in this manner.

Then it is eaten throughout the day especially when watching the box, reading the papers or books or even during gossipping moments. Taste Mee Siput. By the way each piece now costs 60 or 70 cents, I think. Inflation. But we are lucky cos it's still in existence. Franchise?

Mee Siput