Famous Malaysian noodles - 29th July 2022

This Malaysian family business is making mee-suah noodles the old-fashioned way.

Mee-suah noodles are sometimes called thread noodles because they're long and thin. They were brought to Malaysia by southern Chinese migrants. For over 100 years, the Jie Fatt Noodle business has been making mee-suah noodles by hand.

Ding Jhun Jie thinks it would be a shame to lose this practice.

Ding Jhun Jie: "This is part of our Chinese traditions, if it were to be lost it would be a real pity, it was passed down by our ancestors after all."

While the company uses a machine to make the dough, the rest of the process remains manual. Ding Jhun Jie really wants to pass on this tradition to his children. He doesn't want knowledge of this skill to disappear.

Ding Jhun Jie: "Yes, I would worry that this noodle making profession would disappear, because it's a lot of work and it's very hard work. Not many young people nowadays would choose such a difficult job. If possible, I would teach my kids how to continue this work. It doesn't matter if they don't want to do the job. But at least, they would learn the skill, so it won't disappear."

Mee-suah noodles may appear similar to rice noodles, but instead of rice, they're made of wheat. They're the typical dish at birthdays because they symbolise long life. They're often served with eggs, oysters, mushrooms, meat or fried fish.

Sometimes known as 'peace noodles', mee-suah noodles are a sign of wealth and success. It's a tradition to serve them to pregnant women and people travelling home from overseas. This has made mee-suah noodles become increasingly popular.