What do you eat in Penang? Peranakan food, char kuey teow, assam laksa, nasi kandar, and last but not least, hokkien mee.
A visit to Penang is never considered a complete one without trying Penang’s famous Hokkien Mee or better known as Prawn Noodle. One of the most famous is the reverent Green House Prawn Mee Corner 青屋蝦麵 which has a solid history of over 30 years and recently awarded the prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition.
This noodle stall has a variety of choices to add on such as roasted pork (their signature add-on), braised pork belly, pork ribs, braised egg, pig intestine, additional small prawn and etc.
If the main shop is full, there’s another seating area two shops down, which was acquired when Covid struck and they needed to space out the seating. This space was empty at 2pm, and was very comfortable. The coffeeshop sells its own drinks, so you need to order something.
The heart of any prawn mee lies in its broth, and Green House Prawn Mee Corner does not disappoint. The broth was made using a copious amount of prawn shells and pork bones, simmered for hours to extract every bit of flavour possible. The natural red hue was the prawn oil extracted from frying the shrimps.
The broth was very rich and captivated the senses with a harmonious blend of savoury and umami flavours. In fact, it was so powerful that I could not finish all the broth on its own.
They are equally famous for their loh mee 卤面, aka lor mee or law mee. Although the ingredients were the same for both lor mee and prawn mee, the sticky sauce was something different altogether.
The secret of this robust preparation lies in a special blend comprising soy sauce, five-spice powder, and an array of seasonings, making it strikingly savoury in taste.
A surprising feature of Green House is that they allow you to mix the Prawn Mee with Loh Mee, which balances out the broths. Perhaps next time I would try this.
Besides prawn mee and lor mee, they sell their own in-house otak-otak. Otak–otak, which is also known as otah in Singapore, is a Southeast Asian fish cake made of ground fish mixed with spices and wrapped in leaf parcels.
This otak-otak is different from Muar otak-otak; they offered a more moist and juicy texture, coupled with a mild spicy flavour profile. This is not for you if you don’t like your otah soft.
These days prawn mee is like chicken rice in Singapore or wonton noodles in Hong Kong, the recipe is out there in the open. There are many prawn mee in Penang, and many are as good. The best one is always the one closest to you in terms of accessibility. But if you cannot make up your mind, Green House is one of the better one.
Green House Prawn Mee & Loh Mee 槟城青屋虾面•五香卤面
133A, Jalan Burma, George Town, 10050 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Tel : +60 16-269 1717
Visited May 2024
Michelin Penang Guide Bib Gourmand 2023, 2024
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