GEORGE TOWN, June 19 — Not to be mistaken for mee ketam or even mee udang, mee kuah ketam is a special variation of mee kuah and mee goreng except that it has more oomph in its gravy.

The mee kuah ketam comes either with kuah (gravy) or fried and is usually served with yellow wheat noodles, potatoes and then topped with braised squids, chopped lettuce and spring onions.

On the outside, it looks just like any mee kuah or mee goreng but the taste and flavours of this dish is far from any conventional mee kuah made with boiled sweet potatoes and shrimp stock.

This is because the kuah is cooked with crab meat and the water used to boil the crabs is also used to make the gravy so imagine a thick, crab-flavoured concoction for its gravy.

Mee kuah ketam has become popular in recent times with some mee udang stalls offering a variation of it, especially in rural areas in Seberang Perai.

Strangely enough, though they use a lot of crabs in the ingredients, the mee kuah ketam stalls are not available near rivers or the sea but are often found in rural areas in the interior, sometimes offered at makeshift stalls tucked within a small village in Seberang Perai.

Here are some of the places where you can try out mee kuah ketam in Penang but do go after Ramadan as some of these stalls may be closed for the month or are only open at night.

Pak Man Mee Kuah Ketam To’Kun, Jalan Kulim, Bukit Mertajam

GPS: 5 20.813, 100 29.229

Time:12pm-7pm

This roadside stall is rather well known for its mee kuah ketam simply because of its thick gravy that has a strong crab flavour to it. The noodles may look like any normal mee kuah but a spoonful of the kuah is enough to convince you how different it can be.

Haji Mohamad Mee Kuah Ketam, Jalan Kulim, Bukit Mertajam

GPS: 5.35272,100.474112

Time: 12pm-7pm

This is another roadside stall along the same road as the Pak Man stall and this one is also well known for its mee kuah ketam. Some may argue this stall’s mee kuah ketam is better than the other or vice versa but the flavours are almost similar but this stall is known for its spicy soft squids that top the noodles dish.

Roadside Stall opposite Wisma Transformasi, Jalan Abdul Kadir

GPS: 5.390353, 100.463352

Time: 11am-5pm

This is a nameless roadside stall that is relatively unknown for their mee kuah ketam as they also offer other types of food such as nasi campur and laksa sotong. The mee kuah ketam is not as thick but it is just as flavourful and is more tomato-based.

Mee Ketam Balik Pulau

GPS: 5.346970, 100.236675

Time: 12pm-10pm

This is a small stall accessible only through a narrow lane at Jalan Pondok Upih and they specialise only in mee ketam, mee kari ketam or mee hoon soup ketam. They also offer mee kari udang galah (lobsters) depending on availability.

Warung Pak Su, Jalan Kuala Juru

GPS: 5.326899, 100.414728

Time: 12pm-10.30pm

This stall started out small and has since expanded. It serves a variety of food but is particularly known for its mee ketam and nasi goreng ketam. For the nasi goreng ketam, the rice is fried separately and it comes with two crabs in a thick sweet and sour gravy served on a separate plate.