Tuesday, June 27, 2006
6/27/2006 11:33:00 AM

Kompia @ Tiong Hua Road, Sibu

posted by Francis Ho

Kompia is truly unique to Sibu and a visit there without eating one is sacrilegious! And I'm a god fearing person.

However I do not want to eat just any ordinary kompia but the most authentic and best that Sibu has to offer. And you cannot get more authentic than the ones served at Lrg Tiong Hua 26 where Mr. and Mrs. Yeo had been selling them there from that location for the past 36 years! And it is still considered to be the best and most popular place for authentic kompia in sibu. The local foochows swear by it (and loudly too!).

Kompia is basically unleavened bread and here it is served in a delicious herbal broth with thin slices of pork. Definitely not halah nor recommended by your friendly cardialogist. The trick is to finish eating the kompia before it becomes soggy with the broth. Then you quickly order another round! It's one of those cheap and delicious things in life that one can enjoy. Some of the regulars have been coming to this stall since they were primary students at the nearby school.

So there was a steady stream of people leaving and going to this corner house turned into a food place. We found an empty table and our orders were quickly taken by Mr. Yeo. I walked over to chat with Mrs. Yeo and to ask for permission to take some photographs.

In typical (loud) Sibu fashion she bellowed out.

"Aiyah! No need lah! We are already femes and have our photographs taken by visitors from all over the world!"

So I meekly returned to the table and waited for our kompias. When Mr. Yeo came over to serve us the kompia, we chatted and discovered that Mr. Yeo knew both my late father and uncle very well as before he came to Sibu, he worked for 4 years at my uncle's softdrinks factory in Kuching! What a coincidence and both Mr and Mrs Yeo were absolutely delighted that I'd came all this way and time to taste and enjoy their delicious kompia. And before I left they insisted that I take some kompia back for my family in Kuching to enjoy as well.

So, if you are going to frequent Mr & Mrs Yeo's kompia at Tiong Hua Road, don't forget to mention that FH2o sent you and who knows, you may get extra helpings! *ahem*

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17 Comments:

Any chance it is found in kuching. I thought I'd settle for the next best thing while there early july.
agus - unfortunately not a chance! :(

life is fair afterall; there are certain compensations for living in Sibu! ;)
This is the first time I've heard of this dish And how it is eaten.
So unusual so angmoh

  At Tuesday, 27 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

Uncle..were you in Sibu the same time as we were???? hmmm... hahahahaha

Anyway..went to the Kompia stall also with KNB and had our share of it...never miss it whenever I am back in Sibu....being a former student of SHS the school nearby..this was like our 2nd canteen hahahahaha

Now...were you having Kompia with a certain Lady when you were there? The story you relating above is now starting to sound really familiar.....weird weird...hehehehehe
iml - Kompia's quite unique to Sibu and hard to find in Kuching. I spread kaya n butter on mine for breakfast!
In the special broth with slices of meat - definitely only in Sibu.

quavadis - u must be a stalker ... ah! the price of fame keke ;)
next time come up n say hello lah!
'with a certain Lady' - nope; and it's none of your beeswax anyway!
was there on a Freaky Friday ... ;)
aiyoh! jiap kompia bih kio wah! like QV i was 1 of those school kids that frequent the kompia stall growing up! that 'certain lady' is sure hospitable..that's sibu's ppl! how come in kuching ppl not lidat one!

  At Tuesday, 27 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

hahahaha.... freaky friday indeed....why i didn't come up and said hello..err...should i have? Wouldn't it be awkward to the lady :P

anyway...2 be honest..didn't know who u were until i read this kompia story and it all started to sink in and sounded really familiar hehahahaha
Oh, man....

Low-cholesterol diet or not, those look fantastic!

  At Tuesday, 27 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

i've been to the place before - yep, the kompia rawks! nice, very the nice :)
ssshhh..another delicacy that is only available locally. Just like the Sandakan 'Ngou Sie' Tart (translate Tahi Lembu)
wanna taste those foods someday! and shop at the same time at KL!

thanx for droppin by!
am sure u've been asked this a gazillion times... what software u use for photo editing?
sharon - plain vanilla ACDsee for cropping and rotating and adjustment of contrast and brightness. Photoshop for adding borders, drop shadow and addition of text and juxtaposing of the photos in one single frame.

the ultimate software is between the ears! ;)

trust this helps! :)

btw personal instructions helps greatly and I am easily bribed by promise of good coffee, curries or company; and not necessary in that order ... ;)
I have never tasted this before.. is the sauce soya based and salty?

This is one food entry that I approve!
thanks for the tips. i guess i just lack the creative juice. hehe :) will play around with my photoshop elements and see what comes out of it... cheers!
robin - yes sauce is soya based and is sweet and salty. u've gotta taste. i'm a believer!

sharon - welcome. i learned how to do it by 'playing around' too since I hate to read manuals!

  At Friday, 30 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

interesting ... didn't know this is foochow delicacy
i heard the name before, something like kong pia hmmm...
so saying magic word F-H-2-O will get extra serving huh? :P


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