11. Growing Up in Taiping: Food Memories (Part 1 - Ah Sim's Noodles)

Curry Mee Kuah with fish balls

This is the first of a 3-part series on the food memories of a schoolboy fromTaiping - of simple dishes in simple stalls, but remembered for a lifetime.

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Growing up in Taiping, food was not just about eating, it was the heartbeat of childhood. Every back lane, every side street, every stall seemed to offer a new memory wrapped in simpoh leaves, steaming in bowls or tucked into banana leaves and newspaper. These weren’t just meals - they were part of our daily rhythm, part of the people we knew, and part of what made Taiping life so special.

I still remember Ah Sim, a small, strong elderly lady who carried her livelihood on her shoulders. She balanced a kandar pole across her back, on one end a charcoal stove with its glowing embers, and on the other, a basket of food ingredients. Step by step, she would walk from Birch Village where she lived, through the streets of our neighbourhood every morning. She sold two kinds of noodles: rich, fiery curry mee topped with fish cake slices, taufupok, cuttlefish and siham, and clear, soothing th’ng, a simple broth made from ikan bilis. All these for just ten cents a bowl.

We would squat by the roadside, balancing bowls on our knees and slurping noodles. Today, when I think of her, I don’t just recall the taste of her noodles, but the sight of that kandar pole and the strength of a woman who carried so much on her shoulders, day after day, to make a living.

​Wong Chee Wah

7th September 2025

(Part 2 coming soon – Ice Kacang and After-School Treats)