Fried Hokkien prawn mee, S$4.00

Although they use the thicker type of beehoon — as opposed to thin beehoon which absorbs more stock — both Hokkien noodle and thick beehoon had sufficiently soaked up the stock. The seafood-base stock was tasty and complex enough without being too rich or salty.

For the ingredients, they weren’t so generous with prawn and squid. But they were very liberal with egg. Bits of scrambled egg were evenly spread throughout the noodles. Together with beansprout and Chinese chives, the dish had great texture and flavor.

The only thing that’s missing was wok hei (wok breath aroma). But I ended up polishing off the entire plate of noodles anyway, and I wasn’t even that hungry to begin with.

Notice the neatly folded and stacked boxes for takeaway?

This stall has been around for quite awhile. For some reason, I’ve never got around to trying it. It occupies the same unit as it did (next to the popular Tanglin Halt Western Food stall) prior to the upgrading of the food centre.

While I won’t be making a special trip to Clementi just for this fried prawn mee, it’s certainly worth a shot if you’re in the area. Prices are rather steep. Perhaps it’s because there’s no other fried Hokkien prawn mee stall in the vicinity?

Clementi food centre

Here’s what the food centre looks like after upgrading. The shape and structure looks the same, but it’s much cleaner now, with more seating.

Most of the original stall owners seem to be back. Hubby and I remember the Hainanese chicken rice stall (beside the goreng pisang stall) used to serve blanched beansprout with chicken, but not anymore. Also, their food doesn’t seem to taste as nice. Maybe it’s a different operator now? Have you got any favorite stalls to recommend from this food centre?

Nam Kee Fried Prawn Noodle
448 Clementi Ave 3
#01-12 Clementi Market & Food Centre
Singapore 120448

11.30am – 2.45pm, 4.30pm – 8.30pm
Closed on Mondays

Fried Hokkien prawn noodle, S$3.00

What’s good about it is that the noodles are stewed in sufficiently tasty stock, so you can taste the natural umami-ness in each mouthful. The noodles has absorbed all the flavours of the stock, so the noodles are quite soft without being limp and soggy. It’s not too dry or too wet. The prawns are sweet and crunchy, and the sambal is decent.

All that’s missing from this nearly perfect plate of fried Hokkien prawn noodles is some wok hei!

If you’re here, other stalls worth checking out are: Chinese satay, wanton noodles, and fish ball noodles (look out for the long queue).

The stall frontage

Huat Heng Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
75 Toa Payoh Lorong 5
#01-336M
Singapore 310075

Open: 5pm to 12 midnight (earlier if food runs out)
Closed: Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Fried Hokkien prawn noodles (S$4.00, small).

As it was already 9.30 p.m., I thought the dinner crowd would have thinned at Food Republic, the popular six-month-old food court at Wisma Atria. I’ve heard about the wonderful fried Hokkien noodles at Thye Hong, one of the many food stalls at Food Republic, but the queues had always put me off. This time, I was determined to get my hands on a plate of Hokkien mee.

As expected, there was a long queue, but it moved very quickly. Reason: a Godzilla-sized wok of fried Hokkien noodles had been prepared in anticipation of the endless demand, and the cook was simply ladling out plates of noodles. That wok easily had 20 plates worth of noodles. It looked very mass-produced. Not a good sign.

Hastily sloshed into an opeh leaf cone, the noodles came with three medium-sized prawns that were sweet and fresh. Upon tasting the noodles, my first reaction was, “It’s really salty!” R agreed with me.

Although I could tell that the seafood stock used to cook the noodles was tasty and robust, I felt that the dish was overall too salty. To make things worse, there was hardly any crunchy beansprouts to offset the richness of the gravy. Squid rings and pork strips were practically non-existent. WTF?

However, the redeeming factors were: Sufficiently “wet” noodles, well-stewed but not soggy, with a rich, thick gravy. I have a feeling that the original owners of Thye Hong really did a great job, which is why they have become so famous. Unfortunately, the quality of the food seems to have suffered as a result of booming business. Has Thye Hong become a victim of its own success?

Thye Hong
Food Republic
435 Orchard Road
#04-00 Wisma Atria
Singapore 238877

cheers!

Level 2 of this open three-storey building is the place to go for camping equipment and supplies. That’s where you’ll see swarms of army guys and students. Hawker stalls occupy the first and basement levels. That’s where you’ll find hungry foodies checking out the various good and cheap eats.

Fried Hokkien prawn noodles (SGD$3.00).

From one of the Makansutra forum threads, I read that the fried Hokkien prawn noodles at the basement was recommended. There was only one fried Hokkien mee stall I found at the basement — Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee.

Theirs is the old-style kind, which uses thin bee hoon (rice vermicelli) instead of the thick type. It was too dry for my liking. I like my fried Hokkien mee to be very “wet”. They also stinged on the ingredients, so overall, this wasn’t so great.

Curry chicken (SGD$3.00), French loaf (SGD$0.50).

R’s choice — curry chicken from Fragrant House. This is the localized Chinese version, and eaten with local-style French loaf as many folks here do. As with the Hokkien mee, this was nothing spectacular. We didn’t think the curry was fragrant enough. There was, however, quite a lot of chicken.

Fresh sugar cane juice (SGD$1.00 per cup).

Question: What’s the perfect thirst quencher on a sweltering day? Ermm, ice-cold beer? Nuh uh, too early for a swig. Ice-cold, freshly squeezed sugar cane juice will do just nicely. Refreshing and “cooling”, it’s excellent for washing down all that fried, spicy food. I never fail to order sugar cane juice when eating at a hawker centre.

Stuffed glutinous rice flour dumplings (SGD$1.50 for a bowl of 4).

R and I saved some space in our tummies to make room for dessert — tang yuan (stuffed glutinous rice flour dumplings) from Ah Balling Peanut Soup. There are five kinds of stuffing to choose from: crushed peanut, crushed black sesame, red bean paste, mashed taro, and green tea. My favorites are the peanut and sesame.

You can also pick a soup base of sweetened peanut soup or ginger broth. I was already quite full, so I requested the plain sweetened broth.

The Hokkien mee and curry were a bit of a letdown, but the tang yuan is worth a try. Still, at a grand total of SGD$11.50 for two persons, it was a cheap lunch by local standards.

On previous visits, I’ve also tried the guiltless char kway teow, goreng pisang, Teochew soon kueh, and claypot rice. The claypot rice is excellent. They open only for dinner, though, and be prepared to wait at least 20 minutes, because they cook upon order. Wait longer if business is brisk, which is the norm. The Teochew soon kueh was also superb, but they seem to have moved. Sob!

Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road
Singapore 199583

Featured stalls:

Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
#B1-34

Fragrance House
#B1-51

Ah Balling Peanut Soup
#01-75

cheers!

Fishmeat toufu, fishmeat taupok (beancurd puff), vegetable fritter, fried spring roll, and mini yam rolls (sold in 4s)

All items are S$1.00 each, so this platter cost S$5.00.

Close-up of the deep-fried goodies

The fishmeat toufu and taupok are rather unique items, not commonly sold elsewhere. The former is a piece of firm beancurd covered in fish paste, then deepfried. The latter is beancurd puff or skin stuffed with fish paste. I prefer the former as it is more soft and juicy. The vegetable fritter is very crispy, but it is very oily too. The popiah, filled with turnip and carrot, tastes pretty ordinary. The mini yam roll is another unique item. Sweetened, mashed yam and crushed, roasted peanuts are rolled up in spring roll wrappers. Extremely fragrant, but a little over-fried, making it too hard.

Kway chap set (S$3.30)

This is R’s order. He really likes kway chap. Beside the bowl of rice noodles in broth is the plate of braised hard-boiled egg, beancurd, pork belly (only a measly 3 slices), and pig’s organs (I’m not sure if they’re intestines or tripe). No comments because I didn’t try this dish.

Fried Hokkien prawn mee (S$3.00)

This is one of my favorite hawker dishes. Yellow Hokkien noodles and rice vermicelli are stir-fried, then simmered in a tasty prawn and squid stock. Chives, beansprouts, prawns, squid, and egg are then added. You squeeze fresh calamansi juice over the noodles and enjoy it with chilli sauce. Yum!

I’ve had this dish at different places, ranging from excellent to forgettable. I’d rate this one 6.5 out of 10. There’s too much noodles, and not enough ingredients. The noodles could also have been simmered longer to soften and soak up the flavors of the stock.

Hope you enjoyed our makan session!

Zion Riverside Food Centre
Zion Road / Zion Close

cheers!