Sunday, April 8, 2007

Feng Yun Live Prawn Noodle: Out of the tank and into the boiler!

The stall is closed


When my friend, matt62, told me about this stall that sells Live Prawn Noodles, I just could wait to go down and see it for myself. How can I resist the idea of having succulent live prawns in my prawn mee?



Now, I have to moderate your expectations a little. The prawns are indeed live and they are larger than your usual tiger prawns. However, the style of the prawn noodle is very different from the usual. Over here, they use a herbal soup instead of the normal salty, savoury prawn noodle soup with belacan that we are all used to. When you get to the entrance of the stall, you can already smell the Tang Kwei (Angelica Root) wafting in the air.

This live prawn noodle concept was birthed in the fertile mind of Alan who until 4 years ago was a regular in the RSAF. How does one come up with a dish like Live Prawn Herbal Noodle Soup? It is unlike anything I have tasted in Singapore. Bit like a herbal Bak Kut Teh, but with prawns instead. According to Alan, he had no prior experience in Prawn Noodles, he just did it because it was the simplest hawker fare he could think of. Why herbal? He said the herbs are meant to lower your cholesterol and so balances out the high cholesterol you get from the prawns. Hmmmm, I don't know enough about herbal medicine to comment about that statement. What I can say is that the herbal concoction certainly does not promote hair growth, judging from Alan's Shaolin (lack of) hairstyle.



My personal preference is the dry version. He has a special thick gravy made from stewed pork, oyster sauce and soy sauce which was quite tasty. The chilli is made from lots of Heh Bee (dried prawns) and adds quite a kick to the gravy. The soup needs to be taken really hot. It does not have the ooomph of a savoury prawn noodle soup. Instead it has that very "Cheng" (clear) and cleansing quality about it and leaves a nice slightly bitter aftertaste (Kam Kam) at the back of your tongue. 4.25/5

The prawns are as fresh as you can get. I had a real shock when Alan scooped up the prawns in the net and simply popped them into the hot water! I still can't get over it!

Conclusion

This is the kind of place you just need to try at least once for the sheer novelty of it. After that, it will depend on whether you like the herbal soup or not. For me it was more for the novelty at first, but strangely it does sort of grow on you after a while. I will need to wait a few weeks to see if I get the urge to go back again.

Feng Yun Live Prawn Noodle
100 Kim Seng Road

#01-04 Kim Seng Plaza
(Note new address below)
12pm-3pm
6pm - 4am (or until sold out)
Closed on Sundays
81123675



New Address:
Blk 715 Yishun Street 71 (S) 760715
Open 11am to 11pm
Closed on Mondays
Thanks to sleepsleep2003 for the update


17 comments:

hmphie said...

I am not sure if this Feng Yun is the same shop which I ate at Kim Seng Plaza a few years back. It offered the same good prawn noodles but was sadly closed for a long period of time.

I called the owner on his mobile and he replied he had given up on his business already.

Anonymous said...

The shop has been operation for many years at kim seng plaza.. I often go there after my disco at Zouk. I heard from the boss that building is going to enblock soon. Wonder where will the shop shifted to next time. So better hurry and try before they shift.

Anonymous said...

Tried it and feel it is only so so .For such quality , i must say it is quote costly

kp&jean said...

Hi, not sure if you have tried this famous Prawn Mee at Pek Kio Hawker Centre (Cambridge Road, near to KK Hospital area). It was previously at Farrer Park Hawker Centre but has now moved to Pek Kio. They uses big and fresh sea prawns and the soup is really good. They have different prices, ranging from $3, $5, $8 to $10. I would suggest you to try the $8 or $10 if you want the best of them. I checked the other day, the name is "Hua Kee Big Prawn Mee".

Regards,
KP

viridae said...

The Tanah Merah Country Club's Chinese Restaurant also has live prawns soup and they cook it in front of you. Absolutely lovely, with a tinge of ginger wine.

alixandart said...

hi bros , do u all know where feng yu n went?

thks! it's not there anymore!the whole building is having a makeover!

sleepnsleep2003 said...

It have moved to Yishun.
Sorry, forgot the blk but it's Blk 700+.
Will come back and provide the address after I checked it at home or you can call his mobile number =)

At this moment, they are closed on Mondays. Owner said might change off day.

Prawn mee as good as before!!

ieat said...

Thanks for the update!

sleepnsleep2003 said...

This very nice prawn mee have moved to:
HDB: Blk 715 Yishun Street 71 (S) 760715

Actually tried dry with chilli & without chilli and also soup version.
The best is dry with chilli. Extra chilli if you can take more spicy food.
YUM!!!

chaozhouzi said...

alixandart, the place is going to be torn down to make way for a condo not a makeover.

sleepnsleep2003 said...

Sorry,it's me again.
Their operating hours have changed to 11am - 11pm.
Current off day is on Mondays

HaPPi MuMMi said...

Went all the way to Yishun BLOCK 716...

Think the combination is rather unique but...

The herbal soup "over power" the taste of the prawn, it's like having herbal soup instead of prawn noodle. The prawn somehow lost its sweetness despite being fresh. Such a waste.

The fishcake has a strong fishy taste and was quite a turn off. But Joe love it cos it is tender lah.

In my humble opinion, this dish - either you like it or not! No in between about it.

jems said...

This wasn't to my liking. Thought it was expensive and reared prawns though they are live, does not taste the same as the ones caught in the sea - there's a muddy weird taste to it. In fact, if you go to Giant Supermart, they have the "Live" prawns on sale quite cheap.

Anonymous said...

Today I went to Yishun St 71 Blk 715 - there isn't any coffeeshop. At Blk 716, there's no Fengyun either. Have they closed for good?

LingLing said...

it's 716, my husband and i loved it =)

Anonymous said...

went there for lunch today and was disappointed to see its shutters shut.

according to the guy manning the animal clinic beside, it has closed down.

ieat said...

Are you referring to the old address or the new Yishun one?

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