132 Mee Poh. The original East Coast Mee Poh Man
With ieatMaMa, ieatMrs, ieatjr and ieatprincess
Just what is so darn special about Mee Pok Tar? Is it such an icon of Singaporean hawker fare that a whole nation can be mesmerized by a satire about "Mee Pok Tar Mai Ter Kwa"? (Dry flat noodles and hold the liver please)
The other thing I can't understand about Mee Pok Tar is this. This is such a simple dish and yet people are willing to wait an hour to eat it. Really, if you think about it, it is just noodles blanched in hot water with pork lard and chilli added to it. What possesses someone (in this case my mom) to wait 40 minutes for a bowl of Mee Pok Tar?
I asked the smiling Uncle just what makes this stall so special that it was voted best Mee Pok in the East Coast area by Lifestyle? He opened up a big bag of medium sized prawns and told me in typical Teochew Hao Lian fashion (Teochew pride - Hey if you insist on doing something well, you should have the right to brag about it) that these are the freshest black prawns available in the market. Fresh (Chngee), fresh, everything from the pork to the prawns is very very fresh.
And because they insist on the freshest ingredients and doing everything the same way he has been doing it for the past four decades, people are willing to illegally park their BMWs to wait for an hour to satisfy their Mee Poh craving.
My first impression is that this Mee Poh just tastes very lively and fresh. The first mouthful of the piping hot, fantastically QQ (Al Dente) flat noodles and you know you are savouring freshly fried pork lard with the combined flavours of freshly blanched prawns, pork and fish balls. It is rumoured that the chilli has got buah keluak in it to give it that special smoky, savoury flavour.
I took this picture just to show you the quality of the soup. Done the traditional way, only pork leg bones are used in preparing the stock. Aunty frowns upon the use of scallops, old mother hen and other less traditional stuff to sweeten the soup.
Uncle is the original Mee Poh Man of East Coast having started his business at the old Siglap Market almost 40 years ago. The popularity of his Mee Poh had spawn at least 3 other stalls in the area. The really good news is that the 2nd son, Chan, will be taking over the business. Ah, at least I am assured of being able to enjoy a good bowl of Mee Poh in my golden years!
Conclusion
Who am I to argue with all the people sitting around eating Poh Piah and waiting for at least 30 minutes for their Mee Poh Tar? 4.5/5
132 Mee Poh Kueh Teow Mee
53 Upper East Coast Road (Opp the POSB)
Opened 7am till 3.30pm (usually sold out before then)
Closed Mondays and Alt Sundays
Do remember to bring along your newspaper, laptops and palmpilots and do something productive while you wait!
4 comments:
Wah this bak chor mee battle-war is perennial debate, man.
On hindsight - I wouldn't have waited 45 mins for my bowl of meepok @ 132, though it is highly commendable.
I personally prefer the one at Simpang Bedok - formerly at Jalan Tua Kong.
Oh, but don't be confused though - because the current one at Jalan Tua Kong is also a newbie riding on the same bandwagon, but totally no fight.
Down the road next to Siglap Centre @ the corner kopitiam - likewise also not much fight.
I still love Seng Kee because the soup is to DIE FOR! =)
The story behind the jln tua kong bakchor mee wars:
In the 80s, 132 used to be opposite siglap centre. 132 is the original one. this guy used to sell by the hundreds. very popular with east coast residents.
then he moved to JTK. In the 90s, this old man wanted to retire, but noone to handover his business to. So he taught his so-called godson, who was his helper, and handed the reins over, for some kind of royalty.
so the JTK bakchormee continued to do well, with this young man at the reins. the corner coffeshop one beside siglap centre was set up as a copycat.
then the old man came out of retirement, and started his current stall, 132.
there was a dispute as they became business rivals. so the protege at jtk got fed up and moved to simpang bedok.
when he vacated, the owner of the coffeeshop rode on the vacuum left behind and took over the stall left behind at Jalan Tua Kong.
And thats the story behind so many bcm stalls in the east.
This uncle/auntie/son team stall used to be hidden away in Kembangan!! I stay there so I always had the mee pok dry every sun morning! We always send one representative down to order first before the rest of us go downstairs to eat... the place always be packed with customers who drive their luxury cars there to eat! Have been looking for them since the kopitiam down my house went through renovations.. Found! :D
Delicious photos and what a history, glad I had the privilege of Sumo's company over the weekend to bring me here!
http://juliansi.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-of-mee-pok-jalan-tua-kong-lau-lim.html
Cheers from Klang!
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