Serangoon Hokkien Mee: Traditional Opeh Leaf Hokkien Mee!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Those who still remember eating Hokkien Mee wrapped in the traditional Opeh (Areca) Leaf will rejoice when they see the picture above! You know the adage "The brain is the biggest sex organ?" Well it turns out the brain is also the biggest taste organ as well. Somehow, when you see the Opeh Leaf, your brain immediately tells you that the taste of the Hokkien Mee is bound to be great! The uncle tells me that he doesn't think the leaf imparts any taste to the Hokkien Mee, but Hokkien Mee Afficianados would disagree.
By the way, have you ever wondered where the leaf comes from? The humble Opeh leaf comes from the inner sheath of the bark of the Betel Nut tree and was used extensively during the Post War years to wrap foods like Hokkien Mee and Chee Cheong Fun. We now have to import these leaves from Malaysia and they are not cheap. They cost about 30 cents per sheet, which is why they only give you a small piece on the plate in most places. Here, if you buy the $4 or $5 portions, you can Tar Pau (doggy bag) the Hokkien Mee in the Opeh leaf.
Not only does this stall have the traditional Opeh leaf, the receipe for the Hokkien Mee hails from the stallowner's father who had been frying Hokkien Mee (sitting down over a charcoal stove, I might add) over at the Sing Thye Coffee Shop at the Junction of of Balestier and Serangoon Roads. He was frying from the post war years until 1989 when he died. Fortunately his son Francis took over the family business so we can still taste this 60 year old receipe.
I was absolutely bowled over by the taste of the Hokkien Mee! It is Shiokadelicious! I wonder why no one really talks about this one at the forum. The Hokkien Mee is the wet type but not overly gooey. The noodles are soft but not overly soggy. The taste is really savoury and a little on the sweeter side. The sambal chilli is not too hot and also a little sweet. I really am hard pressed to decide on how much the Opeh Leaf actually enhanced the taste. All I can say is that this place is my current Hokkien Mee Haunt. 4.5/5
Serangoon Fried Prawn Mee
56 New Upper Changi Road
SK Coffeeshop (The older one)
Stall number 2
Open 10.30am to 10.30pm
Closed on Wednesdays
Mr Francis Neo 97305591
PS: Since not many people talk about this stall, please don't have high expectations ok? Maybe I was just really hungry that night. Go try with an open mind and share your comments with us!
12 comments:
hi boss...the hokkien mee look good....where is yr sio bak?? LOL.....
Hi,
The old man sit becos of his leg.
Had tried the 56 HKM, it is no where near half as good as his father. Half way through, I feel "gelak" already
Well then anonymous 24/11/06, am not sure how old are you! Anyway, when I first tried this stall HKM, it wasn't that good either but that particular, fateful night, wah! it was really really good (not that I'm very hungry but I really like it! The taste is perfect! Wonder. anyone else tried??? Just wonder, how old were you then when you tried his fathers HKM? Just curious. Anyway, to each it's own lor!
Chance to eat at this HKM stall last evening. Yes this is the old stall at Serangoon/Balester. Now the son took over this stall. It is not as good as his father's but still much better than most HKM stalls in Spore. They used 'stock' and lard which make the HKM delicious.Unfortunately they cant use charcoal to 'fire' up the HKM.The chilli has no 'kick' I will go next time to tapau as I believe the opeh will further enhance the HKM.
A delicious and mouth-watering post. Yummy! Often, heritage and tradition gets lost in this morning age, and with it, the tastes, textures and aromas of culinary treasures.
Would you be interested to post on www.yesterday.sg? We would be grateful for food heritage type posts.
yap, i tried this stall at serangoon b4. Yummy yummy!!! folks, pls try :)
I was so glad the son took over the business. They were my grandma's neighbour at Changi before their kampong was demolished. Have been craving for their hokkien mee for many years...since the serangoon stall closed when the father passed away. The noodles are really delicious...tasting what hokkien mee should taste like! Go try it!
Try the hokkien mee recently. Find the taste is so so only. Not really that delicious.
Went there yesterday to try it again. This time it is a young man frying the FHM.
The FHM was so so like anon said. The sambal chilli was a let down. Old man never use sambal chilli. Ordered the $4 portion. Two type of prawns-the tiger was overcooked, the grey prawn must had been soaked in brine, it was very salty- clearly not fresh. As for the belly pork, it was left airing for too long so has a funny taste. Gravy was tasteless.
Hey Ai-Lim, did the old man had a daughter? Seem to me the first operator was a lady.
Anyway went there today, but tried the FHM next door, the ingredients were fresh and cooked just right. Only chilli sambal but has fried silver bait in it. Gravy was shiok. Fried lard bits too.
Went there this afternoon, but the stall has changed hands - the original signboard was no longer there, and 3 middle age men seem to be running it instead.
Any idea where the original stall has shifted?
The original stall had moved to Blk 539 Bedok North St 3 Scott37 coffeeshop. The old man was there frying now with his son.
i been eating this HKM since 1969, then the son took over and they shifted to the opp side of serangoon rd.sadly the son lost a huge $ in stock market and force to sell the signboard away.
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