Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodles: Ladies and Gentlemen, We have a Winner!
With smart, iwatch_ueat, PK and ColdStorage
Prawn Mee Soup with XL Prawns $8
I think I have found the preeminent prawn mee at last.
Up till now, I have found that most of the top rated stalls were just as good as each other and have been having difficulty proclaiming one to be my favourite. That is to say, if someone from overseas wanted to taste a prawn mee, I would choose from the few top stalls that I have blogged depending on convenience.
Not anymore. Now if my Japanese friend wanted to try prawn mee, I would bring him to the other stalls ONLY if this one was closed.
The prawn mees that I have taken so far all had soups that were really salty and gave you that impression that lots of MSG was used. This one is different. This one had an unique taste which I initially could not identify. I just knew that is was a spectacularly pleasing taste and it wasn't predominantly MSG. It was one of those flavours that you really can't put your finger on, but you know that you have tasted it before and really enjoy it.
It was only after finishing the bowl of soup that I realised what it was! It was that unique taste you get in Lobster Bisque!! Ooooo, that "extract of crustacean shell and all the stuff in the head" taste! Wow, this old couple really know how to squeeze out the best from a prawn.
The owner was tight lipped about what goes into the soup. But after must pestering, he did reveal that it contained 6 seafood ingredients. I also found out that he fries the prawn head and shell and squeezes out all the yummy stuff!
The prawns here are also some of the biggest XL prawns you can find. So sweet and juicy, phwa say! The noodles were also excellent. We had the dry mee pok and the texture and taste of the noodles were equally spectacular. 4.75/5
Conclusion
We have a winner! This prawn mee soup stands one head above the rest because of that unique taste. I have been thinking about it everyday since I ate it last week and even made a trip back this week.
PS: Its rated high because it is different. If you are looking for that usual bowl of prawn mee you might be dissappointed as it is not as salty as the rest.
Wah Kee Prawn Noodles
Blk 41A Cambridge Road Hawker Centre (Pek Kio)
#01-15
96883633
7.30am to 2pm
Closed on Mondays
Recommended by eslim and smart
34 comments:
This stall was formerly at Farrer Park.
Yup, this is the best prawn mee I know of.
It's got everything done as close to perfection as one can expect.
The prawns are big, fresh and succulent.
The noodles are al dente, accompanied by a very tasty and balanced chilli sauce (if you are having the "dry" version) with the piece de resistance... crunchy deep-fried lard. :-)
And the soup. Oh, the soup! To say that it's delicious just seems so "understated".
Delicious is for describing the rest of the popular prawn mee stalls' soups. Those are salty, but still delicious.
Wah Kee's soup is on a different level. It still packs a umami punch like only a great seafood soup can deliver, but yet it's scrumptious in a more "refined" sort of way.
That's why I don't eat prawn mee anywhere else. There just is not going back once I had tasted this masterpiece.
Go try it! But only on those days that I'm not there, ok? The stall is popular enough as it is. :-)
Oops! Spotted a typo... The 2nd-last paragraph should read: "There is just no going back once I had tasted this masterpiece."
I liked the unique taste of the ala "lobster bisque" broth as well. A definite must go back for the broth but I can't say very much about the noodles which was not al dente enough for me.
oops! I found a typo too. The last sentence should read " not as salty as the rest".
Cheers!
Its understandable with all these typo errors, bet its due to the saliva drooling over mouth and keyboard......
One of the better prawn mee around. Always whack the $8 set when I'm around the area.
One of the better prawn mee around. Always whack the $8 set when I'm around the area.
Lovely photos!
dun mind me asking, really wanna try it but o dey use pork or lard? am a muslim btw
The soup is made entirely of seafood with no pork.
dun mind me asking again, any wine used?
That one I don't know. You might want to ring him and ask? His number is listed at the bottom of the blog
The prawn bee hoon was good! I will definitely eat again. I personally dun like food with MSG and this one pass my test. The $5 bowl gives bigger prawn and more fresh. $3 is good too though.
Hi all, I'm new to this blog.
Went down today to try the prawn mee, but the stall assistant told me the $8 one was sold out. He recommended me to take the $10 one instead, which had bigger prawns. Since I was there already, I agreed.
I agree, the soup is amazing. How I wish there was more! And the prawns were huge! Three gigantic prawns, and very fresh. Yum.
They put fried pork ard in your noodles, so I think the oil is infused with pork lard too. Definitely not halal.
hey! here's another really really good prawn mee place to try (if you havn't already!) it's at kim seng the kim seng something building right next to zouk on the ground floor. really damn good.. the soup is like herbal soup and really yummy. hope you like it (:
i went there today. Everything was good but the mee was really so so... in my opinion, its lousy sauce.
Tried the $5 bowl that had about 4 medium size prawns. Drank all the soup as it was tasty and sweet. Not sure if it was due to sugar being added or maybe msg. Thought the Noodles tasted OK but the quantity of noodles just not enough.
i tried yesterday. the soup tasted way too sweet.. not sweetness of the prawn but the rock sugar kind of sweet. other than that, the ingredients are fresh.
Went there with my Hubs and we agreed that it was very yummy. He finished his bowl of noodles very quickly and cleaned out the soup. After that, he conveniently proceeded to finish mine! And this was while I was shelling his prawns! We asked for more yummy soup for me and while my Hubs was waiting for me to finish my noodles, he couldn't stop fixing his eyes on my bowl. More please! :0)
Yes, he is still the champion in my books.
Chris' hubster checking in... Yes, I have to admit I did finish her soup. Couldn't resist it! It was the best prawn noodle soup I've had in a loooong time :p Thanks for the recommendation!
just wondering do most people have prawn noodle soup, or dry or beehoon soup? I always have the beehoon version. The soup taste gets altered when you have the yellow noodles instead of the beehoon - it actually makes the broth richer. This stall looks great!!! I might had it before when I was younger at Farrer Park heh. Again so much to try, not enuf time and calories~! Have to find a way to get there. Heard from my friend there's an awesome carrot cake stall as well.
if you notice hard enough, they actually put in a small amount of garlic before they put the soup into your bowl. that might explain the unique taste.
sorry for being so swa koo, but is cambridge road hawker center the one near little india? haven't quite figured that out yet being just back to sg..
Its near KK hospital
i agree the carrot cake there is fantastic. havent tried the prawn mee but this post makes me hungrilicious!
Went specially to Pek Kio for the prawn noodle. We ordered a $10 portion for each of us. I requested for more bee hoon to noodle and welcomed the warm noodle soup on a chilly morning.
There were only 2 huge prawns in each portion. Looked really pretty, with the orange roe lining the side. Not overcooked, but lacked the crunchinees/bounciness of very fresh prawn. Really enjoyed the bisque-like soup that came with the prawns. However, I do not feel that I would have a craving for this.
Ordered a plate of black carrot cake from Heng Leong for nobody liked it at all and it would have been left untouched, if not for the guilt of having to waste food and money.
Later on, found out that there was another Carrot cake stall (located at the end of the row facing the carpark) which had a very long queue. Wondered how it tasted though it looked so-so.
The peanut pancake was average, the sweet and chewy pancake masked the bland and slighty bitter aftertaste of the crushed peanuts.
Other stalls that had long queues (which may not be an indication of quality but just popularity) included the wanton mee and pork rib & prawn noodle along the same row.
Am so stuffed!! And it will continue for the rest of the year.. oink oink!
tried 2day
long Q just to order
after manage to order still need to wait another 20 minute before food ready to be collected from stall.
do not understand what the cause of the slow delivery of food,
Return To Eat : NO
hi, is this stall open on sat?
They're only closed on Mondays. However, pls note that since they were featured on Makan Places Lost & Found last week, the queue numbers 30 people on average during peak hours.
Went there today and had the $8 beehoon mee soup. It taste fantastic. :-) waited for 20mins as i was like 5th in place. Well worth the wait i guess. My first time to this coffeeshop and was surpirsed to see many office crowd there. My GPS unit told me its like behind little india area. So was surprised to see office crowd.
This prawn noodle stall satisfied my wifey's craving. :-) Thanks for the recommendation!
Yes this uncle is a real champion
Finally I got to try this! Had prawn mee craving and immediately thought of Wah Kee
Specially drove down in the early morning to Pek Kio at 7am just for breakfast on Saturday. Managed to explore the FC a bit to see which were the popular stalls... a later story.
So came half-past 7 sharp and the first customer was a Caucasian! Maybe a PR. I was 2nd in queue and I was coaxed into ordering the $10 portion versus $8. "Towkay Lau" convinced me of the difference in size. And he proudly proclaimed before my maiden sip that I would never patronise any other prawn mee stall henceforth. He must be a teochew ah hia, no?
So I obliged. So I ordered.
So I ate. So I sipped the soup.
Then I died. And rose to life again.
This hei mee is really, special. The soup is the most... sublime experience. It's not exactly power-packed KO punchkickfistblowpowwow kinda stock - perhaps adulterated due to loads of MSG, which I suspect the one @ Joo Chiat (Onan Road) adds in tremendously copious amounts & that's why I never went back there ever again because I had to have 3 cups of ice-kosong to flush it all away.
But, I digress.
Wah Kee's "potion" was SUPER addictive, like it grows on you. Think smokers would identify with me (I hate smoking btw but I can about gauge the comparison levels, what with a chain smoker at home).
Once you start, you'll never stop.
And the best is that the stock is not overtly salty! It's such a naturally sweet broth and the flavours of the sea are so intense yet balanced, careful not to overwhelm. Subtly satisfying. Really stood out for me.
The prawns. Monstrous. I have never had any fresher ones in a hei mee (Beach Road Prawn Mee can go fly kite, please). Is it just me or does the deveining process helps to bulge up the prawns in the middle of the two halfs when there is a centre slit?
Fresh, Fresh, Fresh.
The heads were brimming with orange roe and... *add in unadulterated slurping/sucking noises* oooh heaven!
The noodles were awesome, providing great bite "Q-ness". I had "mee kia, tar" and the accompanying sauces were most piquant yet un-salty-ish. The chilli had a very subtle kick to it and the kangkong and towgay were crunchy!
The resultant was a fantastic prawn mee in its entire package. Presentation also quite appealing in the mini pot, though it could have had a flame (Steno/solid fuel) underneath to keep the stock boiling piping hot!
Towkay Lim managed to take some time off to chat with me while there were no other customers (yet) and told me the origin of the prawns (Deep Sea/Ocean) and the rationale for his pricing structure. Apparently he does special orders for super 'tua hei' $25 a bowl, need to book in advance. Surprisingly the bulk of his clientele, he claims, are mostly expatriates from Hong Kong, Japan & the region etc - tourists from far-reaching continents even. He laments that the locals are not accustomed to his seemingly exhorbitant price range. Most locals would stick to max $5 portion...
Couldn't resist tarpao-ing a chor bee hoon tng back for Bunny before fetching her to Saturday morning classes. And she absolutely loved it (the pampering, or the soup, I dunno)
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