Thursday, January 8, 2009

Tai Shek Hai House of Bamboo Noodles: So Good You can Eat it on its Own!


Freshly made Bamboo Noodles

There are two kinds of people when it comes to Wanton Mee. There are those who consider the whole dish as a package, so a good plate of Wanton Mee means the sauce, the charsiew, the wanton and the noodles all have to be good. Then there are those who focus just solely on the noodles.

I used to be the former. Now I am both.

In Singapore, where virtually all the egg noodles have been procured from factories, it is very difficult to appreciate a good egg noodle. In the past, some hawkers such as Fei Fei used to make their own noodles and it is the quality and taste of their noodles that set them apart. Most wanton mee stalls nowadays buy theirs from factories. There are of course different grades of egg noodles that you can buy and some stalls pride themselves for buying a better grade noodle. Some even have their noodles specifically made to an old family recipe. But it is not the same as having the noodles made in the restaurant itself where the emphasis is on producing a fragrant egg noodle that can be eaten on its own.


Kneading the Dough with Bamboo Machine

Nowadays, we are seeing La Mien being made on the spot and so the humble noodle is back in the spotlight again. In Japan, there are restaurants who also make Soba noodles on the spot and the Japanese, in true Zen tradition, focus their attention solely on the noodles. In Singapore, our humble mee kia has always been taken for granted but I am glad to say that that is about to change.


Soft and delicate texture

The house of Bamboo Noodles was started because the owners loved the taste of these noodles while travelling in Guangzhou and just could not find the same stuff in Singapore. These noodles are essentially the egg noodles that we are all familiar with, except that they are made using a bamboo pole to knead the dough. Traditionally, this meant that the noodle maker would have to sit astride the bamboo pole and use his weight to apply force onto the the dough. But our friends from the restaurants decided to design a machine to do the job instead. This is good because I think some people (especially those from the NEA) might object to the fact that the bamboo was in contact with someone's bum.I got to handle some of the raw noodles and I must say I found it rather therapeutic. The freshly made noodles had a rather fragrant aroma and because of the kneading process, they were made without the addition of "Kee" (alkali). The noodles were delicate and springy and when you release them, they would slowly retract to their original state. You should try playing with a ball of uncooked noodles so you can appreciate the fragrance and texture of it.


Plain Noodles tossed in oil

The Wanton noodles are usually served Hong Kong style, with a black soy based sauce. But I requested mine to be served plain, just tossed in a bit of oil because I wanted to focus my senses on just the texture and fragrance of the noodles itself. I found the texture of the noodles to be excellent. It was light and springy and firm to the bite without being too stringy. It is one of the best egg noodle I have tasted so far. 4.5/5 The normal sauce which they use for the wanton mee still needs more work so if you order a normal plate of Wanton mee, it might taste like just another plate of wanton mee which you can get anywhere.


Fried Egg Noodles $6.80

My favourite version of fried egg noodles is what is commonly known as "Hong Kong Mee" at our Cze Char stalls. I was very impressed when the Hong Kong Mee was presented because the fragrance of the Wok Hei and the egg noodles was so strong I could smell it when I was taking the photos. If you enjoy Hong Kong Mee, this is a must try. I suggested to Amy that if crab meat could be added to the noodles, it would be even more delectable. 4.5/5


Specialty Tobiko Fried Dumpling $4

The stallowners are quite adventurous in experimenting with food, so you sometimes get a fusion of Japanese and Chinese cuisine like their wanton which has Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe) in it. I like the wantons, which I thought were substantial and quite tasty, but the Tobiko doesn't add any value for me. 3.75/5


Spinich Soup $4

I also quite like the Spinach soup which is quite similar to a Shark's Fin or Fish Maw Soup. Amagada didn't think much of it though. Like Shark's Fin soup, it is thick and sticky and taken with a dash of black vinegar 4/5


Deep Fried Golden Mushroom $8

The surprise item of the day has to be the deep fried golden mushrooms. Surprise, because even the kids who usually shun mushrooms managed to finish the whole plate. It is great as a garnish for the plain noodles as the crispiness adds a nice contrast to the chewy noodles. 4.25/5

Conclusion

This is actually my 2nd visit to Tai Shek Hai. When I first visited just prior to their official opening in September, I felt that the food was not good enough to blog, since then, they have really improved on the noodles and managed to come up with a few dishes which are really quite good. The fact that they painstakingly make their own noodles is a good thing and I hope to see more eateries doing the same and refocussing our attention back to the humble mee kia which is actually quite tasty on its own when it is done right.

PS:

They do sell their noodles raw as well. I cooked some of the noodles myself at home and it is faster to cook than instant noodles. Just rinse the flour from the noodles and put them in boiling water and count to 15 slowly. Then strain the noodles and they are ready to eat. I just added some shallot oil, Goma Sauce and Pork Floss and it was marvellecious. If you have some Hae Bee Hiam, that would work too!

Tai Shek Hai House of Bamboo Noodles
283/285 Joo Chiat Road

Jn of Koon Seng and Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427539

63455095

10.30am to 11pm daily

This was an invited review

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recommendation, the plain noodles look enticing! Wanton noodles is my fav & I often frequent Kok Kee stall at Lavender FC for its wonderful light sauce (hate the queue though). Do you have any recommendations for Marsiling/Woodlands area? Just shifted there, except for a surpise find of this great chicken rice stall at Blk 166 behind Masiling MRT, I'm still hunting around for food stalls that has the oomph factor.

Holy Drummer said...

I personally think the restaurant location is a bit off - Bad fengshui if u ask me. I believe business aint tt booming right?

Besides they're competing with Eng's (retired and handed over to some apprentice) & Seng's @ Dunman and Fei Fei around the corner (which are all now totally down the drain by the way)

I don't really mind the noodles as much as the soup base when it comes to handmade noodles, best eaten in soup. Almost every tasty dish's secret is in its sauce, gravy or soup. So it must be really 'gao' or superior stock for me to love it.

tj han said...

Seriously, I look at the location and am puzzled as to why people always open their eateries in the same old areas.

There are tonnes of places where there is a desperate shortage of good food in Singapore, such as Bukit Panjang, Bukit Batok etc, and people still flock to open eateries in the east which is somewhat saturated.

Anyway, I much prefer lamian over all other types of noodles, can never understand the appeal of meekia and the other sorts like yellow noodles, beehoon, rats' tail (thankfully rare these days) etc.

danny kwok said...

good noodles are hard to find!! Thanks for the hot tip...

JENCOOKS said...

Yep, good noodles are hard to find and I still hang to the old noodle stall (ta mee) in my hometown for that homemade noodle taste and right chilli mix. Thanks Les for the new found gem in the east again altho many disagree that they should not all congregate here. I must go for this soon.

James said...

Hi Les, hehehe "marvellecious" is a word my daughter uses a lot of when she is enjoying her food. The other word is "shiok-a-doo-doo" :)

ieat said...

Awww, and I thought I came up with that word! Rather than shiok a doo doo, I say shiok a doodle doo! Isn't it wonderful to see our kids enjoying food?

Anonymous said...

mostly will not hop in this place for noodle, their are so many good, nice, cheaper food around that corner, maybe the owner is looking for those nite-pub eater, that what I see from some of the price of item. but if he stop @ 11pm, he most probelly cannot get pub customer

wahcow said...

hohoho....you alternating between you 50mm1.4 and the 17-55?

the pics looks super solid man...so solid that i will go down and visit this stall this weekend.....

moohahahahahah

ieat said...

Wha good observation. Actually all the pictures from the second shoot were taken with the 50mm 1.4, there were two shots taken from the previous visit, ie the bamboo and the fried dumplings which were taken with the 17-55mm and the 60mm macro respectively.

Must try the Hong Kong Mee.

sumosumo said...

the location is bad. people go there not to eat there noodles, with so much competition in noodles all around the joo chiat area.

also i thikn they are pretty pricey. haven't tried it myself, but haven't heard much good things about this place yet.

James said...

Yup, it sure warms a parent's heart to see their kids tucking hungrily into their food. I'm sure you can think of other words, but my daughter says we also chope "bombasticas". Btw, we love your blog!

ieat said...

Can you give me an example of how to use the word "bombasticas"? I might use that word in a future post. What is your daughter's name and how old is she?

James said...

She uses the words "marvellecious", "shiok-a-doo-doo" and "bombasticas" interchangeably.

Me: "Bel, how's your fried chicken?"
Bel:"Bombasticas!"

Her name is Christabel and she is 7. Just entered Primary 1. On her second day of school, she bought a bowl of noodles from the canteen (first time she bought anything by herself). I asked her how it tasted and she said, "Super-marvellecious, Daddy!"

Sometimes, if the food is really really good, then no word can describe it. She will just give me a solemn look and a thumbs-up. Seriously good food is no joking matter.

wahcow said...

haha..that think that combination of lens makes the best food pics :)

and oh james....i would like to meet christabel !! time to expand my vocabulary ! besides....fwah...moooo and shiok...

moioohahahahahaha

tj han said...

You got yourself a 50mm f1.4? I own that as well and use that mostly for my food pics but I would think your already owning a 60 mm f2.8 would severely reduce the need for a 50 mm, isn't it?

Or even better, the fact that you own the 17-55 mm makes both of them a bit redundant....

ieat said...

James:

Ha, my daughter is also Primary one this year. I think she is not as big a foodie as your daughter.

tj:

Not really. The f1.4 does make a big difference when you want a shallow DOF and the Macro gets me closer to the subject. 17-55 does not take good closeup and is only f2.8.

Where were you in our last photo workshop? I thought you signed up?

tj han said...

I thought it wouldn't really be worth it for the 60 bucks after all, looking at the bad economy and all (well I've no income now at all). I was told by Jino that it really was more for those who had just bought their SLRs anyway.

I hope to join you guys for a makan session someday.

I think most kids are satisfied with McDonalds and KFC though, I know I was and still am. The thing about the 50mm is the minimum focusing length is not very short, and with the 1.6x crop factor of your (and my) 450D, you will need to stand up and move around to compose a shot. IIRC the min distance of the 17-55 should be about the same as the 50 mm. Come to think of it, in eateries with a better ambience, it might be rude to blast the flash, so a large aperture 1.4 might be useful. Anyway, I notice you don't use a flash for most of your food pics. I almost always use it and people get pissed off I think haha.

I guess it's good to get your lenses now before the global price hike.

P. Chong said...

Wonder if you have seen this video...Anthony Bordain...somewhere about 2 mins into the video is how they make the bamboo noodles...

http://teczcape.blogspot.com/2008/05/wonton-noodles-maks-noodles-in-hong.html

Also, see my report of Mak's noodles.

http://shiokhochiak.blogspot.com/2008/12/maks-noodles-worlds-best-wanton-noodles.html

Damien said...

Funny thing though I heard their chicken curry is very good. Anybody tried it yet :)

liverpool1965 said...

the hk mee looks good too! late lunch next week anyone? :)

My Taste Heaven said...

Oh, I love the hong kong mee. Could not find this in Penang. Next time when I will try when I go to Singapore. Thank you.

My Taste Heaven

serendipity_lyn said...

Hey, i went to try this place recently after seeing the review. The noodles are really really good. It's a tad pricey for just noodles, but i feel that the quality of the noodles was really of standard. If you are a noodle person, I think you would walk out feeling very satisfied.

khim said...

i'm a noodle person! =) looks good!

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