Teochew Street Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle: A Most Elaborate Mee Pok Tah

Mee Pok Tar with the Works $4

I have alluded many times to the fact that us Teochews are really very fussy about the freshness. It is part and parcel of the cultural trait of being Teochew that everything must be "Chnee Chnee" (Fresh).

If you want to see an extreme example of this in action, you must come to this Mee Pok Stall in Smith Street Food Centre. But you have to be prepared to queue for at least 20 minutes even in the middle of the afternoon in order to partake of this particular Hawker's dish, nay, I would say, his passion.



His bowl of Mee Pok Tar with the works is just $4, but it is packed with many quality ingredients many of which he prepares on the spot. When I say "On the spot", I really mean literally "on the spot". The uncle will turn aside while waiting for the noodles to cook to make some dumplings (Giao), then turn back to toss his noodles a few times before turning to his chopping board to slice a few pieces of meat. I also notice that he would pinch the noodles every time he cooks a batch in order to see if they are cooked perfectly. All these things really slow down the process of producing one bowl of noodle which definitely contributes the the length of the queue.



There is no doubt that his ingredients are fresh and for $4 you really do get quite a few goodies. There is one medium sized peeled prawn which tastes like it is a sea prawn rather than the farmed ones, several slivers of crispy sole fish, one dumpling, one pork ball, slices of lean meat and minced meat, braised mushrooms and unique to this stall, a piece of braised pork skin. All the ingredients are excellent but I can't give them top marks because I felt the noodles and sauce lacked a bit of flavour. 4.25/5

Conclusion

This is probably the best value, most elaborate and freshly made Bak Chor Mee that I have ever come across. It really is frustrating that there never seems to be a lull period where the queue is less than 15 mins! But then again, I guess everybody knows a good deal when they see one.

Teochew Street Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle
Chinatown Smith Street Food Centre
#02-023
Closed Mon - Tues
12.30pm to 9pm

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Joo Heng Bak Chor Mee: Why is Bak Chor Mee so underated?

Bak Chor Mee is such an underrated Singapore dish. When we conducted our polls last year, Bak Chor Mee was the third most favourite Singaporean hawker dish after Hokkien Mee and Chicken Rice. But, if you have a friend from overseas coming to Singapore, how many of us would think about bringing him to eat Bak Chor Mee? No, it is either Chilli Crab or Chicken Rice but not Mee Pok Tar or Bak Chor Mee. In fact, I don't recall seeing Bak Chor Mee being featured in any of these foreign food documentaries whenever they feature Singapore food. Yet Bak Chor Mee remains very close to the hearts of many Singaporeans. The phrase "Bak Chor Mee (or Mee Pok Tah) mai Ter Kuah" (Minced Pork noodles, no liver please) is such a commonly used phrase that it can be ranked up there with "Relac one corner" and "Arh Boh Den?". Still remember that podcast by Mr Brown?



I was told by Damien and Cactuskit that this Bak Chor Mee is quite legendary and used to be in that food centre in AMK before it burned down. They have since shifted to the temporary market and are still drawing the crowds.

As a dish, Bak Chor Mee, in general, is still has good as it was in the past. What I am saying is, when you talk about Chicken Rice, poeple always say how good it was in the past. This is the same with Char Kway Teow and even Hokkien Mee. But when it comes to Bak Chor Mee, I haven't heard many people complain that Bak Chor Mee was so much better in the past.

Bak Chor Mee really is about the noodles more than any other noodle dishes that I know. The topping and sauces really just serve to accentuate the flavour of the noodles. So you really need to start with a good quality egg noodle and then make sure you eat it piping hot. With each mouthful, you get to enjoy the aroma of the egg noodles that is lightly flavoured with the lard with the vinegar just cutting through the oils and getting the salivary glands to start working.

This is a fine bowl of Bak Chor Mee. I felt that the flavours are nicely balanced and you get a whiff of the eggy aroma of the good quality egg noodle with that first mouthful. The texture of the noodles was nice and QQ. It is a good as the other great Mee Poks around, but not really one head above the rest. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Actually the fact is that as Mee Pok/Bak Chor Mee goes, it is hard to differentiate between all the good ones around as they have all reached a certain standard. The one that stands out for me is Seng Kee Bak Chor Mee because I can order Fish Maw soup and Nam Joo Fried Pork Strips to go with my Bak Chor Mee. But if you are looking for a standard bowl of expertly made Bak Chor Mee and you are in Ang Mo Kio, this is it.

Joo Heng Mushroom Minced Pork Mee
AMK Blk 628 Temporary Market
7am to 2pm daily

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Battle of the Bak Chor Mees at Fengshan Food Centre

With Cactuskit and ToothFairy

No. 7's Bak Chor Mee

Ok, many people know about this two Bak Chor Mees at Fengshan Food Centre. But which one is better? Before we set out to answer that question, another interesting thing of note is that when we talk about Bak Chor Mee, most people refer to the dry version with vinegar, chilli and whether they want liver or not. But somehow when they talk about the Bak Chor Mee here, everyone seems to know that we are referring to the soup version of this dish. It almost seem as if this is the only place to eat Bak Chor Mee soup.

So back to the question of which is better. Both stores have got its fair share of accolades but the inner stall (No. 7) seems to get a longer queue of people. So, is this a case of people simply following the crowd or is No. 7's Bak Chor Mee really significantly better than No. 8's?

In true ieatishootipost fashion, we sacrificed our money and calories so that you, dear reader, don't have to.


No. 8's Bak Chor Mee

Just by looking at the 2 bowls of Bak Chor Mee, one notices that No. 8's bowl is bigger. However, the contents of the noodles look quite similar. Perhaps No. 8's has just slightly more minced pork than No. 7's.


No. 8's Bak Chor Mee

Tastewise, the noodles of both stalls were similar. (I wouldn't be surprised if they shared the same supplier!). The soup of No. 7 is just slightly more tasty then No. 8 but the difference is so small that unless you ate them side by side, I doubt that you will be able to tell the difference.

Conclusion

So there you have it. The herd mentality works! The stall with the longer queue does have a better bowl of noodles. However, if you asked me, I would just order from whichever stall has the shorter queue on my next visit.


Xing Ji (Inner Stall)
No. 7
5pm to 1am plus
Closed Mondays

Seng Hiang (Outer Stall)
No 8
5pm to 12.30am Open daily
Fengshan Food Centre
Blk 85 Bedok North Road

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Lau Pa Sat Fishball Minced Meat Noodle: Go Go Bak Chor Mee

With smart, liverpool, bashfulhunter, iwatch_ueat, damien and PowerAunty


I am amazed to see just how popular Bak Chor Mee is amongst Singaporeans! Our current "Favourite Hawker Dish" poll shows a very close fight between Bak Chor Mee and Chicken Rice for 2nd and 3rd positions. At this stage, Hokkien Mee seems to be the firm favourite unless a whole clan of Chicken Rice lovers who have not yet voted suddenly decide log on and vote.

Anyway, my favourite hawker dishes where Hokkien Mee, Satay and Char Siew. Bak Chor Mee would have ranked around seventh or eight place. I guess it is because I generally don't add chilli to any of my dishes, and with a lot of Bak Chor Mee stalls, it is the chilli that makes the difference. So I guess that's why I would choose other dishes over Bak Chor Mee on most days.

But three of my makankakis that day insisted that this stall's Bak Chor Mee should be included into this blog so here it is. According to Damien, this Bak Chor Mee is second only to the Tai Hwa Bak Chor Mee. Smart and Bashful Hunter both said that it was really good and the chilli was especially shiok. I tried a bowl of the non-chilli version and agree that it was a good bowl of Bak Chor Mee as far as Bak Chor Mee goes. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Another place to get your Bak Chor Mee fix when you are around the Toa Payoh area.

Lau Pa Sat Fishball Minced Meat Noodle
Blk 22 Toa Payoh Lor 7 #01-02
8am to 2pm
Closed Monday
97387141

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Mei Xin Minced Meat Noodles: How do ST reporters find these places?

Bak Chor Mee $2.50

I found this review by Teo Pau Lin not long ago about this Bak Chor Mee "in the boondocks" and what struck me most was how in the world do these Straits Times reporters find this sort of places. I mean, the Food Centre is smack in the middle of nowhere in Loyang Industrial area and Loyang itself is smack in the outskirts of Singapore. So how did Ms Teo even find this place? Even if her friend had given her the tip, what in the world would possess her to make a trip to the middle of nowhere to eat and review a bowl of Bak Chor Mee? And when she was writing it, did she really think that Singaproeans would be crazy enough to make a trip to the middle of nowhere to eat this Bak Chor Mee?

So I decided to find out direct from the horse's mouth and called up Ms Teo's secretary to arrange an appointment for an interview..... no lah, Ms Teo doesn't really have a secretary. The answer was sublime... tell you about it later.



This is one hearty bowl of Bak Chor Mee. I guess "being in the boondocks" they have to cater for men with big appetites. So each bowl not only has a generous mound of noodles, it is also chock full of minced meat, sliced pork and sliced fish cake.

The noodles are also the eggy thin Mee Pok type which is my favourite. I like the way it has a firm bite but still gives you that nice "serrated" feel when you slurp it. You need to take this mee pok with the chilli sauce because the non-chilli version only has vinegar and soy sauce. The soup was tasty but not as robust as some of the others in this blog. 4.25/5



The Keow is made with a fish paste filling which is quite tasty but one is never enough. You can get an extra bowl of 6 Keows for $1. It's too bad I got there after the lunch crowd. I think they would have tasted even better fresh.



The other little surprise that I found was their Lor Mee which was actually quite good! The sauce is not overly thickened and it has a sweet, flowery fragrance to it. Again the portions are rather generous for $2.50. The ngor hiang was ok but the lor bak was quite tasty. 4/5

Ah yes, back to our little mystery of how our intrepid ST reporter traveled to the boondocks to eat a bowl of Bak Chor Mee. Her "friend" was non other than the man to whom she is married to now. He works in the area and told her about the noodles. Ha! So Ms Teo went to review food and at the same time had a tryst with her boyfriend!! (Last statement is only my imagination yah?)

Conclusion

Good hearty bowl of Bak Chor Mee. But how many would be game enough to travel all the way there to try it, I wonder?

Mei Xin Minced Meat Prawn Noodle
NTL Eating House
64 Loyang Way
6am to 4.30pm Mon - Friday
6am to 11.30pm Sat

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Seng Kee Minced Pork Noodles: You just can't stop this Teochew Ah Hia!

With Amagada, ieatMama and the kids

Bak Chor Mee $4

It's been a year since I blogged about Seng Kee. I was looking at my old pictures and felt that I should do justice to their food by doing a better job with the photos. Since my last post, I have changed my camera equipment and had a bit more practice. So I hope you can see that the pictures are now a little nicer now.

Unlike most other Bak Char Mee places, this particular one actually owns the whole restaurant. All the rest of the Bak Chor Mee places I know operate from small stalls as part of a coffeeshop or food centre. This means that our Teochew Ah Hia has got a little more elbow room to experiment with different dishes. So aside from just giving us the standard Bak Chor Mee, Mr Lee has even started to try his hand at Cze Char dishes as well! Oh, he only has one dish at the moment, but it was really good! I'll tell you more about it later.



I like this stall not only because the food is great, but they are very friendly as well. And every chance I get to speak to Mr Lee, (a typical Teochew Ah Hia), I always managed to learn something new. This time round he was explaining to me that he slices up the mushrooms, leaves it overnight to extract the juices before combining it with his secret blend of herbs and spices in order to create the unique sauce that goes into his Bak Chor Mee. Of course he was mum about what spices he uses. At least now I know why his BCM tastes a little different from the rest. I like the "mee pok" he uses here as it is the thin and flat type. It has a very good bite and has that excellent eggy flavour. 4.5/5

Those who like braised pork ribs should really give his pork ribs a go. He has tweaked his recipe a little since the last time we spoke. His ribs are always stewed until you can eat the whole thing without leaving any soft bones behind. 4.25/5


Fish Maw Soup $10

Of all the soups that accompany the BCMs that I have blogged about over the last year, this one stands one head above the rest. I have already elaborated about the quality of the stock in my last post, but I just have to let you know that the real gem at this place is their fish maw soup. For $10 a big bowl, it is well worth the money. It is chock a block full of Fish Maw, minced pork, sliced pork, black fungas and liver. And the soup is so full of pork protein precipitates that even if you feel that you need an extreme umami boost (like having spent a week eating hospital food), I can guarantee that a bowl of this soup will still be "Too Much" for you! Very very shiok and satisfying bowl of soup! 4.75/5



Alright, I promised to tell you about that one Cze Char Dish that Mr Lee has started to do. It is this Kailan with sliced Fish. He attacks the wok like how he does with the BCM, with lots of noise and gusto. Incidentally, Mr Lee used operate to from a coffeeshop in Eunos where he built his reputation as the "Clop Clop" BCM man. Even now, when he is in action, he makes lots of noise by whacking his metal ladle on the porcelain bowls.

He really gets that wok smokin' when he frys the Kailan. A bit of this, a dash of that, and lots of action and smoke. The end result is a Kailan which quite a distinctive taste. When I enquired why the Kailan tasted so good, he proudly produced this bottle of "moonshine". Well, he didn't really distill the wine himself but he adds his blend of herbs and spices and lets it all soak for a week before using just a few drops of it to spike the dish. I had a whiff of it and take it from me, a few drops is all that is needed!

The Kailan were tender and the sauce was really good. My only complaint is that he uses Batang fish which I thought was a little tough. It would have been great with Toman or Ikan Kurau. 4.25/5



Finally, to the dessert. Yes, dessert. Never thought you 'd be ordering dessert at a BCM place right? But as I said, this restaurant is Mr Lee's playground to experiment with all his favourite food. So here is their pumpkin paste which is made from pure pumpkin and nothing else. No lard, no sugar, simply pumpkin. I suggested that the pumpkin paste would be even more shiok if he would roast the pumpkin instead of steaming it. The roasting process would caramelize the sugars and give it a nice smooth and smoky flavour. As it is, it is quite good but lacks that extra ooomph. 4/5

Conclusion

This is really quite a unique place for BCM. The BCM itself is quite good, but it is the combination of the different dishes, the service and the personality of this Teochew Ah Hia and of course the Fish Maw soup that makes this place my regular BCM haunt.

Link to first Seng Kee Post

Seng Kee Mushroom Minced Pork Noodles
316 Changi Road
6345 7561
Opened 8am to 10.00pm daily
Closed on Alt Mondays

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Teo Kee Mushroom Minced Pork Noodle: Melt in your Mouth Braised Pork Soft Bones

I simply love braised pork soft bone, don't you? I just could not resist ordering a bowl of this Braised Pork Noodle. The Pork Soft Bone has been cooked till you can finish the whole bowl of noodle without leaving anything in the bowl or on the table next to the bowl.

Talking about throwing bones and other stuff on the table around your bowl, I am just wondering if you all still do it without a second thought? It's funny, I must admit that in a hawker centre I do it without hesitation, but it is not something that you do in a fancy restaurant especially if there is a nice pristine white table cloth. But then, when we are in a Chinese Restaurant, we still do it, table cloth or not. Do you think that throwing the unedible stuff onto the table for the elderly Ah Soh or the Bangladeshi worker to clean up is right etiquette or should we become more civic minded and "developed" and politely leave everything in our bowl?

At least I don't have to face this dilemma when eating this dish since nothing much is left when you are finished with the pork. The braising sauce is very good. It is robust, sweet and you get a hint of the cinnamon and star anise without it being over powering. The noodles are also special egg noodles which are nice and QQ. 4.25/5

Conclusion

If you like pork soft bones or just need the extra collagen for your osteoarthritis, this is the place to go for relatively cheap soft bone fix.

Teo Kee Mushroom Minced Pork Noodle
Blk 137, Tampines St 11
Tampines Round Market and Food Centre
#01-05
5am to 2pm
Closed on Mondays

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AMK House Teochew Noodles: Round the Clock BCM

Ever been working hard till 3am in the morning and feeling hungry for a nice bowl of noodles? Well, in keeping with the mission statement of this blog "to provide 24 hour access to information that will help you satisfy that hunger or make you more hungry", I am proud to present for your consideration, this 24 hour Bak Chor Mee stall which is situated in the same coffeeshop as the famous Punggol Nasi Lemak.

Now this BCM is not bad, in fact it is quite good, though it does have a few shortcomings. I liked the Mee Kia which they use. It can either be called a flat mee kia or a narrow mee pok. Whatever it is, the texture is unique. It combines the bite of a mee kia with the slurpiness of a mee pok. The ingredients are fresh and the sauce for the noodles has got enough ooomph.



I was particularly impressed with the standard of the soup which was boiled long enough such that it was full of protein strands swirling around in it. The meat ball and fish ball is quite standard, nothing exceptional. BCM critiques may look upon this BCM like Simon Cowell and complain that it is not up to their standards, but for me it was good enough and at least it is a bowl of noodles I can get when the others are closed. 4/5

Conclusion

Round the clock BCM which is quite good. Mai Hiam Buay Pai (If you don't over critique it, it is actually not bad)

AMK House Teochew Noodles
965 Upper Serangoon Road
Open 24 Hours

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Parklane Abalone Bak Chor Mee: Sim Lim Food Centre Part 2 of 3

With PK, yummiedummies, smart, liverpool, iwatch_ueat and tamago


Some people have recommended this Bak Chor Mee, so I have included it into this series. What makes it a bit special is the piece of Abalone that is thrown in. That's about it. The noodles were good but not exceptional. Some of our makankakis even commented that they managed to smell the alkaline in the noodles. Better than your run of the mill Bak Chor Mee and definitely can eat if you are craving for Bak Chor Mee while shopping for your computer peripherals. 3.5/5

Conclusion

One of the more famous ones around. I felt it could be better but perhaps you disagree?


Parklane Abalone Bak Chor Mee
Stall 1 Sim Lim Food Centre
10am to 10pm

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Ah Kow Bak Chor Mee: Another champion BCM?: Hong Lim Food Centre 4 of 7

With liverpool, Damien, iwatch_ueat and smart


I serendipitously stumbled upon this stall which had a big Makansutra Legend poster stuck onto the front of the glass display. Oh I knew that there was a really good Bak Chor Mee stall in the food centre, but no one mentioned that they were also a Makansutra Legend. Those of you who have been following my blog would know that I have been hunting these legends down one by one to post their pics here. Ah, the joy of unexpected discoveries!



The one characteristic of good BCM is freshness (Teochew: Chnee - Fresh) of the ingredients and this bowl of piping hot BCM tastes really fresh. Those who like their BCM with a bit more vinegar will appreciate their unbridled use of black vinegar which is reportedly a special brand of traditional black vinegar from China. The noodles were QQ and were complemented very well by the sauce. They were generous with the Ti Po (Crispy fried sole) which was a bonus cos I love the stuff. As far as I am concerned, this was an excellent BCM but some of my makankakis still pay homage to Tai Hwa as the Chumpion BCM. 4.5/5

Conclusion

I am frankly undecided as to the best BCM in Singapore. This one was, to me, as good as a BCM can get, but real BCM afficianados may be able to tell us who they think the real champ is.

Ah Kow Mushroom Mince Pork Mee
Hong Lim Food Centre
#02-43
Daily: 9am to 7pm

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Amigo: Bak Chor Mee my Friend: Changi Village Hawker Centre Part 2 of 6

With smart, holydrummer and iwatch_ueat


This is one of the better Bak Chor Mees around and I actually like the chilli here more than many other stalls. For me, the balance of the chilli and vinegar is just right and the combination of the mince pork and the sauce was really shiok.



The only thing that is preventing it from getting a "must try" grading is the quality of the noodle which was quite ordinary. It is still al dente and better than most, but pales in comparison to the other more famous Bak Chor Mee stores. Still, if you are in Changi Village Food Centre and yearning for Mee Poh, you won't regret having this one. 4/5 The soup, however, did not have the robustness of a good stock and the Shui Gaos (dumplings) were ordinary. 3/5

Amigo Changi Village Food Centre
Blk 2 #01-05 Changi Village Road
94553631
11am to 11pm Closed on Tuesdays

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Tai Hua Bak Chor Mee: Everybody Queue up!

This is perhaps one of the most famous Bak Chor Mee in Singapore. The name Tai Hwa is almost synoymous with Bak Chor Mee.

Now whenever I meet Teochew Stallowners, our conversation would invariably be in Teochew, and when asked why they are so popular, the standard answer is always: "Chngee, Everyting is Chngee" (Fresh). The Teochew emphasis on freshness is cultural since the Teochew live near the river in Guandong Province. So unlike, say, SzeChuan cuisine, where emphasis is on the spices, Teochew cuisine is quite bland by comparison, emphazing instead on the freshness of the ingredients.



This is perhaps as good as a Bak Chor Mee can get! Its tasty, its fresh, its satisfying. The noodles are real QQ, the chilli shiok, the lard fresh and the black vinegar just gets your salivary glands working overtime. 4.5/5



I love the soup here. My usual fare is a big bowl of Keow Soup (Dumpling Soup) with sliced pork, minced pork and pork balls. Very satisfying and easy to digest so that you get hungry again by dinner! Just look at the density of pork protein in the soup!

Conclusion

The best Bak Chor Mee in Singapore? I have not heard many protest against that claim yet!

Hill Steet Tai Hua Pork Noodle
Blk 466 Crawford Lane
#01-12
www.taihwa.com.sg
62927477
9.30am to 9pm
Closed 1st and 3rd Monday

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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!

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