Ming Yun Fried Hokkien Mee: Everyone loves the Underdog!

With Cactuskit and Taukwa

Hokkien Mee $3

Everyone loves an underdog right? One of our kakis, Champagne recently shared this video with me which was a real inspiration. In case you still have not heard about Susan Boyle, she is this 47 year old lady who managed to put a big smile on Simon Cowell's face. When she rocked up on stage, no one would ever imagine that this lady was going to bring the house down. Just watch this, it will really brighten up your day.

This relatively unknown Hokkien Mee in Redhill is just such an underdog. None of the usual accolades pasted on the front of the stall except one self proclaimed story of long snaking lines when the stall was still at Bedok Blk 85 more than 10 years ago. According to the owner, he moved to somewhere near Tampines Round Market where he used to only open for 1 and a half hours in the evening before he was sold out. How true this is, I do not know. Perhaps some of our readers might be able to shed some light on this stall?

Anyway the owner who is in his fifties now says that he had been frying Hokkien Mee since he was in his teens. He moved to Redhill after he took a break to have an operation and has been here for four months. Since no one talks about his stall in our forum or on the internet, we would have easily missed this stall except for the fact that Cactuskit had the sixth sense to give them a try.

We were unexpectedly surprised by how good this Hokkien Mee was. It is the thick bee hoon with gravy version but it is fried till the gravy is just nice and greyish brown. That grey brown colour might sound a bit dreary but for Hokkien Mee lovers, it is a sign of a tasty gravy. For $3 a plate it is probably the best tasting plate of Hokkien Mee at that price. 4.5/5

Conclusion

Always nice to be able to find a stall which not many people are talking about yet. Give it a try and see if you agree with us.

Ming Yun Fried Hokkien Mee
Redhill Food Centre Stall
11am to 2pm and 5pm till 9.30pm
Monday closed
They fry Mee Goreng from 5am till 10.30am
9798 0133

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Simon Road Hokkien Mee: Wet or Dry or Wet and Dry?

With Wahcow

Wet version

I have grown to appreciate Hokkien Mee which is fried with the thin Bee Hoon. I used to like the other version which has the thick bee hoon and lots of gravy, but after blogging close to 30 of the most popular Hokkien Mee stalls in Singapore, I have developed a taste for the thin bee hoon type which has been fried till the gravy is absorbed and the bee hoon has crisp little brown bits which are full of that charred crustacean flavour.

Sadly, not many hawkers fry them this way anymore. You can't really blame them. If you have a queue of 10 people waiting for your Hokkien Mee, you can hardly spend time to really fry the noodles. What you would do is to quickly add the stock, and bring the whole thing to a boil so that you can heat up the noodles quickly. So really, it should be called braised Hokkien Mee rather than fried Hokkien Mee.

This old man has been around for a long time and I am sure there are some ardent supporters reading this blog. Now, he himself has admits that the Hokkien Mee he fries is different from the version he fried years ago. Nowadays, he doesn't use lard and there is no more pork belly added to the Hokkien Mee. However, he insisted that the taste is still as good as it was in the past.

Our first plate of Hokkien Mee was really wet and tasted pretty ordinary. It is a plate which we would have given a 3.75/5. However, I was not satisfied since a lot of people have told me that the Hokkien Mee here is really good. So when there was no one waiting for the Hokkien Mee, I asked the uncle if he would fry another plate for me. This time, I requested it to be fried till it was dry.


Dry version

So, after a few minutes we were presented with the dry version which frankly, was a bit too dry. However, the big difference in the second plate was that the bee hoon had really been infused with the stock and was nice and fragrant. I would have given it a 4/5

It was then that I decided to mix noodles from the two plates together and voila, I got what I was looking for! The noodles were so tasty and infused with the prawn stock and the bit of gravy really gives a nice contrast to the flavorful noodles. Now, this one deserves a 4.25/5.



Conclusion

Of all the hawker foods, Hokkien Mee is the one dish that really tastes better when it is brought home. It is then that the noodles have enough time to rest and absorb all that wonderful stock. So I reckon, if you want to get the best Hokkien Mee experience, you should come by when uncle is not too busy, ask him to fry a dry version and at the last minute just splash some stock over it and pack it to eat at home. I reckon that would be a 4.5/5 Hokkien Mee experience.

Hokkien Mee
Nam Heng Restaurant
Corner of Simon and Upper Serangoon Road
Opened in the evenings until around 10pm or when the uncle feels like going home.

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Tian Tian Lai Hokkien Mee: I would if you were opened daily!

Our recent polls showed that the Hokkiens have the least proportion of foodies as compared with the other dialects groups. Of course this does not mean that they don't have a few lip smackingly shiok dishes in their culture. One of the best dishes in the world that the Hokkiens have given us is the humble Hokkien Mee which is in my opinion, the most underated of Singaporean dishes. Every tourist knows about Chicken Rice and Chilli Crabs but not all of them are as familiar with Hokkien Mee. If you all remember our polls last year on Singaporean's favourite hawker dish, Hokkien Mee came first, ahead of Chicken Rice to everyone's surprise. Thankfully there are quite a few great Hokkien Mees around and I am still finding gems even after blogging over 20 stalls.

Now you might be wondering why I did not blog this stall earlier. The fact is that when I was here last year but I did not think much of it. However, this time round, I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it actually is.



The main characteristic of this Hokkien Mee is its gooeyness which intensifies the crustacean taste of the the stock. The noodles were well fried and the chef is no friend of pigs, so you get your lard and belly pork strips here. The prawns and sotong are tiny and only serve as a garnishing. What you are going for is just a satisfying, full flavoured, fried noodle dish. 4.5/5

Conclusion

Simple, no frills, gooey and tasty Hokkien Mee. As I alluded in the title, the irony is that the stall extols its patrons to come daily but are only opened six days a week.

Tian Tian Lai (Come Daily)
Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Blk 127, Toa Payoh Lor 1
#02-27
Singapore 310127
9.30am to 9pm
Closed on Mondays (how to come daily?)
Ordering Hotline: 62518542/96717071

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Thye Hong Hokkien Mee: Have Hokkien Mee will Travel

With Cactuskit, Sumosumo and Wahcow

Hokkien Mee special big plate $10

One thing that I have observed about most of the Famous Hawkers around is the fact that they are famous not just because their food is good, but it also has a lot to do with their personality and PR skills.

Take for instance this Hokkien Mee uncle who was handpicked to represent Singapore Hokkien Mee in New York during the Singapore Day Festivities in April. Although I use the word "handpicked" it doesn't really mean that he fries the best Hokkien Mee in Singapore which is why he was "handpicked". But more like a combination of his Hokkien Mee frying expertise as well as enough EQ to understand the marketing potential of taking part in such an event. Why else would someone be persuaded to close the stall for 2 weeks in order to travel to New York?

So the fact is that a lot of the famous hawkers are famous because they understand the 4Ps of marketing, viz product, pricing, placement and promotion. A lot of the time, the thing that makes the difference between a great hawker and a famous one is his ability to promote himself.


Flambuoyant Frying Style coupled with Straw Hat and Colourful Shirt

And this is one Hokkien Mee man who is pretty savvy when it comes to marketing himself. You just can't walk past his stall without noticing his floral Hawaii shirt and his straw hat plus a photo of a San Francisco Trams on his signboard. That tram represented the time when he was part of a delegation to promote Singapore food in the Napa Valley in 2004. Whatever it is, I'd bet you will not be able to walk past the stall without having a second look.



Now, apart from the superficial differences, there was also differences in the actual preparation of the Hokkien Mee that caught my attention. He is the only Hokkien Mee man that I know of that adds uncooked prawns to fry together with the noodles. He explained that this imparts and extra sweetness to the noodles and also that the prawns are more tender because they have not been overcooked.

The final product was something to behold. The noodles were suitably untidy and the charred black bits in the gravy really gave the hint of a rustic and untamed Hokkien Mee harkening back to the days of pushcart hawkers. I wish I could tell you that the taste was phenomenal but alas after all that anticipation, we all felt that it looked better than it tasted. Still better than your average Hokkien Mee but on that night, the gravy just lacked that ooomph to make it taste as good as it looks. 4/5

Conclusion

Probably one of Singapore's most well travelled and well known hawkers. His stall at Republic Food Court at Wisma Atria has had some really good reviews, but strangly not many people talk about the original stall at Newton Food Centre. Perhaps he too is a victim of our prejudice against Newton Food Centre?

Thye Hong
Newton Food Centre
Stall 58
5 pm to 1am daily
96181221

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Yang Zhou Fried Hokkien Mee: Perfect texture

Fried Hokkien Mee $5 (prices from $3)

Hokkien Fried Prawn Mee has become, in most places, more like a Pasta than a true Fried Noodle. What I mean is that in a lot of places, the noodles aren't really fried but simply cooked in the wok and then the gravy is poured over it and allowed to thicken. That's what you do with a Pasta dish. But when it comes to a truly delicious Fried Hokkien Mee, the noodles themselves need to be fried till it becomes slightly burnt so that it has a wonderful "Mamee" (Instant Noodle) sort of flavour and is ready to absorb all the stock when it is added. So if you want a good Hokkien Mee, you got to observe how long the hawker spends actually frying the noodle before adding the gravy. When they get the timing right, the result is magic.

Well, the uncle at this stall is quite an expert at frying the noodles. A good Hokkien Mee man would swirl the noodles around the wok and avoid cutting the noodles unnecessarily unlike a Mee Goreng man. It makes perfect sense that you want the noodles long since you want to slurp it with a pair of chopsticks rather than spooning it like you would a Mee Goreng. His technique produced a Hokkien Mee with excellent texture and the gooeyness of the gravy covering each strand of noodles was almost perfect. It is just too bad that it was just after the Hari Raya period, so the fishermen haven't been going out to sea to catch wild prawns. Otherwise the man would have used "Sua Lor" instead of farmed prawns which I expect would have made the taste of the Hokkien Mee even better. 4.25/5



Conclusion

Gotta go back and try again when the man gets his usual supply of "Sua Lor". I am sure it would be considered one of the best Hokkien Mees around.

Yang Zhou Fried Hokkien Mee
Blk 40 Lower Delta #01-16
Beo Crescent
62730429 Mr Lim
97400653
10am - 8pm
Friday closed

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Swee Guan Hokkien Mee: It's at Geylang Lor 29!

Xtra Large Plate Hokkien Mee $20 (for 3-4 persons)

Now if you are at Geylang Lor 29 to try the Pork Belly Satay, don't forget to order a plate of Hokkien Mee to go along with it. Hokkien Mee and Satay is my number one, all time favourite Singapore hawker combo. So it is a bonus to find two really good stalls side by side.

Now it might be a little confusing but this Hokkien Mee that is located at Geylang Lor 29 is not called "Geylang Lor 29" Hokkien Mee, but rather "Swee Guan" Hokkien Mee. The "Geylang Lor 29" Hokkien Mee is located at Telok Kurau instead. Both are using charcoal to fry the Hokkien Mee and as you might have guessed, this is another of those hawker family stories where the famous patriachal hawker had a few kids who went their own way to start new branches to carry on their father's legacy. It has happened with Beach Road Prawn Noodles, Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow, Rochor Bean Curd and many more.

As far as I know, there are three members of the same family who still use Charcoal to fry their Hokkien Mee. They all originated from the original Geylang Lor 29 stall. The other two have already been blogged viz Uncle Alex's Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee and his sister-in-law's stall, Charcoal Fried Hokkien Mee. This stall thus completes the trio of stalls that continue the Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee tradition.

The style of the Hokkien Mee is similar at all three stalls. They use thin bee hoon to fry and it tends to come out a little gooey but full flavoured. This stall though is a little cheaper, being in Geylang, and the prawns are slightly larger. Tastewise it is definitely one of the better Hokkien Mees around that will complement Pork Satay perfectly! 4.25/5

Conclusion

Satay and Hokkien Mee! Any others also like this combination? What other combination of hawker foods do you all enjoy? I know Prawn Mee and Ngoh Hiang is another favourite of many people.


Swee Guan Hokkien Mee
Geylang Lor 29 (Geylang Side)
5pm to 11pm daily





What to do next?

Try Kwong's Pork Satay next door
Check out the other stalls in Geylang
Check out the other famous Hokkien Mee Stalls

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Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee is back!

This stall has moved back to their original location at 396 East Coast Road.

Looks like Uncle Alex just cannot sit still. He had originally intended to take a 6 month sabbatical when he had to close the stall at East Coast Road due to renovations. But the good news is that he is back frying Hokkien Mee just after a 2 week break.

The stall is located in the compound of the Orchard Hostel which is right opposite Four Seasons Durian Cafe and there's lot of free parking within the compound. The stall is sort of hidden inside so you can't really see it from the road.

Many of his regulars still have not found his new location yet, so here is your chance to eat it while there is still no queue!

What to do next:

Read the old posts here and here

After your Hokkien Mee you can go for Durians across the road!

Or if it is still early enough, go eat some Black Pepper Crabs at Eng Seng!

Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee

1 Telok Kurau Lor J (Old Civil Defence Camp)

Opposite Malacca Hotel and Four Seasons Durian

Closed Mondays

11.30am to 9.30pm

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Che Jian Hokkien Mee: Now that's what I call traditional HKM!

With Amagada


If you are looking for a truly traditional Hokkien Mee, then this is the place to get it. It's got it all. The opeh leaf, the crunchy pork lard, boiled melt-in-your-mouth belly pork, cut chilli and most importantly, a stock made from Sea Prawns or "Sua Lor" as it is called in Hokkien.

Yes, the taste of farmed prawns still fails to meet up to what God originally created prawns to taste like. When you bite into a "Sua Lor", you can immediately make out that extra sweetness in its flesh which you don't get with the farmed tiger prawns. And when they are used to make the stock, it adds that special old school taste to the Hokkien mee the fills the air with the aroma of anticipation when the Hokkien Mee is being fried.



Chomp Chomp is a Hokkien Mee lover's paradise. Aside from this particular stall and Ah Hock which I blogged about in the previous post, there is yet another stall which is a branch of the famous Kim's which is not bad, but it can never compare with these two owner run stalls.



I think that there are going to be fans of both Hokkien Mees here. I ate both at the same sitting and in my opinion, Che Jian edges out Ah Hock in terms of the taste of the noodles, the use of sea prawns, the addition of belly pork AND the fact that they have crispy pork lard when you request for it. So for that, it deserves a 4.5/5. And on top of that, their signboard is also quite old school, as is the old man's 555 all cotton T-shirt!

Conclusion

Two great hokkien mees in the one Food Centre! So how many are fans of Che Jian and how many of Ah Hocks?

Che Jian Fried Hokkien Mee
Chomp Chomp Food Centre
Left hand side towards the back
Open 5.30pm till 1am

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Ah Hock Hokkien Mee: The Old Man is Back!

With Amagada


Fans of Ah Hock Hokkien Fried Noodles at Chomp Chomp can rejoice as the Old Man who has been frying Hokkien Mee there for the last thirty years has finally come out of retirement and is now back in a frying frenzy.

Chomp Chomp is one of those places that somehow still manages to keep its old world charm despite its recent renovations. The fact is that I haven't been to Chomp Chomp for at least 25 years, so actually I am not that familiar with the place. But, when I got there I could just feel the buzz in the air. Maybe it is just that it is cramped and looks as if there are too many stalls and too few seats. Or perhaps it is the sound of clanging woks and the extra saturated smell of frying food in a tight space that creates the atmosphere of intense anticipation. Whatever it is, hawker food needs to be eaten in a place such as this which is why it loses its charm when served in a Hotel.



Yes, there is that element of authenticity in the Hokkien Mee. It could be because it was fried by a man whose white hair was flying in the wind like a modern day Beethoven conducting a symphony or the queue of people waiting in line, but somehow all these visual cues also add to the whole Hokkien Mee experience.

Tastewise, it was very good. They use the thin bee hoon here and the noodles were very well fried. I was a little disappointed that there was no pork lard or pieces of pork belly which would have added that extra oomph. Otherwise it was a Hokkien Mee that I certainly wouldn't mind eating again. 4.25/5

Conclusion

So are you a fan of this Old Man? Let us know how long you have been eating there!

Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Noodles
Chomp Chomp Food Centre Stall 27
Serangoon Gardens
5.30pm to 12 plus
Closed once a fortnight

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Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee: Eat it before it goes!

Bad news!

The building that houses the coffeeshop where Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee is housed will be undergoing renovation to convert it to a hotel. So our Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee uncle is forced to vacate and has up till now not been able to find a suitable stall to migrate to. Uncle Alex said he might even be thinking of calling it a day since his right shoulder is giving him so much problems.

That means that the stall which I consider to be one of the top 3 Hokkien Mees in Singapore may soon become just nostalgia! So if you are a fan of HKM, you have only up till 24 August (last day) to eat here before they close for an indefinite period of time.

BTW, if you know of any suitable coffeeshop in the East, please do write in and let me know. His criteria is that it should have space for carparking, be located somewhere around the East and preferably not be under HDB.

Postscript:

Alex and his family would like to thank all their customers for their support all these years. He will be taking a short break and when they settle in their new stall, they will announce it on this blog. So watch this space.

Update 16 Aug 2008

Just had the HKM today. Very shiok. I am upping is rating to 4.6/5 If only he brought back the boiled pork belly....

Updated 18 Sep 2008

They are now at 1 Joo Chiat Place! Read the latest update here.

Updated 25 Jun 2009

They are back at their old address!

Geylang Lor 29 Fried Hokkien Mee
396 East Coast Road
11.30am to 9.30pm
Closed on Mondays

Read my last post on Lor 29 HKM here

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Kim's Joo Chiat: XO Hokkien Mee: A Tale of Passion and Tenacity

With sumosumo, khim, Don, jems, holydrummer/bro/bunny, cactuskit.

XO Hokkien Mee $12

This is one for the oyster lovers! Imagine a plate of hokkien mee topped with a rich seafood sauce made from prawns, sotong and oysters. Ooh... it has gotta be shiok. Shiok enough to get a guy like Cactuskit to visit the place 4 times over the last three weeks. Skiok enough to get him to persuade me to eat there three times and to bend my arms to give it a higher score. Shiok enough to get him to organize a special supper so that the other kakis can savour its shiokness. Man, if a plate of hokkien mee can drive him to do all this, I wonder what he was like when he was pursuing his wife!

Now the truth of the matter is that after my first taste, I decided not to blog it since I have already blogged Kims at Joo Chiat before. But then I was told by Cactuskit that the problem is that I ate it during the afternoon and I had asked them not to add the chilli which is an integral part of the recipe. OK, so I went on another night with some other kakis and specifically asked for the evening cook to fry the Hokkien Mee for us. Verdict 4.25/5. Good enough to blog. But Cactuskit was still not satisfied and threatened to lead a coup against me unless I got some seasoned foodies to try the XO Hokkien Mee together with him. Anything less than a 4.5/5, he said, could lead to grave circumstances.

I can never say no to such passion as well as the fact that the guy is bigger sized then me and he has been quite a good moderator over at the forum. So the whole group of us found ourselves sitting in Joo Chiat last week to offer our final verdict on this XO Hokkien Mee. The XO btw stands for Xtra Oysters and not extra-ordinary or the fact that they add XO to the Hokkien Mee.

'

The Verdict:

Cactuskit: 4.6/5
Holydrummer: 4.5/5
Jems: 4.25/5
Holybro: 3.75/5
Holybunny: hehehehee
Sumosumo: 3.75-4/5
Khim: 4/5

So there you have it! See, I was right to give it a 4.25/5 in the first place which reflects an average score for the kakis!

Now that you see how varied the opinion is over the XO Hokkien Mee, it behooves (thank Ps Prince for that word) every HKM lover to go and try for themselves and see if it is really that great. If you love it, you have Cactuskit to thank for his tenacity and perseverance in getting this story posted. If you feel you wasted your time, petrol and calories, you know who to look for. You can find him in the forum.

Conclusion

If you like oysters and the wet type of Hokkien Mee and always eat yours with sambal and crispy lard bits, then you will give this at least a 4 to 4.5. If not.. too bad.

Incidentally, Kim's Jr is exactly like his dad when it comes to having his picture taken. Must have gone for PR classes!

Remember to vote today! Click here

The previous post about Kim's is found here

Read about the top Hokkien Mees in Singapore by clicking here

Kim's Seafood Place
37 Joo Chiat Place
Singapore 427761
11am to 2am daily
67421119

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Kim's Hokkien Mee: The Hokkien Mee Experiment

With Damien, smart, sumosumo, bashful hunter, holydrummer, fashion foodie, khim and friends

Special Claypot Hokkien Mee $5 per person

This pot of Hokkien Mee was one and a half years in the making. For those who can still remember, one of my earliest posts was about my fantasy of putting Sio Bak in a claypot of Hokkien Mee. However, on that occasion, I had to bring along my own Sio Bak and it wasn't really braised in the claypot, but merely tossed in with the Hokkien Mee. So it wasn't quite what I wanted but it was still pretty shiok. Since then, I have looking for a Hokkien Mee Hawker who is adventurous enough to accommodate my wacky ideas.

So after putting the idea in the back burner for over a year, along comes the enigmatic Mr Tan Kue Kim (The original Kim) who quite readily agreed to do a Sio Bak Claypot Hokkien Mee for me. Finally, I will get to experience a real Sio Bak Braised Hokkien Mee! And when my makan kakis got wind of it, they also wanted to come along for a piece of the Sio Bak!



This Claypot Hokkien Mee is not for the faint hearted. Its got all the good stuff in it including Sio Bak, crispy pork lard, pork balls, prawns and sotong. A Cardiologist's dream to be sure. Comon', I know many Gastrointestinal Surgeons who love Kway Chap, Cardiologists who love pork lard and Respiratory physicians who smoke. Doctors are human after all. If you prick us, will we not bleed? Thankfully, we are the ones who usually do the pricking.

Tastewise, the opinions were divided. Those who where looking for a very good Hokkien Mee felt that braising the Hokkien Mee in a Claypot did not add value to a standard fried Hokkien Mee. There were others like Bashful Hunter who liked it because it was a novel way to enjoy Hokkien Mee. Personally, I was slightly disappointed that the stock that day did not quite hit the umami spot although the simmered Sio Bak was still quite shiok. Majority of the makan kakis however felt that the traditional boiled Pork Belly, sliced thin would still be better.

Ok, the bottomline from me: I would still go back and order it as is because I just love all that extra ingredients but it is not something I yearn to eat again the following week. I can't help but wonder how it compared with the Claypot Hokkien Mee that he used to dish out in the 80's? Ratings range from 3.5 to 4.25 so you'll have to try it yourself and make up your own mind.



Kim must have mellowed down quite a lot if you believe all the stuff that was said about him years ago. He was very accommodating and knowing that we are a bunch of foodies, he said he would specially fry for us his dry version that night. The dry version is fried with thin bee hoon and eaten with cut chilli, so it is similar to the Nam Sing and Hainan Hokkien Mee version.

The verdict: Being seasoned foodies, the dry Hokkien Mee did not quite give us that rush of excitement because we were comparing it with Nam Sing and Hainan. However, it was still a good plate of Hokkien Mee and definitely better than average. 4/5



To complete our Hokkien Mee Trilogy, we had Kim's standard Hokkien Mee which I have already reviewed in my previous post. Most of the kakis felt that this was better than the dry Hokkien Mee. 4.25/5

Conclusion

So that concludes our great Hokkien Mee experiment! I still feel that the Claypot Hokkien Mee has got potential and with a bit of tweaking, this can be one of those dishes you would travel across the island to eat. Kim tells me that he will be stocking Sio Bak at his stall, but if you are planning to go, it is still better to give him a call first.

Kim's Hokkien Mee
62-B Jalan Eunos
Jn of Jalan Kechot and Jalan Eunos
67478766
www.kims.com.sg
Opened 11.30am till 1am daily

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Kim's Hokkien Mee: Possibly Singapore's Most (In)Famous

With The Butcher


Who hasn't heard about the eccentric Mr Tan Kue Kim who wears a gold rolex and long sleeve shirt while frying hokkien mee? He was most famous back in the eighties when he was dishing out $15 bowls of claypot Hokkien Mee and people were lapping it up without complaining. Those were the Food Nazi days. Then something happened and Kim disappeared from the scene for a while only to reappear in many different places, much to the confusion of the everyday Singaporean.

What happened to Kim? Some say he had a few wives to look after and they sapped up all his money. Some say he gambled his fortune away on horses. Then there is the question over the number of different stalls which have sprouted up across the island with the same brand name. Are they genuine Kim's or is there a family tussle over the brand name. And where is Kim nowadays?

These questions were always at the back of my mind whenever I drive past a Kim's outlet. As luck would have it, I drove past the stall along Jalan Eunos one day and spied a man frying Hokkien Mee wearing a long sleeve shirt! Ah, could this be my chance to get to the bottom of this mystery?



Mr Tan turned out to be quite a personable man who is not shy of the camera and yes, he was wearing his gold Rolex and long sleeve shirt. So I asked him the $69,000 question. What happened in the 80's? What brought down the Kim empire? Was it the gambling or the bickering wives? (Yes, I actually asked him that)

Well, what he told me turned out to be relatively mundane. At the peak of Kim's popularity, he bought a building in Geylang (Kim's) which lost him a lot of money because one of the groundfloor tenants who was supposed to move out did not. As a result of the financial disaster he decided to retire for a while. Oh yes, he also said categorically that he only has one wife.



Kim's now operates a number of stalls all over the island. According to him, his sons are in charge of the other stalls but they are all under the Kim's umbrella. No family feud, no juicy gossip, just simply a family business. Well, it's up to you to believe what you wish, I am simply reporting what I got from the boss's mouth. Do tell us your version of the story.

Kim's hokkien mee is pre-fried and left to rest and refried when you order your plate. According to Mr Tan, this is done so that the noodles taste better and not to save time. He uses only sea prawns and the best sotongs which he proudly showed me. Those who like the thick bee hoon, wet style Hokkien Mee would be happy with this Hokkien Mee. The other commendable item is the wonderfully fresh and crunchy lard bits which will not disappoint lard lovers. It could have been even better if they still included the pork belly and fried the noodles a little more to get all that nice flavor in. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Although the Hokkien Mee was good, I felt it must have lost a bit of the magic it had when it was at its prime. Fortunately for me, Mr Tan has agreed to cook my fantasy plate of Hokkien Mee which would have the noodles simmering in a claypot together with Sio Bak and Pork Balls. Stay tuned for that review!

Kim's Hokkien Mee
62-B Jalan Eunos
Jn of Jalan Kechot and Jalan Eunos
67478766
www.kims.com.sg
Opened 11.30am till 1am daily

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Tian Kim Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee: Why do Standards of Hawkers drop?

SCS Butter


How many times have you heard this phrase: "Aiya, they used to be much better but now standards dropped already!" Too often, if you ask me.

Why do hawker's drop their standards? Is it because they lose their passion or is it because things are getting more expensive and they have to cut corners. Or maybe they got so famous that they don't feel they need to put in so much effort anymore? Sometimes it may also be society's need for healthier food that pressure hawkers to cut down on lard and msg. I think another factor is the role of the National Environment Agency who clamp down on a lot of practices such as the use of charcoal fires for instance. I think that they are responsible for the diverging standard between Singapore and Malaysian street food . (tastiness as well as hygiene)

Whatever the case may be, this particular Hokkien Mee must have dropped in standards. They are quite well known and have been around for over 20 years and some people have recommended them. Heck, even Andy Lau comes here to eat the Hokkien Mee. (Don't know low long ago lah)

This is the second time I am eating it and my response is as the first time. It's good, but not ravable. Better then your average food court Hokkien Mee to be fair, but with so many nice Hokkien Mees nearer home, there is no compulsion to come all the way here to eat this. Something I would order as a side dish when I come here for the Wanton Mee next door. 3.75/5

The interesting thing about this stall though is that they also sell Hokkien Fried Rice who looked quite good. Maybe I'll have to give that a try the next time.

Conclusion

Any fans out there who would like to defend their favourite Hokkien Mee?

Tian Kim Fried Hokkien Mee
209 Jalan Besar (Sam Leong Road)
11am to 5.30pm
Closed on Sundays

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Hainan Hokkien Mee: Takes a Hainanese to fry Hokkien Mee

With iwatch_ueat and damien


I have made a most momentous decision of my life! I finally decided that Hokkien Mee MUST be fried with thin Bee Hoon and it MUST be dry. Some of you might be wondering how this little revelation can be so momentous. But for me, it was like the words of the World's most famous Hymn, Amazing Grace: I was blind, but now I see.

Revelation is like that. You go through life not knowing what you do not know. Then something happens and suddenly it was as if someone turned just turned on the lights and you realize what the fuss is all about. Know what I mean?



This is one superb Hokkien Mee. It is unlike a lot of Hokkien Mee nowadays which are prepared more like a pasta where the stock simply added at the end and served really wet. This one was fried until all that wonderful stock has been completely absorbed into the noodles and beehoon AND sealed. Every mouthful was such a delight that it really is a plate of Hokkien Mee that I slowly savored every mouthful. 4.6/5

Now the weird twist at the end is this. How come one of the best plates Hokkien Mee in Singapore comes from a stall that calls itself "Hainan" Hokkien Mee? Surely the owner is not making the statement that it takes a Hainanese man to show the Hokkien how to fry Hokkien Mee properly right?

Conclusion

Stands out as one of the best plate of Hokkien Mee I have tasted. Only letdown was the chilli which was not quite fragrant enough and you get a really small portion for $3.

Hainan Hokkien Mee
No 34 Golden Mile Food Centre
62946798
11am to 2pm 3pm to 9pm
Closed on Wed

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Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee: The difference between Hokkien Mee and Rochor Mee

You know about Rochor Mee? (or Lohchor Mee depending on whether you pronounce your Rs) Ever wondered what is the difference between Rochor Mee and Hokkien Mee? There are many explanations that I have come across. One says that Hokkien Mee was originally called Rochor Mee because the Hokkien Coolies would gather around the noodle factories in Rochor and fry the noodles with prawn stock for dinner. Someone else says that Rochor Mee is simply a darker, more gooey version of Hokkien Mee.

I decided to find a Professor of Hokkien Meeology to get the facts straight.

Having been in the Hokkien Mee business for over 40 years, Mr Alex See, one of the Street Hawkers featured in Yeo's Street Hawker Masters 2007, might just be the person who can help me.

According to Prof See, the Rochor Mee is the Nonya interpretation of the traditional Hokkien Mee. Traditional Hokkien Mee is fried until it is dry and eaten with sliced chillies. It was the Nonyas that came along and made the noodles with more gravy and used sambal to spice up the dish.

So I asked him how come he serves his Hokkien Mee with sambal? To which he quipped that he had no choice since many Singaporeans have grown used to having sambal with their Hokkien Mee. But he gave me a few slices of chilli and told me to eat it with just the sliced chilli if I wanted to taste the original Hokkien Mee. Hmmmm.. the taste is indeed very different.

Prof See boasts that his Hokkien Mee is fried in a style that is the same as in the fifties. The emphasis is on having a really hot wok and frying the noodles until you get rid of the "Kee" smell. He explains that a charcoal fire heats up the entire wok and that he uses a special charcoal fire wok which is half the thickness of the normal gas fire woks. This way he can really swirl the noodles around to make sure that every strand gets it fair attention from the wok. Hence his Hokkien Mee is really "fried" and not simply "stewed".



I have been eating here since he opened the stall at East Coast 7 years ago and this has always been one of my top Hokkien Mee spots. The noodles are really darn shiok but can be a little oily. I usually have to control myself as so that I don't overeat and end up filling really full for the rest of the day. 4.5/5

Conclusion

One of the best Hokkien Mees around. The noodles are very well fried and the lard is crispy. I am sure there are already many fans of this particular Hokkien Mee amongst our readers.

Updated on 18 Sep 2008

They have relocated to 1 Joo Chiat Place. Read the lastest update here.

Geylang Lor 29 Fried Hokkien Mee
396 East Coast Road
11.30am to 9.30pm
Closed on Mondays

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