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