Greetings Makan Kakis!
This week, as we continue to celebrate females in the F&B industry, I catch up with a Foodie Friend whom you might already know.
Chef-Owner of Morsels, Petrina Loh first appeared on my show back in 2016 and as she celebrates the 10th Birthday of her restaurant this year, let’s find out what she’s up to, what she’s learnt along the way and future plans for Morsels.
Chef Petrina also dishes advice for aspiring F&B entrepreneurs and for the ladies, why self-care and solo time is so important.
She also shares who she’d invite, what she’d serve and what song she’d play at her fantasy dinner party. A French chef made good in the USA, lots of vegetables and U2 just might be on the menu!
Also, if you love a comforting bowl of prawn noodle soup, Chef Petrina recommends one that gives her old-school vibes – it tastes just like the kind she enjoyed as a child. Have a listen to our podcasts below for all the details!
HEAR:
- Listen/ download podcast of Chef Petrina (Part 1)
- Listen/ download podcast of Chef Petrina (Part 2)
- Listen/ download podcast of Chef Petrina’s Prawn Mee Recommendation!
SEE:
Here it is, fellow greedies! One of Chef Petrina’s favourite Prawn Noodles, found at good food haunt Redhill Market & Food Centre. She recommends it for its simplicity and natural, old-school taste.
By old-school Chef Petrina means the kind she remembers being fed as a child. And it’s that touch of nostalgia that makes Khoon Kee Tasty Prawn Mee all the tastier! Although even without childhood memories, this is a solid bowl of noodles that lives up to its name. Unlike its more famous big-name peers, Khoon Kee relies on a small and basic menu that continues to draw crowds. Just before 9am on a Monday morning, I joined a queue that was already 6 people deep and waited close to 20 minutes for my order of prawn mee soup, just the way Chef Petrina likes it, with a mix of yellow mee & thick bee hoon.
A regular bowl of noodle soup with prawn and pork rib (they use the cartilaginous pork soft bone here) cost $4 and came with one piece of pork, 2 small but plump prawns and kang kong in an umami broth. A sprinkling of crispy fried shallots and self-service chilli powder & chilli padi (Chef Petrina loves lots) completed the dish with a fiery kick. The prawns were conveniently de-shelled in the midsection and their flesh was fresh and bouncy. The heads hid intense, prawny treasures just waiting to be greedily sucked out. The pork was tender and the cartilage was a joy to crunch through for textural contrast.
The soup really was the star of the dish, with depth of flavour that came from pork bones, prawns and a seafoody flavour that could only be extracted from the expert frying of prawn heads and shells. It looked light and clear (before it turned orange from all my added chilli powder!), but it was bold and punchy – naturally sweet from the crustacean ingredients, meaty without being too porky and lip-smackingly savoury to the last drop!
All in all, Khoon Kee serves up a dependable, delicious bowl of prawn mee. It may not have the bells and whistles of more well-known stalls, but it’s still worth a try. They do have a more luxurious big prawn version ($6/8 soup or dry), but truly, their regular bowls are good enough! Just take note, you aren’t going to get the friendliest of service and understandably so. The solo hawker had his hands full in the kitchen with prep, cooking and assembling of every order from the long line of customers, hence the brusque manner and long wait. Also, the stall is cash-only.
TASTE:
Khoon Kee Tasty Prawn Mee
Redhill Market & Food Centre
85 Redhill Lane, #01-58, Singapore 150085
Open: 8am – 1pm (closed Tuesdays)
Makan Kakis on Gold 905 