Prawn Mee That’s Big in Name, Size & Flavour!

Fresh off his win in cooking competition Masterchef Singapore Season 2 earlier this year in April, Derek Cheong revealed that he was a huge fan of a stall called Loyang Way Big Prawn Noodles. Known for his “mad scientist” culinary prowess and mastery over Asian flavours, I immediately sat up and paid attention. If it was good enough for a Masterchef, it was certainly worth the meandering forty minute drive from West to East to locate this far-flung stall.

• LISTEN: & download the podcast of this week’s BIG episode.
• READ: the full story at CNA Lifestyle.
• WATCH: Denise try this makan recommendation on GOLD 905’s facebook page.

Everything one needs to know about the stall is in its name. Found deep in a Loyang industrial estate, they specialize in dry and soup noodles, featuring prawns of a certain size. After getting slightly lost, I finally arrived at a nondescript canteen, sitting solo amongst factories and offices. Hardly an auspicious start to my foodie adventure, but one look at the prawn noodle stall confirmed my taste buds were about to get lucky.

Even at 8am, Loyang Way Big Prawn Noodles’ menu board was brightly lit, tempting customers with its variety: Big Prawn Noodles ($5, $7, $9), Pork Ribs Prawn Noodles ($5, $7, $9), Abalone Prawn Noodles ($8, $10) and XL Big Prawn Noodles ($13.80). Add-on ingredients were also available, everything from to prawn ($2 each), to abalone ($3), to pork ribs and other piggy parts like skin and intestines ($1 to $3) and the intriguing sha dan (literally sand egg in Mandarin, but described as a runny-centred egg, so-named for dim sum restaurant molten saled egg bun, liu sha bao, $1).

If I had had my way, I would have blown the budget and my belly by including them all in my order. But I was a woman on a mission to recreate a big prawn noodle experience worthy of a Masterchef. Derek had recommended that I go for the biggest portion of unadulterated dry prawn noodles with soup on the side, promising flavours both intense and umami.

Ole Ole Bumbu – Lontong Worth Cheering About!

Early one Wednesday morning, I found myself at Marine Terrace Market & Food Centre to try a dish that came highly recommended by my Makan Kaki, Gayle Leong of Asian Specialty Gelato Store, Ice Ke Lim. At her urging to get there early to avoid missing out, I was one was of the first of a steady stream of customers at Ole Ole Bumbu, a family-run Nasi Padang stall in Marine Terrace.

• LISTEN: & download the podcast of this week’s luscious episode.
• READ: the full story at CNA Lifestyle.
• WATCH: Denise try this makan recommendation on GOLD 905’s facebook page.

There, I met affable and chatty matriarch and chef Eliza Abdul Mutalib, who regaled me with tales of her culinary-crazy upbringing, as well as her love for cooking and for her customers. Take the name of her stall, which she created herself by combining the Malay word for spices (bumbu) with the world of sports. “You know, like the football cheer? Ole, Ole, Ole, let’s go! Simple to remember, yet lots of meanings,” she said. Also, in Indonesia, ole ole can mean souvenirs or as Eliza explained, “Tidbits are also called ole ole.”

The stall’s name certainly had layers of meaning, but would their lontong bring the same in flavour? I was very keen to find out if the spices were indeed worth cheering about. Perfectly confident, Eliza proclaimed that her lontong was a cut above the rest because she grinds all her spices from scratch.

Garlic and onion are added along with two other “secret” ingredients that Eliza willingly divulged, “Lemongrass and dried prawns. Not the small ones, not udang grago. Those are $5 or $6 per kg. Ours is special and can cost $18 to $20 per kg! It makes a lot of difference to the taste. There’s more sweetness from the prawn. I sauté it for longer so the flavour and fragrance really comes out.”

A whole lot of grinding also goes on for Eliza’s lontong toppers. First, her sambal, made from dried red chillies and belacan (fermented shrimp paste) is sauteed with ikan billis (dried anchovies) for a flavour boost. Next, her serunding (fried, spiced coconut sambal) gets the same treatment with dried shrimp and dried fish. “I add ikan parang that’s dried and ground. One packet costs $50!” Eliza revealed.

6 o’clock: A chunky wedge of jackfruit! 9 o’clock: Lontong. 3 o’clock: Bergedil!

Makan Kakis Remembers Chris Ho

Hi Foodie Friends,

This post is dedicated to a friend, colleague and legend whose sweet nature was only matched by his sweet tooth. Words cannot express the profound sense of loss we feel now that Chris Ho is no longer with us, but here’s to beautiful memories of meals shared together.

For fans who’ve been searching for past episodes of Makan Kakis featuring Chris, here’s a compilation of podcasts and videos:

• Chris takes Denise for excellent, authetic E-sarn cuisine (the same place they met for the first time more than a decade ago, long before becoming colleagues at GOLD 905). This is the full blog post. To go straight to the video, click the next link.
• WATCH: Chris Ho’s favourite North-Eastern Thai food at Golden Mile Complex.
• WATCH: Chris “cooks” breakfast. We had a good laugh over this one – firstly, because his idea of cooking was to use the office pantry microwave and secondly, because of the name he gave his dish. ❤
• WATCH: Chris’ potluck party creation – when we threw a surprise GOLD 905 soiree for Gurmit.
• WATCH: Chris & the rest of the GOLD 905 Team makan together at Mike’s.

Rest in Peace/ Rebel in Power, Chris. We love you.

Rojak: Asian Fruit Salad with a KL Twist

I’m always game for an unusual eating experience, so when my Makan Kaki Gayle Leong of Ice Ke Lim Specialty Asian Gelato invited me to try their rojak ice cream experiment, I was ready with a big spoon and an even bigger appetite. Made in collaboration with Lim Bo Fresh Fruits Rojak, a scoop of their Mean Vanilla Bean gelato was drizzled with mild rojak sauce and topped with crushed peanuts and crispy you tiao (deep fried dough fritters).

The combination sounded weird, but turned out to be quite wonderful. So wonderful that I decided to return to the Joo Chiat Place rojak stall for a taste of their unique Malaysian-style fruit rojak. I wanted to find out just who Lim Bo is and what sets his rojak apart from our local version. I discovered that while the gentleman who prepared my rojak is the owner of the Joo Chiat stall, but he’s not Lim Bo (Uncle Lim in Chinese). Leong Gwo Wei is the Singaporean disciple of Malaysian Uncle Lim and theirs is a cross-border story that takes us from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, by way of Perak and Penang, and back again.

 

• LISTEN: & download the podcast of this week’s crunchy-fresh episode.
• READ: the full story at CNA Lifestyle.
• WATCH: Denise try this makan recommendation on GOLD 905’s facebook page.

Fiery-Hot Old School Wanton Mee

• LISTEN: & download the podcast of this week’s fiery-hot episode
• READ: the full story at CNA Lifestyle.
• WATCH: Denise try this makan recommendation on GOLD 905’s facebook page.

If you think spice is nice and are looking for dishes that really turn up the heat, then this wanton mee stall is for you. Fellow hot head and foodie friend Chef Shen Tan of OG Lemak recommended I try the Eunos branch of a Dunman Food Centre stall that’s famous for serving up some of the spiciest noodles in Singapore. I gamely placed my asbestos taste buds at the mercy of Mr Sam Ng, whose family owns the two Dunman Char Siew Wan Ton Mee outlets. He’s in charge of the Eunos branch, which opened in March of 2019.

Shrimply Addictive – Crispy & Fluffy Prawn Vadai

• LISTEN: & download the podcast of this week’s deep-fried & justified episode.
• READ: the full story at CNA Lifestyle.
• WATCH: Denise try this makan recommendation on GOLD 905’s facebook page.

The connection between food and nostalgia is a powerful one. With hawker stalls closing due to the pandemic and activities we previously took for granted no longer possible, more than ever before do we crave simple comforts we remember from better days. Take the simple joy of exploring a night market. From the sprawling Geylang Serai Hari Raya pasar malam to the kind you find in the heartland at the foot of your HDB block, it’ been a long time since we’ve been able to enjoy the riot of sights and sounds, goods for sale and best of all, naughty foods loaded with salt, sugar, fat and carbs.

If you’re looking to rekindle the thrill of biting into a hot, fresh pasar malam snack, wander no more – one of Singapore’s most popular prawn vadai experts has set up shop in the East. Those familiar with pasar malam stalwarts Mr Vadai will tell you how addictive their signature deep-fried snack is. They’ll also tell you it was a game of chance hunting down which night market the vadai stall would pop up at. Those days of playing hide and seek are over, now that Mr Vadai has three brick-and-mortar locations you can visit.

Nourishing, palate-cleansing Teochew fish porridge

• LISTEN: & download the podcast of this week’s soothing, nourishing episode.
• READ: the full story at CNA Lifestyle.
• WATCH: Denise try this makan recommendation on GOLD 905’s facebook page.

After weeks of excessive eating, my stomach was protesting. I have to admit I was ready to throw in the fork, spoon and chopsticks. Imagine the relief to hear from my Makan Kaki, Chef Heman Tan of Moonbow at Dempsey, who suggested I reset my body with something pristine and nourishing. As a chef of Modern European cuisine, this stall in Bukit Timah Food Centre is his first stop when he’s in need of a respite from the rich foods he usually whips up in his restaurant. So in times of overindulgence, pay penance at Quan Xiang Fish Porridge with a bowl of their palate-cleansing Teochew-style signature.

Under the stall’s name, a menu board with the words “lao zi hao” (老字号) printed in large Chinese characters greets you. Roughly translated to “renowned old brand or established enterprise”, both are true for Quan Xiang, a proudly Teochew family business that had its beginnings in 1966 as a roadside pushcart. Stall owner Mr Loh Chee Song told me that his father first began selling his signature fish porridge at the now-defunct Beauty World Market, until frequent fires encouraged the move to their current location in Bukit Timah Food Centre in 1976.

The business, along with their closely-guarded family recipe, was passed down to Mr Loh in 1999 and for over two decades, he has been perfecting his father’s legacy. When it comes to traditional Teochew-style fish porridge, the emphasis is on retaining the fresh taste of fish, without any overt seasonings or extra ingredients to sully its purity. Unlike other types of Asian fish soup or porridge, no tofu, tomato, seaweed or lard is added. It needs to be very clean and unadulterated, so as to let the main ingredient shine. In Quan Xiang’s case, they use either batang (Spanish mackerel) or the less common wild red garoupa. The freshest they can find.

New Branch for Chicken Wings PM Famously Queued For

• LISTEN: & download the podcast of this week’s crispy-fried episode.
• READ: the full story at CNA Lifestyle.
• WATCH: Denise try this makan recommendation on GOLD 905’s facebook page.

For a dependably indulgent chicken wing, Eng Kee Chicken Wings is the one many flock to. Even our Prime Minister once famously stood in line for half an hour to get his chicken wing fix at the Redhill branch back in 2014. Indeed, the taste of Eng Kee chicken wings is as fresh and delicious as it was when I first started having supper at their original Commonwealth stall twenty years ago. And joy of joys, they now have a new branch serving up the same famous wings in West Coast Drive.

Opened just last year, the family behind the famed wings has taken over management of an entire kopitiam at Block 505. With a daily best of three thousand chicken wings sold across all three branches, I needed to check if things were up to scratch at the newest Eng Kee branch. My concerns might have been premature, because owner Mr Lim informed me that their seasonings are “all standardised” and the wings (imported from Brazil) are marinated overnight at Commonwealth before being distributed to all three branches. For the perfect signature product, they even have one staff member whose sole purpose is to choose only frozen chicken wings of similar size to ensure an even cook.

For the next six hours or so, the chosen wings luxuriate in a marinade of oyster sauce, light soy sauce, salt, white pepper and other “secret seasonings”. The next day, they get a vigorous massage so that the marinade melds into every nook and cranny.

The next step is preparing a simple, light batter of rice flour and water, in which the marinated wings get a dip, before their final destination – a wok full of sizzling-hot vegetable oil. For wings that are juicy on the inside, yet crispy on the outside, Mr Lim said two factors need to be well-controlled: temperature and time.

How hot the oil gets is crucial. Too much heat and the wings’ exterior burns but interior remains raw. Too little heat and the wings absorb too much oil, resulting in unappetizingly greasy chicken. Less experienced staff might use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil, but his more experienced staff need only eyeball the wok to know.

How long the wings are fried for is also important – seven to eight minutes is the optimum cook time in their boiling bath of oil, which is changed often so it doesn’t darken or turn stale. Mr Lim insists that the wings need to be wok-fried by hand, not in an automated fryer, because they require constant watching and turning for that coveted even, golden colour.

Their adherence to tradition activated a powerful nostalgia in me. These were the kind of wings you remember eating as child, the kind mum might fry up for a special occasion like a birthday or class party. Eng Kee’s fried chicken wings smelt enticingly savoury and were becomingly burnished, with a light crusting over tender, juicy meat. A gentle umami had penetrated right down to the bone and the light flavour of its oyster and soya sauce marinade permeated the chicken.

I especially appreciate a chicken wing for the different textures you get – the winglet portion is smooth and succulent, the drumlet portion is slightly drier yet yields a meatier bite, while the wing tip is all about the texture of crispy-fried chicken skin. Surprisingly, the deep-fried wings were not too oily, especially when eaten hot. Chilli sauce was provided for a sweet and not-too-spicy contrast to the wings, but I didn’t need it. The decadent dish was good enough on its own. I easily polished off four wings in one sitting.

Eng Kee’s secret to success was evident. It’s all about consistency, keeping to tradition and preserving the original taste of the wings without skimping on quality or ingredients. “No shortcuts,” Mr Lim said firmly. That, and maintaining their low prices, which have remained unchanged for years. “Our wings are still $1.30, noodles only eighty cents. Very affordable.”

The signature dish of Eng Kee has always been fried chicken wings, but they’ve also supplemented their menu to include fried noodles ($0.80), along with extra ingredients like ngoh hiang ($1.10), fishcake ($0.50) and vegetables ($0.50). Kind of like econ breakfast beehoon, except served through lunch and dinner.

For all these reasons, Eng Kee has always enjoyed brisk business, with generations of loyal customers who continue returning for their favourite chicken wings, in spite of the long lines. For now though, the new West Coast outlet appears to be the best bet for a queue-free experience. But to cut any wait time, Mr Lim left me with this parting hack: get online and order your wings for pickup or free island-wide delivery!

• TASTE:
  Denise ate at the Eng Kee Chicken Wings branch located at Block 505 West Coast Drive, Singapore 120505. It’s open Tuesdays to Sundays, 8am to 2pm and 4pm to 8pm. Closed on Mondays.