Kang Kar No 1 Noodles : Fish Bak Chor Mee

The shop is tucked away in a corner of Macpherson. This is a concept store by Niwa Sushi Pte Ltd, a member of Neo Group Limited launched in November 2015. Amongst the others on the menu, their signature items are the Spicy Minced Fish Noodles and Minced Fish Noodle Soup. The fresh minced fish is used to replace the usual minced pork in this most loved hawker dish. There are also other ingredients like mushroom cubes and fishballs then topped with chopped spring onions in the original shrimp paste or the spicy shrimp paste with black vinegar. They might be the only one that is serving the minced fish version of Bak Chor Mee in Singapore and it is supposed to be a healthier choice as compared to minced meat as mentioned on their Facebook. 

I wanted to order it with Kway Teow but was told that it is not available so it is a choice between Mee Pok or Mee Kia. I decided to go with Mee Pok for both the spicy flavor and also the original flavor that I ordered for my dining companion. There are choices of $2.50 and $3.50 and I decided to go with the larger portion for both orders. It is served with a bowl of soup that consists of 3 fishballs. I also ordered a piece of the Leek Fishcake ($1.50) to share.

I also ordered an Iced Coffee to go along.

My dining companion ate a piece of the Leek Fishcake and said, "It tasted quite normal, not too special."

I asked my dining companion, "Could you actually taste the familiarity in those fishballs?" He nodded. I told him that those are actually DoDo fishballs. He replied, "No wonder the taste is so familiar." The fishballs were rather light in taste but it has the desired bounciness. 

The texture of those minced fish was much softer as compared to the minced meat. My dining companion said, "I would give it a 3.5 out of 5. It is actually not too bad but I would still prefer my usual Bak Chor Mee."

I asked for an extra amount of chilli to be added to my bowl of noodles and I could actually taste the spiciness. I might like it a bit more if I did not adjust its level of spiciness. 

It is worth a try if you happen to be in the vicinity.

KANG KAR NO 1 NOODLES

Block 77 Circuit Road #01-450 SINGAPORE 370077

Operating Hours: 8.00 am to 9.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)

Mei Mei Roast : the alternative to Kay Lee Roast Meat

Madam Lee Kui In, 56, better known by her nickname, Mei Mei (妹妹), which means younger sister, is the younger sister of the founder of famous Kay Lee Roast Meat that sold their recipe for $4 million to Aztech Group in 2014. She used to work for Kay Lee Roast Meat for a good 15 years before starting this stall with her husband at the canteen in an industrial building more than a decade ago, serving old style Cantonese roast meats. 

I was there on the last day of 2018 for lunch. There was a regular customer came by to take away and another customer ordered half a roasted duck and $10 worth of roasted meat with 2 plates of rice. As it is not difficult to tell from their uniforms that these regular customers are wearing that they are mostly the mechanics working in the machine shops nearby. While ordering, I caught sight of an Apollo oven right behind the stall. I ordered a single serving of a roasted duck, roast pork and char siew ($7.00) with a plate of rice ($0.50). The friendly assistant asked, "Any soup?" and I went with a Lotus Root Soup ($4).

The Char Siew tasted like those from Kay Lee Roast Meat though not quite the same, it was nicely charred, not as dark in color, also not as sweet and sticky. It was actually quite good but my dining companion said, "After eating the Char Siew from Roast Paradise, most of the others just seemed so mediocre."

The duck came with a thin layer of skin, the meat did not have gamey taste and tasted quite flavorful. The roast pork had a good proportion of fat and lean meat, it tasted moist and with a slightly crisp skin.

The Lotus Root Soup consists of slices of lotus root, pork ribs with rice beans.

This was my first time came across these beans and actually wondered what are these. My dining companion said, "It looks like rice but tasted like beans." I posted the picture online and was told these are the rice beans, the Chinese name is 赤小豆, it supposed to have certain nutritional aspects. 

This stall is a good alternative to the Kay Lee Roast Meat as their standard is going south after setting up the central kitchen and opening of more outlets. I remember talking to KF Seetoh about their declining standard after the acquisition by Aztech Group and he said, "They should just stick to do what they are best in doing."

MEI MEI ROAST

Block 3014 Ubi Road 1 #01-308 SINGAPORE 408702

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 5.00 pm (Mon to Fri) / 11.00 am to 3.00 pm (Sun & Public Holiday)

Da Sheng Minced Pork Noodle : my old favorite Bak Chor Mee

Bai Yong Sheng, 36, the 4th generation owner, started helping out at his father's stall since 15 years old before eventually taking over the stall, using a recipe from his grandfather that used to operate a pushcart. They used to be at Plaza Singapura from 1997 to 2012 then moved to Block 739 Bedok Reservoir Road before moving to this canteen at Ubi Avenue 1 in May 2018. He is serving the traditional Teochew style Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle, commonly known as Bak Chor Mee. Black vinegar, braised mushroom sauce, and lard are used as part of the sauce mixture in his secret recipe. He is hoping to provide better Bak Chor Mee using quality ingredients as the current rental is lower. 

There was a short queue when I came for lunch on the last day of 2018. When it was my turn to order, I decided to go with Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle and I wanted it with Chicken Chop. The friendly lady boss asked, "Do you want the $4.50 or $5.50 bowl?" I asked, "What is the difference?" She replied, "The $5.50 portion is served with 2 fried dumplings." I went with the $5.50 selection. She also asked, "Do you want it with chilli?" As I will be sharing it with my dining companion and he could not handle spiciness so I asked, "Is it going to be really spicy?". She replied, "Not really for normal spiciness." I wanted to give her $10.50 as it stated that Chicken Chop is available at $5 as a side order. She said, "It is only $7.50. I do not think you can finish it so just an added-on option will be good enough." While waiting for my order, I said, "I used to be eating this regularly when it was still at Plaza Singapura." She smiled and said, "That was 7 years ago." Yong Sheng looked up while cooking the noodles and gave me a smile when he overheard it. I used to have it for lunch and even dinner when working near Plaza Singapura more than a decade ago.

The noodles were cooked well, serving with ingredients like minced meat, meatballs, liver, braised mushroom and 2 pieces of fried dumplings. The amount of black vinegar was not overpowering and the level of spiciness is quite acceptable. The fried dumplings were quite tasty, they replaced the water chestnuts with turnip, it did not have the crunchiness though there was still a slight sweetness. It can be ordered as a side dish in 10 pieces for $5. I actually liked the nicely seasoned chicken chop.

There are also Chicken Chop Noodle ($5.50), Fried Dumpling Noodle ($4.50/$5.50), Teochew Dumpling Soup ($4.50/$5.00) and Fishball Noodle ($4.00/$5.00) on their menu.

My dining companion tasted the lightly flavored soup and said, "This is better than the Lotus with Pork Ribs Soup from Mei Mei Roast." And, he actually finished the whole bowl of soup later. 

I am a big fan of Bak Chor Mee and this is definitely one of the better bowls of Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle. 

DA SHENG MINCED PORK NOODLE

Block 3014 Ubi Road 1 SINGAPORE 408702

Operating Hours: 6.45 am to 3.30 pm (Closed on Sundays)

( Hong Kong Jin Tian ) : they are back but not with Arp Geok Pau (鸭脚包)

Simon, their customer left a comment on the post that I wrote about Hong Kong Jin Tian, to inform that they are back in a coffee shop at Ubi about a week ago. I decided to go follow up. Mr Yip Kowk Ching, 62 and Mrs Yip moved from Hong Kong to Singapore about 30 years ago, they started Hong Kong Jin Tian (香港錦田) at Tiong Bahru, a popular eatery serving Hong Kong style roast meat and their speciality is Arp Geok Pau (Duck Leg Wrap) or 鸭脚包, in Chinese, is hardly found in Singapore though it used to be a popular dish in the 70s and 80s. The eatery was shut down on 27 April 2014. They re-opened on 15 July 2014 in one of those shops along Zion Road but was closed in 2015. I visited them there and wrote an article on Makansutra at that time. 

This time, they started as a hawker stall in a coffee shop. I was there at about 11 am on a weekday and went around looking for the signboard that spelt 'Hong Kong Jin Tian" but I did not see it there and I thought that information might be incorrect. Then, I spotted a man that resembled Mr Yip and went to ask, "This, used to be Hong Kong Jin Tian?". He nodded and then he replied in Cantonese but I only understand little Cantonese. He was trying to tell me that they could not use 'Hong Kong Jin Tian' as their signboard and they will be taxed heavily for doing so. Their new stall does not have a name and with just a generic signboard. 

And then, I saw Mrs Yip in the kitchen. I waved at her and said, "I recognise her, she is 叶太 (Mrs Yip)." That was how she like to be addressed when I met her about 2.5 years ago. She asked, "Do you purposely make a trip here?". I nodded. She then said, "你们很有心." She also mentioned that some of their regular customers visited and managed to recognise them. 

I ordered a plate of Roasted Duck and Sio Bak rice ($4) with their Soup of the Day ($3), which was Yamaimo Soup. The overall standard of their roasted meat is still as good. They are not able to make Arp Geok Pau now as their current kitchen is quite small and they will need a long table to lay out all the ingredients when making that delicate dish. They are still able to do suckling pig through an advance order. Their business was better when they started last week but a bit quieter this week and she thought it should be due to the school holidays. Mr Yip mentioned that they have to travel an hour from Tiong Bahru to their stall now. They used to own a stall at the Tiong Bahru Food Centre but have since given up as they planned to retire at that time. 

Mrs Yip joined me at the table and we chatted, it left me feeling heavy-hearted after hearing her story. She said in her heavily Cantonese accent Chinese, "We were left with no choice but to close our shop in Zion Road because my younger son decided to quit quite suddenly." She shared about what happened then. I remember she told me then that they actually wanted to retire but opened that shop for their sons as they have already mastered the required skills and interested in carrying on the trade. 

She also talked about the main reason for starting this food stall as they are hoping their younger son will join them later. Mrs Yip, said, "I have a feeling that it is going to happen very soon. No matter what happens, he is still my son." Apparently, it is all about a mother's love. 

I left my number with her so she could contact me if they decide to relocate again.

(HONG KONG JIN TIAN)

Block 3014B Ubi Road 1 Stall Number 11 SINGAPORE 408722

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 2.00 pm (Monday to Friday)