Madam Leong 板面 : Hakka-style Ban Mian

Vivian Leong, 43, started her stall in October 2015 in a coffee shop at Holland Close, serving Hakka-style ban mian. Ban Mian is a common noodle dish consisting of handmade noodles, served dry or in soup. She is a single mother with a teenage daughter. And, she decided to turn her passion for cooking into reality and making a living out of it, this has given her hope. Life has never been a bed of roses for her and at a certain point, she even contemplated the thought of ending her own life when she was left feeling depressed and abandoned after an unwanted divorce in 2012. She was jobless and penniless then but the pleading of her daughter brought her to her senses. She started working as a Kitchen Assistant before eventually opened her own stall after she met a kind owner of a coffee shop that offered her a stall with no deposit. She has recently moved her stall to Amoy Street Food Centre about 2 weeks ago.

I was greeted by the smiley Vivian. She actually looks much younger than her age. She asked, "What do you want to eat?" Her bubbliness was quite infectious. I pointed to the picture of the  Dry Chilli Ban Mian with a "Must Try" printed on it and said, "This. Can I add braised pork to it?" She said, "Can but not worth it." I asked, "Why?" She replied, "You have to pay an extra $2." I decided to order it. When she just started, there were only the soup and the dry ban mian but there are Mee Hoon Kueh (dry/soup) ($4/$5), Dry Chilli Ban Mian ($4.5/$5.50), Ban Mian ($4/$5), Braised Pork with Black Fungus ($5/$6) and Tom Yum Chicken Ban Mian ($5/$6) on the menu now.

While she was cooking, I asked, "Why did you move from Holland Close to here? The coffee shop is quite quiet, right? I used to stay around there." I also asked, "The business is much better here?" She smiled and said, "Much better. The queue is really long during lunch." I asked, "Why did you decide to start a stall in that coffee shop?" She said, "I used to stay at that block." I asked, "Where did you move to?" She answered, "I moved to Clementi." I said, "Why you did not move the stall there? That food centre is always crowded." She replied, "The rental is not cheap." I was surprised and asked, "I thought the rental would be equally expensive in this food centre. The rental should be more than $3,000?" she nodded. I said, "It is not easy to be a hawker, right?" She smiled and replied, "I am used to it and that is why I am always happy every day." I told her, "You have added me on Facebook lately." She asked, "Oh, What is your name? I have added a few friends recently." When she served the ban mian, she said, "Hope you enjoy it. Thank you, Cecilia"

Vivian is originated from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and moved to Singapore after she got married. Her ban mian is towards the Malaysia style and is different from the others here. She did not even serve it with an egg when she just started and will only add it in upon request as it is not common for ban mian to serve with egg in Malaysia. She is using a traditional recipe that passed down her mother. She is hoping to share it by cooking for her customers. The noodles are made fresh daily with no MSG or preservatives added.

She is still cooking with love and passion. When you do it with your heart, it just tasted different. Each bowl of lovingly cooked ban mian consists of a few pieces of braised meat, mushrooms, minced meat with a poached egg then garnished with dried shallots and ikan bilis, tossed with the dark soya sauce and the homemade sambal belachan. It has a home-cooked taste and the ingredients tasted fresh, the noodles were cooked well to the right firmness and springiness. It was served along with the special homemade sambal belachan.

Go support and try her ban mian if you happen to be in this food centre. 

MADAM LEONG 板面

7 Maxwell Road #02-109 Amoy Street Food Centre SINGAPORE 069111

Operating Hours: 8.00 am to 3.00 pm (Closed on Sundays)

Hui Wei Chilli Ban Mian at Geylang Bahru Food Centre

This was one of the stalls that with a queue when I visited on a Sunday for lunch. This is one of the stalls originally from this food centre before the renovation and they moved to Toa Payoh for a while before moving back to here again. The options on the menu include Fuzhou Fishball Noodle ($3.50/$5.00), Meatball Handmade Noodle ($3.50/$5.00), Abalone Clam La Mian ($5.00/$7.00), Seafood Tom Yum La Mian ($4.50/$6.00), Mee Hoon Kueh ($4.00/$6.00), Signature Chilli Ban Mian ($4.00/$6.00), Signature Soup ($12.00) and more. 

I remember eating Chilli Ban Mian when I was in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia and so I decided to go with the smaller portion of their Signature Ban Mian. A substantial portion of ban mian was served with meatballs, braised minced meat, poached egg accompanied with ikan belis, fried shallots, and lard. I tossed it lightly to mix the nicely cooked noodles with the dark sauce and chilli. And, the spiciness of the chilli is not to be underestimated and so, go easy with it.

HUI WEI CHILLI BAN MIAN

Block 69 Geylang Bahru #01-58 Geylang Bahru Food Centre SINGAPORE 330069

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 9.00 pm (Daily)

Yuan Ji Traditional Handmade Noodle at Yishun Park Hawker Centre

This was one of those stalls that were opened on a Monday and I decided to try it due to limited choices. The hawker centre was rather empty during lunch. 

I did not go for their signature beetroot and pumpkin noodles but their Soup Ban Mian at $3.80, the dry version is available at $4.50. I was their only customer at that time so I did not have to wait too long for it to be ready. It was served with a good portion of handmade ban mian with meatballs, sliced mushroom, vegetable and ikan belis. This was a comforting choice though not the best that I ever tasted. 

YUAN JI TRADITIONAL HANDMADE NOODLES

51 Yishun Avenue 11 #01-18 Yishun Park Hawker Centre SINGAPORE 768867

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 9.30 pm (Daily)

Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle : Not My Number 1 Ban Mian

If you ask for a recommendation for homemade noodle commonly known as Ban Mian, this particular one is usually amongst one of the recommendations. Some even listed it as one of the best in Singapore if is not the best. I have heard about them but i have not been to this part of Singapore much so never have a chance to try it so far. When i was supposed to visit an old coffee shop in Geylang, i made an effort to come here for lunch. 

They are located at the food court at level 5 of City Plaza. You could choose from their 8 different types of noodles than paired it with sliced fish, prawns, kidney, fish maw and even clams. After some thoughts, i went with their ban mian with prawns, the dry and the soup version at $ 3 each. After ordering, i was issued a buzzer for food collection later and it took slightly more than 5 minutes before it buzzed.

They do offer some deep fried items to go with their noodles, i tried their fried beancurd, fried ngor hiang and fried fish balls amongst the others like luncheon meat and more. Since it did not taste too special, i would rather just skip it but it did taste nice when eaten with their spicy chilli.

Their soup You Mian consists of a good portion of noodles, served with prawns, sliced mushroom, minced meat, vegetables and ikan belis. Perhaps it has to do with my expectations as i did not find anything too special of this bowl of noodles. The texture of noodles was just right with a slight springiness and not overly soft but the soup did not have much flavor.

The choice of noodles for the dry version was Ban Mian, it was a slightly better choice than the You Mian that i had for the soup one. It was served with the same ingredients but added with their dark sauce. To start, i tossed it a little to mix the dark sauce well with the Ban Mian together with the chilli underneath. The Ban Mian was cooked just right for an al-dente texture with a firmness and chewiness. It tasted nice though not too impressive as i had eaten better one than this. 

Overall, i do not think i like it enough to just come specifically for it. I might just eat it again if i happen to be in the vicinity with no other better option.

POON NAH CITY HOME MADE NOODLE

810 Geylang Road #05-02 City Plaza SINGAPORE 409286

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 8.00 pm (Closed on Alternate Saturdays)

Are you a fan of dry Ban Mian too?

I tried the soup version once but no particular impression then. 

I came back this time to have the dry version for lunch. 

There was 2 queues right in front of the stall. The first queue is to order and the second queue is for collection. You might not noticed it if close attention is not paid but the lady behind the cash register kept calling 'ORDER HERE!' so you would not missed out. 

There are a  few different types of ban mian and you mian available for selection. 

I wanted their dry version of Signature Ban Mian with slices of pork belly for $4.50. I was not asked the option of spicy and non-spicy but there are chilli paste and red cut chilli for self-service. 

There was only a person manning 2 induction stoves cooking the orders so the waiting is expected to be longer.

I waited for about 15 minutes to order and to collect it. I spent a bit of time taking pictures of the noodle. When i was done and wanted to toss the noodle then i realised the noodle has clumped together. It required a certain effort to toss it well without breaking the noodle. 

The sauce mix tasted rather average. It definitely not the best that i ever tasted but it was pretty alright. The sliced pork belly tasted surprisingly good. It was thinly sliced with a good ratio of fat and lean meat to give it the desirable tenderness. It tasted a bit like those sliced pork belly for Shabu Shabu but of lower grade.

The soup has a delightful sweetness and there was an egg in it. It was meant to be a poached egg but the soup was not hot enough to cook it so the egg yolk turned out to be rather raw. I guess some might not like it at all.

Though not the best choice but not too bad an option for a light and rather healthy lunch.

FACE BAN MIAN

Block 722 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6
Ang Mo Kio Central
SINGAPORE 560722.