Straits Times laments the death of hawker food but here is an innovative bowl of Singapore-styled ramen. Everything within the bowl was perfect! Singapore does have young talents. This noodle is going to be a sensation.
The noodles, topped with freshly sliced scallions and red strands of Japanese red pepper, laced with kombu seaweed, tossed in a homemade special fragrant oil (with pandan as one of its ingredients!), were flawless. The texture of the noodles was in between the old-school rubbery type and a modern bounciness, pleasing everyone. The taste was complex, sometimes like wanton mee, sometimes like bak chor mee and sometimes like prawn soup mee. It may come across a little salty for those who prefer lighter flavors but since I like strong and bold flavors, this was great for me.
The egg melted in the mouth, and so did the char siew, which was cooked sous-vide. Probably the first and only hawker to cook food sous-vide. Sealed in an airtight bag with its marinate, the char siew was cooked in a water bath at 65 degrees for 36 hours, ensuring that the meat remained tender and moist.
At only $5 per bowl, it comes with two Hong Kong-styled wantons–so wonderfully bouncy with a fresh prawn and pork within–and potato-wrapped prawn. If you have tasted Calbee’s Jagabee, the potato wrapped the prawn tasted like that, adding an extra crunchiness and dimension to the prawn.
So many ingredients, do they make any money at all?
The hawker stall is the brainchild of two former Shatec classmates, Gwern Khoo and Ben Tham, who have worked at top restaurants in Singapore, Iggy’s, St Pierre, Waku Ghin and Restaurant Andre. No wonder the food was so fantastic! Fine dining food at hawker price.
A Noodle Story
7 Maxwell Road
Amoy Street Food Center #01-39
Singapore 069111
facebook
M-F: 10am-7.30pm
Closed on PH and weekends
Rating: 4.377/5 stars
PS: Thanks for the invited tasting, Ben and Gwern.
Written by A. Nathanael Ho.
Leave a Reply