Seng Kee Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (Bak Chor Mee). Kok Kok Mee @ Serangoon Garden 胜记香菇肉脞面

Seng-Kee-bak-chor-mee-Serangoon-Garden-胜记香菇肉脞面

Seng Kee Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle 胜记香菇肉脞面 (together with Hill Street Tai Hwa in Crawford Lane) are arguably the most famous bak chor mee in Singapore.

There's a constant line at Seng Kee but fortunately it's not like the insane 2-hour queues at Tai Hwa (which was made a lot worse after Tai Hwa became one the first two hawkers in the world to clinch a Michelin Star).

Stall holder Mr Lee has been running Seng Kee for over 30 years now. Seng Kee's fans will recall that Mr Lee used to be at Eunos and then Changi Road before moving here at Serangoon Gardens.

Seng Kee used to be also known as "kok kok mee" because Mr Lee has a habit of knocking his ladle on a plate when he is cooking the noodles, making a "kok kok" sound. He still does that today 😁 We can see Mr Lee's passion from the energetic way he tossed the noodles and flipped the bowls with flare and gusto.

I had Seng Kee's signature noodles with soup and fish maw add-on for SGD9 (2016 price).

The mound of mee pok (flat yellow ribbon noodles) were just the right size - nowadays, I try to cut down on carbs on doctor's orders. The noodles were topped with large pieces of stewed shiitake mushroom slices.

Seng Kee's tossing sauce is dark and thick almost like a paste. It is liberally laced with lard and crispy lard cracklings. Very appetising 😄🤭

The mee pok noodles were done al dente with a nice gentle spring to the bite. The strands were well coated with the savoury sauce and lard which makes the noodles so.... delicious.

Seng Kee's chili sauce is rather mild, so I could hardly taste it beneath the robust savouriness of the soy and black vinegar blended sauce. Without an assertive chili sauce, chili lovers might feel Seng Kee's tossing sauce is missing a dimension.

The spongy stewed mushrooms added an interesting layer of savouriness as well as textural variety.

These aromatic grease saturated crispy lard cracklings were simply wonderful.

Seng Kee's claim to fame, their pork, chicken, dried scallop soup with dried fish maw add-on.

The full bodied pork bone, chicken, dried scallop broth is further thickened and smoothened with an egg drop.

There were liver, minced pork and pork slices in the thick broth.

A nice traditional Teochew fish dumpling or herr kiao 潮汕鱼饺 - just one 😋

And, of course, the famous dried fish maw. Spongy like an old well used sponge saturated with savoury broth.

Seng Kee's broth is layered with savouriness from the chicken, pork socket bones, dried scallops and ti poh (dried sole fish). The umami flavour of the ti poh (dried sole fish) is distinct and pronounced. Together with the fish maw's savouriness, it's a very tasty soup indeed.

However, it is missing a little on the sweet dimension which it might have if more fresh minced pork was added into the broth just before serving.

Pro-Tip 👉 Seng Kee boss suggests that when we have eaten all the noodles, pour the soup into the empty bowl and swirl it a bit - you'll get a soup with extra kick, good to the last drop. Will try that next time 😋

Information for you 👌 Seng Kee serves a good bak chor mee with a robust savoury sauce but its chili sauce lacks a spicy kick. Its soup is tasty with layered savouriness and will be best if it also has more natural sweetness for balance. Made with lots of good quality ingredients but its SGD9 ($11 in 2020 / $12 in 2021) price tag means that I will indulge in it only occasionally, when I happen to be near Serangoon Garden food centre.

Restaurant name: Seng Kee Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle 胜记香菇肉脞面
Address: Serangoon Garden Food Market, 49A Serangoon Garden Way, Stall #01-37, Singapore 555945
GPS: 1°21'48.6"N 103°52'00.7"E | 1.363506, 103.866847
Tel: 8439 0434
Hours: 7:30am to 1:30pm (Sun and Mon off)

Non Halal

This video is in Thai but I like its authenticity and the details it presents.