✍️ 20 Nov 2023. Back at 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodle at Tekka Centre this morning. Many of my picky eater kaki kaki are regulars here.
There's always a queue at 545 Whampoa prawn noodle. In fact, this is the stall with the consistently, longest queue at Tekka Centre.
The stall is run by Rui Fang since 2014, the third generation owner who couldn't bear to see her grandparents' legacy fade away after her parents retire. The stall was founded by her grandparents in the 1920s in the Whampoa area, hence the name Whampoa in the stall name. Rui Fang's parents still hang out regularly at the Tekka stall (like today - actually everytime I am here, they were chilling at the hawker centre). Her aunts still run the other 545 stall at Whampoa hawker centre.
I got the standard $5 serving, dry version and relak one corner (my favourite pastime) to enjoy it.
Mound of yellow noodles (other choices of bee hoon, kway teow are available), bean sprouts, sauce, prawn, lean meat slices, fried shallot, lard, etc.
Very well sauced noodles tasting quite robustly savoury, spicy, sweet tangy, lardy from the blend of sambal, ketchup, lard, shallot oil, soy sauce.
The yellow noodles were blanched just right to a nice tender, spongy, springy texture.
The generous number of fresh, good sized prawns were shelled and well cleaned. Crunchy and sweet.
Freshly fried shallot and lard contributed much to the taste and aroma of 545 Whampoa's prawn mee.
The accompanying soup, umami crustacean savoury with porcine sweetness is comparable in quality to the best in Singapore such as from the Blanco Court quartet but 545 Whampoa goes at a lower price point.
Overall, nothing changed in terms of taste and smell at 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodle over the last decade.
When it comes to Singapore food icons, most tourists think first of chicken rice, many Singaporeans think of bak chor mee (minced pork noodle). Actually, because our largest Chinese community is Hokkien, prawn noodle is also very widely loved.
Give a good prawn mee stall a try when in Singapore to get a glimpse of the Singapore soul.
✍ 1 Jun 2019. Back today at one of my favourite prawn mee stalls in Singapore - 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles in Tekka Market & Hawker Centre. This famous stall really needs no further introduction - this is just my personal take on it.
There was the usual queue, many from out of the area as 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles is well established as a food destination. There were more than a few tourists.
Rui Fang has been running 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles at Tekka Centre for 5 years already (since 2014).
Rui Fang's grandparents founded 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles nearly a century ago in the 1920s. Ms Li's parents took over in the 1970s and are in semi but active retirement now. Her aunts still run her parents' stall in Whampoa hawker centre.
Rui Fang comes to the stall at 2am in the morning to prepare the stock which is made with prawn shells and stock bones. Starts serving at 6:30am and noodles usually sold out around 1:30pm. After that she prepares ingredients for the next business day and cleans up the stall. She leaves the stall at around 4pm, which means her workday is nearly 15 hours long.
There are easier ways that can greatly reduce her work load and work hours - you know the usual shortcuts..., flavour powders, frozen shelled prawns from suppliers, factory fried shallot, etc. But, such compromises would simply defeat the whole purpose of Rui Fang leaving her comfortable corporate career with a MNC for a hawker's apron. Rui Fang wanted to preserve her grandparent's legacy and watering down the recipe would just make everything pointless.
This gorgeous prawn noodle is the result of Rui Fang's dedication and persistence.
This medium body soup has robust crustacean savoury flavour layered with more subtle porcine savoury sweetness. It was not greasy but deliciously drinkable.
It is the result of lots of prawn shells, pork bones, at least 4 hours of burning (expensive) gas, and loads of dedication, not to mention costs in keeping true faith with the whole process. But, there is really no other way, without making compromises.
The good size sea prawns were very fresh, shelled, deveined and halved. They were tenderly firm, slightly crunchy and taste so naturally sweet.
Just imagine the amount of dedication and hard tedious work put in to give us prawns like these to enjoy. 545 Whampoa serves only sea prawns like sua lor and ang kar (never farm prawns which have neither the desired texture nor flavour).
Boiled thin lean pork slices are always part of prawn mee recipe, bringing their own sweetness and chewy texture to the dish.
The sauce was savoury spicy lardy, quite tasty. Toss it vigorously so that the sauce, fried shallot and fried garlic envelope all the noodles and crunchy juicy bean sprouts.
We can spike the spiciness level to as high as we like with fiery chili flakes. Love it.
Crispy aromatic flavourful fried shallot.
Many hawkers just buy factory fried shallot which costs less and saves time, and serve them to customers even though they know these are stale and tasteless.
Not at 545 Whampoa Prawn Mee. The fried shallot here are freshly cut, and fried at the stall. You will taste the difference.
Lovely crispy aromatic flavoursome fried pork lard crackling 😋 Some stalls do not serve these, often using the excuse "nobody eats these anymore".
Rui Fang and parents stay back at the stall till 4pm everyday to prepare and fry fresh pork lard crackling for "nobody". They even sell these at $2 per small box which are eagerly snapped up by "nobody" 😁
Clark and Megan's first taste of 545 Whampoa prawn noodles and Singapore hawker culture. They love it. The honeymooning couple from Los Angeles just arrived in Singapore 12 hours earlier and headed straight for our hawker centres. This was their first visit to Asia.
Recommended for you 👍 One of Singapore's best prawn noodles. One of the places in Singapore to experience the fabled Singapore hawker food and culture. Authentic, delicious and over value for money. Support hawkers who are committed to the authenticity of our heritage food.
My previous post on 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles back in 2016. I already liked it back then for its taste and authenticity. It was Singapore prawn mee as I remembered it 👈 click
This gorgeous prawn noodle is the result of Rui Fang's dedication and persistence.
This medium body soup has robust crustacean savoury flavour layered with more subtle porcine savoury sweetness. It was not greasy but deliciously drinkable.
It is the result of lots of prawn shells, pork bones, at least 4 hours of burning (expensive) gas, and loads of dedication, not to mention costs in keeping true faith with the whole process. But, there is really no other way, without making compromises.
The good size sea prawns were very fresh, shelled, deveined and halved. They were tenderly firm, slightly crunchy and taste so naturally sweet.
Just imagine the amount of dedication and hard tedious work put in to give us prawns like these to enjoy. 545 Whampoa serves only sea prawns like sua lor and ang kar (never farm prawns which have neither the desired texture nor flavour).
Boiled thin lean pork slices are always part of prawn mee recipe, bringing their own sweetness and chewy texture to the dish.
The sauce was savoury spicy lardy, quite tasty. Toss it vigorously so that the sauce, fried shallot and fried garlic envelope all the noodles and crunchy juicy bean sprouts.
We can spike the spiciness level to as high as we like with fiery chili flakes. Love it.
Crispy aromatic flavourful fried shallot.
Many hawkers just buy factory fried shallot which costs less and saves time, and serve them to customers even though they know these are stale and tasteless.
Not at 545 Whampoa Prawn Mee. The fried shallot here are freshly cut, and fried at the stall. You will taste the difference.
Lovely crispy aromatic flavoursome fried pork lard crackling 😋 Some stalls do not serve these, often using the excuse "nobody eats these anymore".
Rui Fang and parents stay back at the stall till 4pm everyday to prepare and fry fresh pork lard crackling for "nobody". They even sell these at $2 per small box which are eagerly snapped up by "nobody" 😁
Clark and Megan's first taste of 545 Whampoa prawn noodles and Singapore hawker culture. They love it. The honeymooning couple from Los Angeles just arrived in Singapore 12 hours earlier and headed straight for our hawker centres. This was their first visit to Asia.
Recommended for you 👍 One of Singapore's best prawn noodles. One of the places in Singapore to experience the fabled Singapore hawker food and culture. Authentic, delicious and over value for money. Support hawkers who are committed to the authenticity of our heritage food.
My previous post on 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles back in 2016. I already liked it back then for its taste and authenticity. It was Singapore prawn mee as I remembered it 👈 click
The stall founded by Rui Fang's grandparents is run by her aunts now 👈 click
Restaurant name: 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles 黄埔虾面
Address: Stall #01-326, Tekka Centre, 665 Buffalo Road, Singapore 210665 (next to Little India MRT station - exit C)
GPS: 1.306254, 103.849680 🌐 1°18'22.5"N 103°50'58.9"E
Hours: 7am to 1:30pm (Closed on Sat & Sun)
Non Halal
Date visited: 31 May 2019
It's one of the best I've tasted..the soup was tasty as the noodles absorb the chilli sauce..and the red legged prawns were fresh. Good amount of crispy pork fats and shallots. Would go again definitely
ReplyDeleteThis one is a branch from Whampoa market. The one at Whampoa market usually sold before 1pm.
ReplyDelete