Asking my friends on Facebook where to get good Sarawak kolo mee in Singapore, several buddies pointed me to the Lin Yu Mei 林玉梅 stall in Haig Road Hawker Centre. In fact, Lin Yu Mei was the most mentioned stall, so I am starting my Sarawak kolo mee exploration in Singapore here.
I missed them on the first visit as they close on Tues and Weds. Finally, managed to catch them on a Friday and they opened around 10:30am. Business was brisk - this is a popular stall, and I waited around 20 minutes before the lunch peak.
They have Sarawak laksa and kolo mee, the two famous food icons of the east Malaysia state.
There's the $4 and $5 portions - I opted for $4.
It's a mound of slender curly pale yellow colour noodles topped with fried minced pork (bak chor), char siew slices, fried shallot, and chopped fresh spring onion.
The noodles come with a clear soup in a bowl. There's a dollop of fresh chili sauce though I didn't ask for it. Kolo mee comes only in the "dry" version i.e. no soup version. Kolo mee means 干捞面 "dry stir noodles" in Chinese.
If kolo mee is mainly about its noodles and sauce, then this is really good.
The curly noodles have a tender springy crunch that is unique to kolo mee noodles. Different from wanton mee crunch or mee pok QQness.
I am told the noodles come from Johor Bahru. If so, it most likely come from Restaurant Orang Kampung which makes kolo mee noodles for all Johor Bahru kolo mee stalls.
The noodles were tasty too. After vigorous tossing, each strand was well coated with lard, shallot oil, light soy sauce and chili sauce. I can smell the aroma of lard as I tossed the noodles. The crunchy springy noodles had nice layers of savouriness and lardy taste with a nice quite sharp zing from the fresh chili sauce.
The fried minced pork added more savoury flavour to the dish. The tender char siew slices were average but contributed a bit of savoury sweetness.
The clear soup was almost watery - not much flavour, maybe because the stall just opened when I was there. The flavours not yet extracted from the bones and ingredients yet.
Do I like this kolo mee? Yes, in the crunchy noodle and sauce department this is as good as those I tasted in Kuching and Miri, Sarawak. Some places have better char siew and fried minced pork but Haig Road Sarawak kolo mee noodle and sauce is on par with the hometown renditions that I've tasted so far.
Pro-tips: Their fresh chili sauce is a must (it makes all the difference). Ask for lard cracklings (they fry their own pork lard from fat). Get the $5 version, get more noodles which is the best thing in the bowl 😋
I didn't speak with the stall holders as they were busy and everyone was having their masks on 😷 I understand that the ladies running the stall are sisters from Sarawak. (The 林玉梅 brand comes from Johor Bahru where they are popular. I enjoyed eating at their outlets there.)
Restaurant name: Lin Yu Mei Sarawak Laksa & Kolo Mee 林玉梅
Address: 14 Haig Rd, stall #01-33, Singapore 430014 (Haig Road Food Centre)
Hours: 10:30am - 9:00pm (Tues & Weds off)
Non Halal
Kolo mee over in Kuching.
Date visited: 24 Jul 2020
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