The nondescript coffee shop half stall in Bukit Batok is the third generation of the legendary Ah Kow Minced Meat Mee.
Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Meat Mee was one among these hawker stalls in front of the old Thong Chai Medical Institute at the intersection of Wayang Street and Merchant Road. (Image courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.)
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| Cher Ah Kow & family courtesy of Ah Kow Minced Meat Mee Facebook page |
The stall was founded by Cher Ah Kow, hence the name Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Meat
Mee. Cher Ah Kow came to Singapore from Swatow in Guangdong, China in the
1930s and founded his stall in 1945 along Wayang Street in front
of Thong Chai Medical Institute.
When Hill Street Food Centre was demolished in 2000, Ah Kow moved into Hong Lim Complex Food Centre. (Image courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.)
When Cher Ah Kow retired, his sons Cher Hang Peng and Cher Hang Hua took over the running of the stall.
Cher Ah Kow's sons continued his legacy, firmly establishing Ah Kow
Minced Meat Mee in the pantheon of Singapore bak chor mee.
Cher Hang Hua moved to Old Airport Hawker Centre in 2000, and moved here in Bukit Batok in 2014. Cher Hang Hua has since passed on and his son Jon Cher has taken over the stall.
Cher Hang Peng soldiered on till 2020 at his Hong Lim Complex stall until poor health forced him to retire.
The stall unit is now occupied by Ah Sing Teo Chew Minced Meat Noodle
which is unrelated to the Cher family. Ah Sing the stall holder is doing
his best to establish his business, knowing full well the huge shoes he
has to fill.
His version of bak chor mee is worth a try
👈 click
The Hong Lim line of Ah Kow Minced Meat Mee has closed, now let's turn to Bukit Batok, the last bastion of Ah Kow bak chor mee.
This is the $5 serving of Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Meat Mee at Bukit Batok.
It's all there - a mound of noodles (I chose mee kia), sambal chili and sauce (including vinegar), wantons, blanched minced pork, signature stewed mushroom, tee poh (dried sole fish) and bak pok (lard crouton).
After a good toss, the noodles were well coated with sauce. I like the springy crunch of the noodles. The savoury sauce with a bit of spicy heat was mild and so not very memorable. Vinegar was present but in a really shy way. Personally, I like my sauce on generic noodles to pack a punch hard enough to grab my attention.
I like the wantons - thumb sized, tender-soft knob of well seasoned sweet minced meat laced with tee poh umami inside.
I also had this wanton soup (price $4). Everything was there.
Inside the watery soup were minced meat, braised mushroom, quite a few wantons, tee
poh, preserved turnip and lettuce giving layers of flavour to the dish.
The watery soup was mildly savoury sweet with a slight underlying porcine flavour. Like the dry version, I felt it needed a bit more kick to be memorable. The champion inside the soup was again the wantons.
I like their wanton soup better than the dry noodles, so the next time I
am here, I shall try their soup with noodles. I am guessing that the soupy noodles version could be the star here - shall find out soon.
Written by Tony Boey on 20 Jan 2021
Thank you JohorKaki for the historical information of Ah Kow stall.
ReplyDeleteI did visit the Thong Chai area back in early 1970's because a friend was staying in Ellenborough (now demolished). Did eat at the old Hill Street stall (next to Mica). I find that version the best. Then up till recently ate at Hong Lim stall. Until it closed and taken over by Ah Cherng. Now I will try the Bukit Batok one.
In my opinion Ah Kow and both his two sons Ah Peng and Ah Hua gave us one of the finest bak chor mee memories. Your profiling of the stall was most accurate as I was eating from the stall since I was a kid. My dad brought me there when they first started at Merchant Road in front of Tong Chai Clinic. Ah Kow and both his two sons were always seen in their immaculately white singlets almost like a uniform when operating nightly at their stall. I followed them when they moved to Hill Street where it was the first time the stall was sheltered. At this stage, eldest son Ah Peng added a fine slice of abalone to the bowl which we will normally leave to the end to savour it like a piece of precious delicacy. Since Ah Hua's son Jon has now taken over and continues the family tradition, perhaps he might like to reach out to those who have patronised the food cooked by his grandfather, father and uncle for feedback so that he can help bring back the original Ah Kow Mee taste that we have all grown to love and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your valuable insights. Appreciate much
DeleteYou're welcome Tony, good memories are meant for sharing and seeing wonderful food stalls disappearing saddens me. Been to Jon's place once at Bukit Gombak but somehow he's not just able to replicate what his grand dad, father and uncle left behind. - WH
DeleteHaving any idea of paying Ah Kow bak chor mee a visit at Bukit Batok? Well, the curtain finally came down for the three- generation stall a year ago leaving us fond memories of one of the finest mushrooms bak chor mee around. - WH
ReplyDelete