Stumbled upon Bendemeer Prawn Noodle stall while stalking hawkers at Bendemeer Market & Food Centre. They serve an old school prawn noodle that appeal to the residents here at the mature HDB estate, hence the constant queue at the stall. I enjoyed the comforting level of crustacean savoury flavours and punchy sambal chili though its soup lacks the thick gao gao body and extreme umami of in-trend Singapore prawn mee of today.
Stalking Bendemeer Market & Food Centre, I noted that Bendemeer Prawn Noodle stall is one of several popular stalls that sport a constant queue.
The stall sports a sign that boldly states 厦门正宗 or Xiamen Authentic. Xiamen in China's Fujian province, of course, is the fountainhead of prawn noodle in Singapore (and Hokkien noodle in Penang).
I ordered the $4 all prawn version to try. I was pleased to see that there were several fresh shelled prawns (not the chemically treated type) and quite a lot of beansprouts in the bowl of soup. I love beansprouts 😄
I was also pleased that they fry their own shallots. Own fried shallots are always fresher, more flavourful and aromatic compared to mass produced factory fried ones.
Seeing that my dry noodle didn't come with much sauce, I asked the lady boss for more sambal chili.
With a good toss, there was enough sauce to thoroughly greased every strand of noodle.
For yellow noodles, I like them thick, a little soft, almost gummy with a spongy chew to the bite. This was like that, so comforting, so nostalgic, so thumbs up 👍
The sambal chili was savoury spicy, with a moderately hot sting. Just a trace of lard and a couple of bak pok (lard croutons). I wish there was more - next time, I'll ask for it.
In summary, this is nice!
The prawns, the size of my forefinger are butterflied, shelled but not deveined (安哥東尼 Uncle Tony...., you $4 want cheap and also fresh... ah... 又要便, 又要鲜).
Anyway, the prawns were fresh, have a nice tender crunch and subtle sweet taste.
Pro-tip: Do not toss the prawns together with the noodles and chili sauce as otherwise the crustaceans will be enveloped by the sauce, masking the prawn's delicate sweetness.
They also have options for pork ribs, pork intestine, skin, and tail.
I love beansprouts, so I was pleased that they gave a lot 😄
The beansprouts were nicely done, so it has a sweet juicy crunch.
The prawn soup tasted delicately umami savoury with a balancing sweetness. However, sweetness and also a green taste from the beansprouts made the soup a little too sweet for me and the taste from the beansprout doesn't really blend well with crustacean umami flavour.
Next time, I shall ask them to put the beansprouts into the bowl of dry noodles instead. That should let me appreciate the soup's crustacean umami more, I think.
The most famous prawn mee in Bendemeer is not in this hawker centre but 10 minutes walk away at Blk 44, Bendemeer Road. It is the HQ of CAN EAT! Hawker Food 😄 👈 click
I can't decide which I like more 😄😂
Written by Tony Boey on 6 Apr 2021
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