Fa Ji Minced Meat Fishball Noodle. Kovan People's Favourite Bak Chor Mee 发记肉脞鱼圆面

Whenever I stalk Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre, there's always a queue at Fa Ji Minced Meat Fishball Noodle. So, I joined the locals to find out what draws them to Fa Ji. It's soft al dente noodles enveloped in robust, old school savoury, spicy, lardy, tangy slick. No gimmicks, it builds a loyal following with comforting, familiar pleasure, yeah...., like an old habit or affordable addiction.

Stall name: Fa Ji Minced Meat Fishball Noodle 发记肉脞鱼圆面

Address: 209 Hougang Street 21, stall #01-05, Singapore 530209 (Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: At the doorstep of Kovan station

Hours: 7:30am - 7:00pm (Weds off)

I am usually here around 9am, so waiting time is around 15 minutes at most. The friendly, youthful hawker works with seasoned speed.

My usual order of $4 bak chor mee dry. I usually opt for mee pok (ribbon noodles) because I prefer the chunkier mouth feel of the thicker, broader noodles when I eat bak chor mee dry.

At first sight, Fa Ji's bak chor mee looks a little anaemic. That's because the sauce is pooled at the bottom of the deep bowl.

There's a mound of mee pok ribbon noodles topped with fish ball, fish cake slices, pork ball, blanched minced pork, blanched pork liver slices, stewed mushroom and chopped spring onion. In the heap here and there were tiny crunchy nuggets of lard croutons.

Everything comes alive with a good toss of noodles and sauce. That's the thing about bak chor mee dry, the reward is directly proportionate to the effort put into tossing. In bak chor mee, life is fair ⚖️

The blended aroma of lard, soy sauce, sambal and vinegar greets the nose as we toss, fold and turn the heap of noodles and liaw (ingredients).

It's a solid bak chor mee - I mean the noodles were enveloped in robust savoury spicy lardy flavours with a subtle underlying vinegary tang.

The ingredients were all fresh adding their own flavours and texture to the dish. The pork ball seemed generic but it was no sloth in taste and tender texture.

For me the best things in a bowl of Fa Ji bak chor mee are the crisp lardy lard croutons, spongy savoury stewed mushroom (wish there is more), crunchy liver slices (wish they are thicker) and the soft al dente mee pok noodles - everything held together by that deliciously flavourful slick.

One thing I do miss at Fa Ji is tee poh, so Tai Hwa and Tai Wah have the edge here.

The clear soup made with pork and chicken is gently savoury sweet - its mild taste balances and complements the saucy dry noodles' robust flavours well.

Leftovers don't lie. 

Everything in the bowls were flavourful enough, so I didn't need to use the chili at all. Paiseh, waste uncle and ah dee chili 😌 🙏

They also have a chicken curry mee which I would like to try next time. If you have tasted their curry mee before, please share how you found it 🙏

A second opinion... . I like Getting Lost's matter of fact reviews.

Fa Ji reminds me of Ah Ter of Amoy Food Centre, though Ah Ter is much stronger in the soup department 👈 click

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tony Boey Johor Kaki (@johorkaki)

Written by Tony Boey on 30 Jun 2021