Was running errands near the Golden Mile Food Centre area, I opted for the famous chili mee by Chung Cheng Chilli Prawn Noodles for lunch today. Though I never developed a craving for the spicy noodle dish, it is a nice option I enjoy occasionally for its comforting old school flavours, especially when the queue isn't too long 🌶
The queue at Chung Cheng Chilli Prawn Noodles is usually 5 to 10 deep. I was here before the lunch time crowd arrives. The second generation stall started in the 1950s has a loyal following.
Chung Cheng Chili Prawn Mee started as a pushcart stall outside Chung Cheng School. The stall is run by second generation owner Yeo Teck Kiang now. (Image courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.)
"Everyone made sacrifices. Our son has a Masters degree but chose to give up his career to help us at the stall" said founder Yeo Eng Tong. Source: Not for Sale - Singapore's Remaining Heritage Food Vendors
I chose prawn mee with pork ribs "dry". This serving costs $5. (At Chung Cheng stall, chili mee refers to the "kosong" version which is just noodles and chili sauce sans prawns and ribs.)
This would be one of the finalists, if there is an ugly food contest. A mound of yellow noodles, topped with shelled prawns, fishball slices, tau pok, hard boiled egg and pieces of pork rib, liberally splashed with brownish looking chili sauce.
A quick toss coated the yellow noodles with Chung Cheng's signature chili sauce. It was umami-savoury spicy with mild lingering heat in the aftertaste which faded rather quickly - nice though it didn't have anything that would make it special. The taste of hae bee or fermented dried shrimp was quite pronounced. The yellow noodles were done just right - tender with a spongy bite and free of alkaline taste.
The two or three shelled prawns were tender-crunchy and succulent, though
the tender-crunch seemed to be induced with baking soda. The prawn taste
was subtle, if any.
There were several chunky pieces of pork ribs. The meat were tender and juicy, fall off the bone easily. The little porcine sweetness it had was masked by the savoury-spicy sambal (chili) taste.
There's tau pok and boiled egg in the bowl of chili noodles which is
unusual unique. Seemed a little out of place to me as the
flavours don't quite gel together.
The accompanying soup was watery, tea coloured and tasted umami-savoury, porky and peppery. It was nice.
I hope that you will give Chung Cheng Chilli Prawn Noodles a try and share your experience with us.
Stall by stall guide to the best food in Golden Mile Food Centre 👈 click
Written by Tony Boey on 30 Aug 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments submitted with genuine identities are published