Da Dong in Joo Chiat is one of the highest profile traditional prawn noodle stalls in Singapore. Tried it for the first time today as I was in Joo Chiat to run an errand. I enjoyed it as I like its robust savoury umami soup.
I reached here at noon and there were six people ahead of me.
Took more than thirty minutes to reach the front of the queue as a few in front of me made many takeaway orders 🙄
By this time, some of the items were already sold out e.g. my favourite pig tails. Kway teow was also sold out - kway teow seemed to be popular here as I heard a few customers asking for it.
Trying a prawn mee stall for the first time, I always have this dilemma. I would struggle between dry or soup, dry or soup as I inch my way forward in the queue.
Then, I saw another customer's order of dry. The accompanying soup seemed a bit sparse 🤔 So, I opted for the soup version of prawn mee instead.
After ordering, customers were told to go back to their seats and the food will be delivered to their tables.
I got my $8 soup prawn mee at ten minutes to one i.e. fifty minutes wait 🤔
The mound of bee hoon, yellow mee and bean sprout was half submerged in the signature yellow-brown soup and dressed with prawn, strips of blanched pork, lard crouton, fried shallot, and kang kong greens.
First things first, their famous soup. It was full bodied, smooth, and had rich depth of savoury umami flavours from prawn and pork. There's a subtle underlying sweetness. Overall, it's nicely savoury umami sweet.
I like it that the prawns were very fresh and shelled, so it was all tender-crunchy meat. I dislike peeling prawns as I need to keep my hands dry for photo taking 😬
The bee hoon and mee tasted like good soupy savoury umami Singapore Hokkien mee - I meant it in a good way and to give you an accurate description.
I mean if I take this soup prawn noodle and reduce the soup to a sauce by simmering and stir frying, I think I will get wet Hokkien mee. If I stir fry till all the soup is infused into the bee hoon and mee, I believe I will get dry Hokkien mee. I just need squid and egg to complete the dish. You get the idea.
I am spoilt with overstimulated tastebuds. Even robust savoury umami sweet isn't enough kick anymore, so I threw in some chili padi to spice things up. I did not add soy sauce as I like the finely tuned taste profile of the soup - the dish just needed a bit of hot sting for my liking.
All reduced to nothingness. Yummy in my tummy.
Just as I finished my bowl of noodles, the stall was sold out and closed at 1:05pm.
More Singapore prawn noodles 👈 click
Written by Tony Boey on 14 Feb 2022
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