Satay Bee Hoon @ Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre

I've had the curry chicken mee at Hock Hai stall at Bedok Interchange food centre before. I enjoyed it but kept hearing that Hock Hai serve a good satay bee hoon too. Finally tried it today as I was running an errand in Bedok (actually to pick up a book at Bedok library). Indeed, the satay bee hoon was pretty good.

Stall name: Hock Hai Curry Chicken Noodle 福海(芳林)咖喱鸡面

Address: 208B New Upper Changi Road, stall #01-58, Singapore 462208 (Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre)

Nearest MRT: 3 minutes walk from Bedok station

Hours: 9:00am - 11:00pm

Today's the seventh day of Chinese New Year. The hawker centre was busy but the wait at Hock Hai was quick (just 10 minutes).

I opted for the medium size $5 serving. Came in a styrofoam plate and with disposable spoon / chopstick. Mentally deducted a few points straightaway 🤔

But, I like the smell of aromatic spices from the dish even though I was wearing a surgical mask 👃

Yeah, satay bee hoon is not a pretty dish. Mentally, I still look at satay bee hoon as a "novelty" unlike staples like bak chor mee, wanton mee or char kway teow. It's a vanishing dish, few hawker centres have it now and good ones are even rarer.

The thick, smothering satay sauce thickened further in the few minutes that I took to look for an available seat at the hawker centre.

The sauce was creamy, smooth, yet had some residual soft graininess from crushed toasted peanut in the blend. It tasted mildly savoury sweet, nutty with traces of aromatic spices. Spicy heat was subtle. There was very little grease or oil. I like this sauce better than some of the usual famous names.

Already said, satay bee hoon is not a pretty dish 😂

But, the bee hoon (rice vermicelli) did a great job mopping up the thick flavourful sauce. I enjoyed this a lot. The bee hoon was well drained, so there was no excess water diluting the thick sauce.

Most of the requisite ingredients were there - I said "most" because prawn, lean pork slices and pork liver were missing. I can forgive forgo the prawn and pork slices but omitting the pork liver took away that signature liver flavour from the sauce and dish.

Kang kong, taugeh (bean sprout), taupok (fried beancurd), rehydrated cuttlefish, and see hum (blood cockle) which were barely legal age (the size of my pinky nail). But, all were fresh and nicely cooked. Only two see hum but the savoury flavour they imparted to the sauce was discernible.

All said, I enjoyed Hock Hai's satay bee hoon. Indeed, it was one of the better SBH that I've tried in Singapore, if we are judging only by the sauce.

Hock Hai's famous curry chicken noodle 👈 click

Other stalls to try at Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre 👈 click

More satay bee hoon in Singapore 👈 click

      

Written by Tony Boey on 7 Feb 2022