Truth be told, I bought this for lunch at Albert Centre hawker centre because there was no queue. The usual suspects, I mean the stalls I prefer were either closed or had long snaking queues. A bit tired today, so I was in "eat to live" mode.
There was only one person ahead of me during lunch.
I got the $5, large serving of Penang prawn mee (it's called Hokkien mee over in Penang, as you know).
It looks exactly like what I got in Penang. Yellow noodles, slender bee hoon and beansprouts in a brownish soup, topped with lean pork slices, fish cake slices, small prawns, kang kong greens, half egg, and fried shallot.
First thing first, the prawn soup. It was tweaked for Singapore preferences - I mean, the sambal was not boiled with the prawn stock directly. But, it was a good prawn stock. The prawn head crustacean umami was definitely there and quite assertive too. The intensity level was just right for me. But, the soup was "three quarter tank" full. I know some Singaporeans expect more soup as we are used to having it up to near the rim.
I was given this blob of bright red sambal without asking. It was good. Zesty spicy umami and it spiked up the spiciness level of the soup well. So, that's how it works at Penang Man - if you want Penang style prawn stock, just stir the sambal into your soup 😀 It worked well enough for me.
The noodle and bee hoon picked up the umami spicy soup well, so it was quite delicious. It's only that there was just enough soup and so it may seem relatively dry to some who are used to lots of soup.
The little prawns were the way it is in Penang, small, nicely tender firm crunchy, sweet, subtly umami. It is as good as it gets. But, some will prefer bigger prawns, with option for banana size ang kar. That's why the Blanco Court / Beach Road family of prawn noodles are so successful in Singapore. We like our prawns big here, so we miss Ah Hui Longhouse 🥹
If authenticity means how close it is to those in Penang, then I'll say it should assuage most Penangites' homesickness until they return home to their hometown favourites.
If I need a Penang style Hokkien mee fix, Penang Man will fix it well enough for me.
Penang Man also has Penang laksa and lor mee which I shall try next time.
Last year, I did this piece on the difference between Penang and Singapore prawn noodle 👈 click
My favourite stalls at Albert Centre 👈 click
Written by Tony Boey on 10 Oct 2023
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在槟城的话，用九节虾来煮，可是这里的虾供应有限，他用这种小虾，保持到槟城水准。 这是我近期在新加坡吃到最好吃的虾面。 Become return customer for his Hokkien Mee
ReplyDeleteGood one Tony Boey
ReplyDeleteWhile it is unfortunately one of the most untidy (trying not to say "dirty") hawker centres, it does hv more thn its fair share of good food stalls.
The Chinese rojak is excellent.
The Indian rojak here used to be bettr (its cousin stall is at the othr end of Waterloo St near Bras Basah Rd in a big coffeeshop, where you can get his Indian meesiam).
The Tekka Indian rojak is popular bec it"s fresh thnx to its turnovr queues.
one of my favourite Penang Hokkien mee
ReplyDeleteJust gone there yesterday and his Penang Laksa was saccharine sweet. It was obvious he added sugar into the broth instead of more fish. It was such a letdown because he served up a decent bowl the last few times I was there. It felt I wasted my calories because there were several stalls I could have patronise for lunch.
ReplyDeletetrue, saw people complaining the prawn used in one of the dry version in amk shop that is very small prawn used.
ReplyDeletemy thoughts is they focus more on broth flavor 😋😋😋
Thks for the recommendation but guess I will give this stall a miss as I prefer bigger 🦐 for my bowl of prawn noodle
ReplyDeleteNo leh. Last time growing up all the prawn mee using small prawns what. Only one or two stalls sell with big ones but at high price.
ReplyDeleteNow, they pay $5 they expect lobsters thrown in.
I will come out the big prawns version of penang prawns noodle.. 😊
ReplyDeleteIt’s the Belachan & Chilli in the soup of the Penang version that Singaporeans are not used to, &/or don’t like 😅 Even if big prawns are used, it still won’t be popular 🙏
ReplyDeleteMilton Wee you are absolutely right! The mix up with sambal in the soup kind of got our palate confused.
ReplyDeleteHowever, they have the dry version now which is rather delicious.
Milton Wee it is compartmentalised, the way we prefer it. 😬Chilli and oil in the noodle and soup served separately. The soup with the red prawn oil somewhat elevated the taste profile of the bowl of small prawn noodle. Actually, for me, prawn noodle is always about the broth, not so much the size of the prawn.
ReplyDeleteI like all be big but it's true. Penang or Malaysia side usually all the small small ones
ReplyDeleteTheirs I don like . Cannot fight with beach rd one 🤫 but their Assam laksa nice
ReplyDeleteMany dishes is Malaysian come here learn le go back sell 🤭🤫 but theirs CKT with dark soya sauce always better cause sweeter 😻
Agree. But now with inflation, the prawns are becoming microscopic in M'sia. 😂
ReplyDelete