If you google Top 73+1, you will realise that it has a rather high social media profile but that stall is at block 532 Ang Mo Kio.
Over here in 151 Bishan, things were somewhat quiet - that queue on the right was for the nasi lemak / fried bee hoon stall next door.
Stallholder Mr. Tan proudly showed me the yellowtail fish he used to make fishballs. Handmade fishballs are disappearing in Singapore, even rarer are hawkers who still use fish instead of surimi paste which is an industrial blend of various fish, squid, etc.
By the way, the Top 73+1 stall at Ang Mo Kio is run by Mr Tan's son (I haven't tried that yet).
Mr Tan began as a street side hawker in the 1960s at the old Teochew enclave of 柴船头 cha chun tau or today's Clarke Quay.
Lady boss said their stall was at 香蕉街 (Banana Street) but I have no idea where that is today. (Can you help?) Their relatives run the famous cha chun tau mutton soup stall, now in Bukit Merah View hawker centre.
I got the $5 serving. Considering that it comes with 5 good size large handmade fishballs, this is good value in my opinion.
It comes with a huge mound of noodles and a blend of chili sauce, lard, vinegar and soy sauce. There was so much noodle, I felt a tinge of carb remorse as I worked my way through my greasy, filling meal 😅
Noodles were soft crunchy, with spicy, savoury, lardy flavours from the blend of chili sauce, lard, vinegar and soy sauce. Nothing striking but okay 👌
People say uncle makes a better noodle as auntie tends to do the noodles soft and wet.
Lard police! Spotted illegal size pork lard crackling 🚓 🤣
The fishballs were huge, quite firm spongy though not hard.
It had a subtle pleasant natural fresh fish flavour.
Out of the five, one of the fishballs was studded with bits of chopped chili pepper, tong chai 冬菜 and scallion, etc.
I normally don't prefer this as the aromatics interfere with the subtle fish flavours of pure fishballs.
But, I like this by 73+1 as the added flavours were slight, so it complemented rather than overpower the natural fish taste.
One of the last few handmade fishball stalls in Singapore. Do support to experience Singapore hawker culture.
This coffee shop is right next door to Sin Ming Road Chicken Rice restaurant.
Stall name: Top 73+1 Handmade Fish Ball
Address: 151 Bishan Street 11, Singapore 570151 (stall inside New Century Coffee Shop)
Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Bishan station
Hours: 8am - 3pm
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/hcVf8pUUGE9Um84D6
Written by Tony Boey on 7 May 2024
tony, if the lady said 香蕉街 in hokkien, then perhaps she meant keng ao or 间后 where the keng refers to zhan keng, an old term for warehouse. circular road used to be called 十八间后... but that is speculation on my part. the only banana related street names i can think of the ones at beauty world or jalan pisang.
ReplyDeleteMy all time favourite , singapore fish ball ! We only hv frozen here InPorted from singapore and Malaysia 🇲🇾 which is already a big blessings .
ReplyDeleteTony, was she referring to Keng Cheow Street in Clarke Quay? It'll sound like "keng chio" (banana) in Hokkien or Teochew :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds possible. I shall check with her at the next opportunity. Thank you 🙏
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