I was here at 8am, there was no queue but business was already starting to roll, warming up for the day.
618 Hokkien Mee is run by a pair of sisters from Kiên Giang province in southern Vietnam (the younger is 美珍 Mei Zhen).
618 Hokkien Mee is tucked in a hyperlocal Singapore heartland coffee shop at the ground floor of public housing (HDB) flat block 618. Pretty laid back, slightly dingy place until social media spotlight brought attention from across the island to here in Yishun.
As this was my second breakfast of the day, I requested for the smallest $4.50 serving.
I was surprised by the generous portion.
Lady boss said, if I can't finish, just bring the leftovers back, she will pack it for me. So nice of her!
It has everything I associate with old school Singapore Hokkien mee - the trinity of squid, pork belly and prawn, along with egg, chive, and lardon. Thank gawd, no fish cake or chicken 😱
There's also lime but I am not a sour person 🤭
Tossing the noodles gave off a sweetish seafood umami aroma which I associate with Hokkien mee.
Ah yes... there's yellow noodles, both thin and chor bee hoon (thick rice vermicelli). There was a subtle wok hei though not much, not enough.
The salty umami sweet viscous stock clung to the noodles. The mouthful was wet but not soggy and neither was it dry. This is the type of Hokkien mee I remember from my childhood.
The flavours leaned very slightly on the savoury salty side with umami sweetness and egginess providing the balance. Shifting the needle a bit more to the sweet side with natural seafood and porcine sweetness would make it perfect for me.
(Asking a bit much for $4.50 right? Tony? 🤭 )
But, not (sugar?) sweet to the extent of Bao Er or Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee.
Didn't use the sambal as it would change the taste profile by too much for me. Tasted a bit of it, it was salty, slightly spicy.
My pretty makan kaki today 🤭
Yishun is special. Even their community chicken is more stylish and full of feathers flare 🤭
The individual ingredients don't have much flavour themselves, perhaps had given them up to the stock.
After the meal, lady boss asked me if I liked the noodles. It's been two years since 618 Hokkien Mee started and they are still earnestly seeking customer feedback to tweak their noodles.
They got the Japanese kaizen 改善 spirit - making small improvements constantly to become from good to great.
I prefer this to some better known Hokkien mee now, and know that the next time I come here, it will be even better.
Stall name: 618 Hokkien Mee
Address: 618 Yishun Ring Road, Block 618, Singapore 760618
Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Khatib station
Tel: 8811 6989
Hours: 8am - 8pm (Weds off)
Love the charring on the noodle. And the price woah... Must try liao.
ReplyDelete1. You need to ask for more dry, then it'd have more wok hey.
ReplyDelete2. They have cut chili... They keep it hidden in fridge cos then won't spoil.
3. Their sambal is interesting- use it on the laksa from the laksa stall. Good for that laksa.
i agree. so long the person has the gift and talent i see why they cannot do it. of course i have heard people who said overseas chinese don't get it but that does not mean cannot improve.
ReplyDeleteTheir hkm & ckt is good. 👍🏻
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite fried hokkien prawn mee i always go back to is cooked by various Malaysians. They come and go but standard can remain as long as training is done properly and cooks stick to the recipe and cooking techniques subsequently.
ReplyDeleteAlso the fried oyster omelette I prefer at Far East plaza is not cooked by a vetaran cook with 30-50 years experience but it beats the famous newton one in my book.
I don’t agree with Penang’s legislation that only penangnites are allowed to cook penang food.
agreed... i chance upon a 3 generation ramen stall in japan... whats surprise me.. cook by thai..
ReplyDeleteOnly Xenophobes will think like this … granted that from a culinary & cultural perspective, the learning curve will be steep. Still, one cannot discount a person, simply because he/she hails from a different country or background
ReplyDeleteBao Er also cooked by Vietnamese
ReplyDeleteMust add 1 sunny side egg to go along with the hokkien mee. They can customize order as requested by customers for jumbo size plate at additional charges.
ReplyDelete