Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee📍Tiong Bahru Market • Michelin Fried Hokkien Noodle 鸿興炒蘇東蝦麵

Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee 鸿興炒蘇東蝦麵 has been in the Singapore Michelin guide Bib Gourmand list since its inception in 2016. Staying on the Bib Gourmand list is no mean feat - the Michelin guide adds and drops stalls from their list with every annual edition.

This was my first time tasting Hong Heng Fried Hokkien Mee ever 🫢

Caveat: This was my second lunch of the day and the first one was a heavy rice meal 🫢

I opted for the smallest SGD$5 serving, figuring that the difference in price is just the portion size - $5, $6, $7 all are the same fried Hokkien mee, just small, medium, large amount.

The queue was at least ten deep but we didn't wait long for the noodles. Boss was very fast - frying and serving in efficient batches.

My five dollar plate.

It was a mix of yellow noodles and medium gauge bee hoon (rice vermicelli), fried with bean sprouts, eggs, seafood stock (mostly prawn I believe), and served with strips of sotong (squid), fish cake and shelled prawns. There was a calamansi lime and a generous splash of sambal.

The noodles and bee hoon were wet (though not soggy), soft and very mild savoury tasting. There was very little umami and no wok hei.

I was very excited to see tender strips of sotong (squid) but they were flavourless.

Strips of fish cake. No flavour, just limp strips of surimi.

There were two shelled prawns. Firm and had little flavour.

No boiled pork belly strips. Its absence and the absence of pork lard were felt.

Needed the help of the house made sambal to boost flavours though it tasted generically salty mildly spicy.

This is one of the longest standing stalls in the Singapore Michelin guide Bib Gourmand list since 2016. A big achievement and the favourite of many fans as the daily queue attests. Come and give Hong Heng a try and share your experience in the comments section.