In our conversations about preserving our hawker culture, there has been a lot of talk about older hawkers passing the mantle onto the next generation. To this end, the NEA has come up with schemes where older hawkers can be matchmade with younger ones. They have even set up hawker academies where aspiring hawkers can attend courses to help them kick start their hawker career.
All these things are good but the most essential ingredient is still the passion of the hawkers themselves. Unfortunately, there are more stories about failures of our institutionalized hawker nurturing program than successes. As the old adage goes, you can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink. A thirsty horse doesn’t need you to lead it to the water, they will find it themselves.
Our young couple’s story exemplifies this. Still in their twenties, Han and Chelsea just decided to open a stall to sell Bak Chor Mee out of their passion for the dish. Since 16, Han had left school to pursue his interest in cooking and had worked at several western restaurants including his last stint as a Junior Sous Chef at burger and lobster. When he decided he wanted to open a hawker stall, he didn’t need a hawker mentor to teach him how to prepare bak chor mee. Granted that his years of culinary training have given him basic cooking skills, but he worked out how to cook bak chor mee himself and has even innovated to make it even better while still capturing the traditional taste. They have only been open for two months, but have already attracted quite a following with a perpetual queue at the stall until closing time.
You may have read elsewhere that he serves a tonkotsu-inspired broth at his stall. All that means is that he was inspired to make his pork broth thicker and creamier like what you find in Ramen, but his soup is not anything like a Ramen tonkotsu broth. However, it is a rather robust and thick pork broth that is quite different from the BCM soup that we are used to. Following the trend of collagen soups, he boils his pork bones over a long period of time together with lots of chicken feet and other collagen-rich ingredients to produce the hearty broth which will coat the inside of your mouth with a lingering umami.
His prices are a little higher than normal but it is justified by his generous portions and quality ingredients. He uses fresh pork and managed to procure handmade her giao (fish dumplings) from an artisan. Overall, the bak char mee is very good. The noodles are well cooked and the sauces and ingredients all come together very nicely. The slices of pork are lively and tender and although I don’t like liver myself, my kakis tell me that they are very good. My only peeve is that black vinegar is optional, (I think they are integral to the dish) so if you like black vinegar in your noodles, as I am sure many do, then you have to add it yourself. 4.25/5
In case you are not in the mood for mee pok, you can try his bee tai mak which has a really nice and chewy texture!
Conclusion
Very competent next-generation hawker serving a bak chor mee that can rival the more established stalls around. The soup is thick and robust and the generous amount of quality ingredients justify its slightly higher prices.
Thanks for recommendation. Tried it yesterday, and as written, there was a perpetual queue from the opening bell to the time we left.
Having to add our own vinegar is not the worse thing that can happen, so we just took it as an opportunity to tune it to our own individual tastebud. While we ordered the signature dish, i ended up appreciating the noodles more than the soup. Noodles is well cooked, not soggy and doesn’t have that alkaline taste. This is not easy as i tend to eat it sans chilli or ketchup. Maybe one area that can be looked further is how the liver is cooked, currently, it is cooked to death. The picture posted here kind of confirms that it is not a one-off slip up.
Otherwise, it is not a bad bowl of bcm. If cost is an issue, go for the ordinary portion, it will be minus the soup, which in this case works for me. Will i return for more? Think i will if i am in the area.
Thanks for the review!