Sixties Teochew Traditional Minced Meat Noodles – Good Food is Worth the Wait

It’s a shame that I didn’t know about this stall earlier even though I visit Tiong Bahru regularly. Every time I pass by this old coffeeshop in Tiong Bahru, I usually just go straight for Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice. It is only when my friend, Alvin, mentioned about Uncle Ah Chai’s little bak chor mee stall at the corner that I took notice of it.

Uncle Ah Chai and his wife start their business at 6.30am and they are usually sold out by 1pm. Uncle Ah Chai has been cooking noodles for more than 60 years, hence the stall has got a steady stream of customers daily. I stood there for a good 10 minutes watching Uncle Ah Chai cook his food, I was amazed at how skilful he was – from cooking the noodles to mixing the seasoning. He takes his time to assemble each bowl.

We went straight for the $5 bowl which has prawns, lean pork, pork ball, minced meat, dumplings and braised mushrooms. There is this natural sweetness in the meat, which went hand in hand with with the chilli and noodles.

When I gave my noodles a good toss, the aroma from the lard was irresistible. The chilli sauce is moderately spicy, which is just right for many. The homemade dumplings, which have dried sole fish (ti poh), are really flavourful. The braised mushrooms are so soft and the gravy brings the noodles to another level. There’s just the right amount of vinegar in the noodles – you can taste the tanginess but the sauce is light enough such that you can taste the sweetness of the pork. I really loved this traditional bowl of bak chor mee with fresh ingredients! I probably would try the mee kia the next time round!

We also shared a bowl of soup with ingredients such as fish maw, pork slices, fish dumplings, pork balls, greens and dried sole fish.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the stalls featured here.