新马虾面 Xin Ma Prawn Noodle – Prawn Noodles With Ramen Egg in Ang Mo Kio!

With a modern and vibrant signboard, 新马虾面 (Xin Ma Prawn Noodle) has just been around for about two weeks. Ah Ping, the wife of the owner and chef (who prefers not to be named) shared that their hometown is in Ipoh, Malaysia. They decided to take a leap of faith to start this stall because they were stranded in Singapore with no flights home. She said with great optimism in Mandarin, “We’ll see where this leads us.”

They hope to bring to Singaporeans the flavours of Penang especially with the Penang Prawn Noodle ($5). The couple also offers two other dishes — Abalone Prawn Noodle ($10) and Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle ($5) —which cater more to the tastebuds of Singaporeans.

I got the Penang Prawn Noodle and the Abalone Prawn Noodles, both in the soup version. They serve the dry version of both as well, but I was not sure why it didn’t occur to me to order one of them dry. Oh well. The essence of a good bowl of prawn noodles is in its broth anyway.

A distinctive feature of Penang prawn noodles is the spicy broth. I was looking forward to a fiery wave from the broth, but it was a little underwhelming when I tasted it.

The spice level in this soup is probably a 2 out 5, with 5 being very spicy. The hint of spice intensified after a few spoonfuls of soup. The level of umami in this soup was also lower than I expected. If you are someone with heavy tastebuds or 重口味, this might not tickle your fancy. However, it would be a good bowl for someone who prefers a lighter broth.

Ingredients in the Penang prawn mee bowl include two fresh, juicy and deveined prawns, a generous amount of kang kong and wide and thin slices of 三层肉/ pork belly and ramen egg. It’s rare to find ramen eggs with custard-like yolk in a bowl of prawn mee, so this is definitely a unique addition!

A cheap thrill moment was when I realised that the prawn was partially de-shelled so that it’s easier to eat. Good news for people like me who hate deshelling prawns (or maybe I’m just too lazy to do it oops)! My favourite ingredient was the pork belly as the thin slice of meat had melt-in-your-mouth fats and tender meat.

The abalone prawn noodle, on the other hand, features a broth that is the usual Singapore-style prawn broth. It didn’t have the umami that you’d expect, and it’s much lighter than most prawn mee. As the stall is really new, let’s give the owners some time to work on perfecting their prawn broth!

The abalone prawn noodle is similar to the pork ribs prawn noodle, but with the addition of 2 pieces of thick and juicy abalones. They were very generous with the amount of pork ribs given in this bowl. I guess that justifies why it’s worth $10.

The pork ribs were not too dry or tough, and were quite easy to bite through. They were lacking in terms of flavour as they were not as seasoned. However, pairing them with the chilli powder or red chilli with soya sauce will fix that. The same goes for the noodles if you feel that it’s too 清淡 (plain) for your liking.

All in all, the Penang Prawn Noodle here is one that I would recommend if you’re looking for a taste of Penang somewhere in the north. Try it and let us know what you think!

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to 新马虾面 Xin Ma Prawn Noodle. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!