面粉粿 / Mee hoon kuey ($3)!
A hawker bowl of mee hoon kuey: hand-torn flat noodle pieces in a clear anchovy broth with minced pork, ikan bilis and coriander. $3.
A soothing, wallet-friendly hawker lunch: 面粉粿 (mee hoon kuey), $3. 😋
What I had:
- Mee hoon kuey: hand-torn flat noodle pieces in a clear anchovy broth with minced pork, crispy ikan bilis and coriander
This is the handmade version of flat-noodle soup, and the noodles are the whole point. Instead of being machine-cut, the dough is hand-torn into irregular flat pieces straight into the boiling broth, so they cook up wonderfully chewy and a little rustic, no two quite the same. That springy, doughy bite is exactly what you want.
The broth is the comforting part: a clear soup simmered with ikan bilis (dried anchovies) so it tastes deeply savoury and a little sweet, with a fragrant fried-shallot edge. Through it ran loose minced pork and a scatter of crispy fried ikan bilis on top for crunch and an extra hit of umami, plus fresh coriander. A dash of the chilli on the side perks it right up.
It is the kind of plain, restorative bowl that just makes you feel a bit better, and you can taste the handmade care in those torn noodles. At $3, it is honest, comforting hawker value that is getting harder to find.
Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Chewy hand-torn noodles in a savoury anchovy broth with crispy ikan bilis, comforting and great value. Would re-order.
