板面 ($3)!
A bowl of pan mee soup: hand-torn flat noodles in clear soup with minced pork, dumplings, leafy greens, crispy ikan bilis and fried shallots. $3.
A comforting hawker lunch, a bowl of 板面 (pan mee) for just $3. 😋
What we had:
- Pan mee soup: hand-torn flat noodles in clear soup with minced pork, dumplings, leafy greens, crispy ikan bilis and fried shallots
Pan mee (板面, literally “board noodle”) is the Hakka hand-torn flat noodle, cousin to our mee hoon kuey, and this bowl was a generous one. The soup was the heart of it: a clear, light broth that tastes of the crispy ikan bilis (fried anchovies) heaped on top, which give it that savoury, slightly sweet depth as they soak in.
The noodles themselves are the draw, irregular hand-torn flat pieces with a lovely soft-yet-chewy bite, cooked straight in the soup so they drink it up. Tumbled in were plenty of minced pork, a couple of dumplings, a generous handful of leafy greens, and a good scatter of crispy fried shallots and those crunchy little anchovies.
Add a spoon of the cut chilli padi on the side and the whole bowl wakes up with a sharp little kick. Hand-torn noodles take real work, so finding a proper bowl for $3 these days feels like a small win. Honest, homely and full of flavour.
Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Springy hand-torn noodles in a clear ikan bilis soup, a hearty bowl for $3. Would re-order.
