MHK + egg + fried shrimp CCF ($6.40)!
Bugis hawker mee hoon kueh with minced pork, egg and fried ikan bilis, plus a fried-shrimp chee cheong fun side with sweet sauce and chilli. $3.80 + $0.50 + $2.10.
Lunch at Bugis. Mee hoon kueh + egg + fried shrimp chee cheong fun, $6.40 total ($3.80 + $0.50 + $2.10). ๐๐๐ผ
What was on the tray:
- Bowl of mee hoon kueh (้ข็ฒ็ฒฟ): hand-torn flour dough pieces in a milky pork-and-ikan-bilis broth, with minced pork, sliced pork, a drowned egg (the white wisps through the soup), green vegetable, fried shallot
- Plate of chee cheong fun (็ช่ ็ฒ): smooth rice rolls cut into pieces, doused in sweet dark sauce + chilli + fried shrimp crumble, the orange sambal-ish topping in the centre
Mee hoon kueh (้ข็ฒ็ฒฟ) is the hand-torn cousin of ban mian: same flour-and-egg dough, but instead of being pressed through a noodle machine, the dough is pinched and torn into irregular flat pieces by hand. The result is thicker, chewier and more rustic than ban mian ribbons, with each piece catching broth differently. The broth is the standard ikan bilis + pork bone base, and the egg cracked in at the end ties it together.
Hand-torn vs machine-cut matters: tearing gives uneven thickness, so some pieces stay al dente while others go silky. Purists order MHK over ban mian for exactly this texture lottery.
The chee cheong fun side here is the Singapore-style sweet-sauce version: plain rice rolls (no filling, unlike the Hong Kong har cheong / char siu filled type), cut up and sauced with the sweet dark sauce + chilli combo. The fried shrimp crumble on top is the upgrade, adding the savoury-crispy element the plain version lacks.
At $6.40 total for soup, egg add-on and a CCF side, this is honest hawker pricing. MHK stalls run $3.50-$5 a bowl; the 50-cent egg is the best value add-on in the hawker repertoire.
Overall: 4.3 / 5. ๐๐๐ผ Comforting Bugis lunch. The hand-torn dough texture was the standout, the fried shrimp CCF a worthy side. Would re-order.
