Fried fish dumpling hor fun ($5) @ Albert Centre!
Fried fish dumpling hor fun, $5, from the Ipoh Hor Fun, Ban Mian & Bak Kut Teh stall at Albert Centre Market & Food Centre: four crisp fish dumplings on silky hor fun in dark gravy.
Fried fish dumpling hor fun, $5, from the Ipoh hor fun, ban mian and bak kut teh stall at Albert Centre Market & Food Centre. ππ
What we had ($5):
- Fried fish dumpling hor fun, $5
Albert Centre is the old market and food centre on Queen Street, the sort of place where one stall happily sells you Ipoh hor fun, ban mian or bak kut teh depending on your mood. The hor fun comes with your pick of topping, shredded chicken, mushroom, char siew wanton or these fried fish dumplings, and the dumplings are the one to get.
Four of them came piled on the plate, each about the size of your palm and folded into a rough triangle. The wrappers had been fried until they blistered into golden bubbles, crisp and shatter-y at the edges, with the greenish tint of the fish paste filling showing through the thinner parts. Inside, the paste was springy and bouncy with a bit of chive through it.
Underneath were the hor fun, wide flat rice noodles gone soft and silky, sitting in a dark gravy that pooled around the plate. The gravy is the Ipoh style: glossy, dark, savoury-sweet, thickened just enough to coat the noodles without turning gluey. A few stalks of bok choy went in for greenery.
The trick is timing. Eat the dumplings quickly while the wrappers still crackle, before the gravy softens them, then work through the noodles. Five dollars for four big dumplings and a plate of hor fun is a real hawker bargain.
Overall: 4.3 / 5. πππΌ Crisp blistered fish dumplings, silky hor fun and a glossy dark gravy. Would re-order.
