Minced meat ban mian dry ($5) @ Belly First Banmian Hot Hot!
Minced meat ban mian dry, $5, at Belly First Banmian Hot Hot in Kaki Bukit: flat hand-cut noodles in dark sauce with minced pork, ikan bilis and crispy shallots.
Minced meat ban mian, done dry, from Belly First Banmian Hot Hot, $5. 🍜😋
What we had ($5):
- Minced meat ban mian dry, $5
Belly First is the ban mian stall in the 333 Coffee Shop on Kaki Bukit Ave 1, a few minutes from Kaki Bukit MRT. I have had their mee hoon kuey in soup before and liked it, so this time I went the other way: flat ban mian, ordered dry.
Dry is the better order here, and it comes down to the noodles. The ban mian are cut fresh, wide flat ribbons with slightly ragged edges and an uneven thickness that you only get from dough handled by hand. In soup they soften as you eat. Tossed dry in dark sauce they keep their chew right to the bottom of the plate, springy with a bit of resistance in the middle.
The sauce is restrained, a savoury dark soy rather than a sweet one, just enough to coat the noodles without pooling.
On top went a big spoon of minced pork, browned and crumbly with bits of fat through it, a tangle of crispy fried shallots, and a generous handful of ikan bilis fried until the little anchovies snap. That crunch against the soft noodles is the best texture on the plate, and the ikan bilis brings the salt.
Leafy greens went in for balance, and a bowl of clear soup comes on the side. Use it. A spoonful or two poured over loosens the noodles if the toss gets tight, and it is a light peppery broth worth drinking on its own.
Five dollars, made to order, noodles cut after you pay. Hard to argue with.
Overall: 4.3 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Chewy hand-cut noodles, crunchy ikan bilis and a sauce that stays savoury. Dry beats soup here.
