Pork tendon mee hoon kueh herbal soup ($6.50) @ Belly First Banmian Hot Hot!
Pork tendon mee hoon kueh in herbal soup, $6.50, at Belly First Banmian Hot Hot in Kaki Bukit: hand-torn noodles in a dang gui broth with ikan bilis and fried shallots.
Pork tendon mee hoon kueh in herbal soup from Belly First Banmian Hot Hot, $6.50. 🍜😋
What we had ($6.50):
- Pork tendon mee hoon kueh herbal soup, $6.50
Belly First is in the 333 Coffee Shop at 61 Kaki Bukit Ave 1, a few minutes from Kaki Bukit MRT. I have had their minced meat mee hoon kueh and their dry ban mian before, so this time I went for the version they do that most ban mian stalls do not: the herbal soup.
The broth is the whole point. Instead of the usual clear peppery ikan bilis soup, this one is steeped with Chinese herbs and comes out a deep amber brown, with slices of root still floating in it. It is warming and faintly bitter-sweet in the dang gui way, the same register as a herbal chicken soup, and it coats the noodles rather than just sitting under them.
The mee hoon kueh are the same as always and still the reason to come: hand-torn pieces, uneven and thick through the middle, silky outside with a chewy centre because they are torn only after you order.
Going in with them were slices of pork, the pork tendon the order is named for, gone soft and gelatinous from the simmering, plus leafy greens through the bowl.
Over the top, the usual two: crunchy ikan bilis and a generous scatter of fried shallots. The salty anchovies work better against this broth than I expected, since the herbal sweetness needs something savoury pushing back.
It is heavier going than their clear soup version, so it is a cold-day or feeling-run-down order rather than an everyday one. On the right day it is exactly what you want.
Overall: 4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Chewy hand-torn noodles, soft tendon and a warming herbal broth. The clear soup is still my default, but this is a good change.
