Mixed fish yi mian soup ($6.20) @ Tai Seng Fish Soup, Albert Centre!
Tai Seng Fish Soup at Albert Centre Market & Food Centre: mixed fish yi mian soup, $6.20. Fried and sliced fish with crinkly yi mian noodles in a light savoury broth.
Mixed fish yi mian soup from 泰成鱼汤 Tai Seng Fish Soup, $6.20. 🐟😋
What we had ($6.20):
- Mixed fish yi mian soup, $6.20
Back to Tai Seng, the fish soup name that earned its Michelin Bib Gourmand at the Taman Jurong original. This bowl came from their stall in Albert Centre Market & Food Centre on Queen Street, which is a lot handier if you are in town, and cheaper than the Orchard outlet by a few dollars. Last time we had it with thick bee hoon, so this round we swapped the carb for yi mian and it changes the bowl more than you would expect.
Yi mian is the crinkly golden egg noodle that comes as a dried nest and gets blanched loose in the soup. It has a springier, more elastic bite than bee hoon and slightly slippery, and because the strands are pre-fried it carries a faint toasty flavour that seeps into the broth as it sits. It also drinks up soup fast, so the longer you take, the softer it gets.
The broth here was on the lighter side, clear and golden-brown rather than thick and milky, savoury and clean with the sweetness cooked out of the fish bones. Easier drinking than the creamy version, and it lets the noodles and fish come forward.
“Mixed” means you get both kinds of fish. There were craggy pieces of fried fish in a light batter, still crisp on top where they sat above the soup line, and smooth sliced fish poached until just set, some with the silver skin still on. Around them, sweet cabbage, leafy greens and a slice of tofu.
Six dollars and change for a bowl this size is the kind of value that keeps a stall busy.
Overall: 4.1 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Springy yi mian, both kinds of fish, a clean light broth. Would order the yi mian again.
