Not Quite Bak Chor Mee

I normally wouldn't bother to rush to any old-school stall that's shutting down just to taste its food for one last time, what more for bak chor mee. However, this 'no signboard' bak chor mee stall at Tiong Bahru estate, or also known as 'Sixties Chaozhou Traditional Minced Meat Noodle' at the corner of Block 71 Seng Poh Road, is within easy reach at the corner kopitiam sited near my gym. So it wasn't difficult to rock up at 11am after a class to eat a bowl before the stall closes at this location on June 27, 2023.

The queue aren't that long but it's very slow-moving because the owner DGAF about the crowds and simply cooks at his measured pace to produce a fairly consistent bowl for everyone, every day (except Thursdays). I go after 9.45am and before 11.15am. Any earlier or later, you run into the peak breakfast and lunch crowds; that would be minimally 30 minutes in the queue. Even at this hour, sometimes my wait can be 20 minutes. Even when I'm the second person in the queue, I wait for at least 12 minutes before it's my turn. That is, if the person in front of me orders only two bowls.  

I don't fancy bak chor mee per se. I can deal with mee kia but I love kway teow. At these noodle stalls, the order in Mandarin for me usually goes "粿條，白白".

I like it as minced meat and mushrooms with kway teow; no chilli and no vinegar. 

I don't mind either dumplings or fishballs in the bowl; don't care about meatballs. For this stall, I always order the $7 or $10 bowl — they add in dumplings/jiaozi, this tangy mushrooms, small meatballs and lovely fresh prawns. I really love these dumplings. They add crispy dried sole fish bits into their jiaozi/dumplings! SO TRADITIONAL, SO GOOD.

I've been eating at this stall for years. The flavors come together a lot better than other stalls and are superior to any budget-friendly stalls at the food centers or stalls in a mall. There're literally like five items on the menu for you to choose from. Nothing complicated. But if you've been going here for a while, the couple is quite happy to 'customise' your bowl if you're clear with your single order. The might not look it, but they're okay. Just don't quibble with them over the prices; they're very fair and will never kertok us anyway. 

The other option I like to have at this stall is the Teochew dumpling soup with slices of fish (usually snapper). That's usually about $14 - $15, depending on whether I request for kway teow in the bowl or more fish. They will usually have some form of fish. If there isn't ti po (地寶, a flounder of sorts), it's red snapper. 

Unfortunately the soup isn't the best for this order because it isn't done using fish bones. It's just the regular pork bone soup. But it's tasty enough. They don't stinge on that soup. I have added extras to the bowl of Teochew dumplings + fish slices that it came up to $22. Hahahaha. Got side-eyed by the couple who oddly, sometimes, don't want to sell me such a 'pricey' bowl, and have ticked me off for it. 🙄

The 76-year-old owner Koh, or Ah Chye as he's known to the community, and his wife has run this business for 57 years. They want to continue serving up bak chor mee in the area for a few more years, but I don't know how the hunt for a viable new location is going. Their opening hours of 6.30am to 1pm for six days a week might seem kind (as opposed to a full-day of operations till the evening), but for their age, it's exhausting. The purchase of ingredients, prep work and clean-up are tedious and the physically demanding. It's an enormous toil on your body.

These old-school flavors are fading away as this generation of hawkers retire. Sure, every generation has its preferred flavors and people will always tweak commercial foods to their preferences. And hence, every older person in each generation laments about the 'loss of old flavors' because those have been etched in our memories and tastebuds. We hunt for these flavors that don't exist anymore. Unless we're a halfway decent cook and try to recreate in our own kitchens.