Family-run prawn mee stall utilizing conventional recipe from 1946

Most know Golden Mile Food Centre to be the house of Da Po Hainanese Chicken Rice & Curry Chicken and halal-certified Ashes Burnnit, however as we speak, I found probably the most valuable hidden gem there is perhaps— Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles, a family-run prawn mee stall that has been round since 1946.

Frankly, in the event you had advised me that Golden Mile Food Centre was dwelling to such a historic prawn mee stall, I wouldn’t consider you. 

Out of all of the instances I’ve been right here, this stall by no means struck an impression and slunk into the background, overshadowed by its well-known neighbour. When I imply “neighbour”, I actually imply it— Da Po Hainanese Chicken Rice & Curry Chicken is actually subsequent door.

Seriously, why have I by no means heard of this stall earlier than?!

Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles has a historical past that’s as wealthy because the prawn broth it serves. 

Run by the Tan brothers, this stall was initially opened by their father in 1946, who used to promote prawn noodles whereas peddling alongside the streets of North Bridge Road and Liang Seah Street.

“He did it without wearing any shoes,” Mr Tan Chong Siew recalled in Mandarin. “And he would carry the prawn noodles and broth by a pole, and stop to sell the prawn noodles whenever people wanted to buy from him.”

As Mr Tan’s father’s enterprise improved, the mode of enterprise advanced to a trishaw, after which a espresso store. Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles has moved round just a few instances, together with China Square Waterloo Street and Tanjong Pagar Complex, with each Tan brothers serving to out with the enterprise since they had been youngsters.

“Since I was 10, I helped to clean the bean sprouts and vegetables in the morning before going off to school,” shared Mr Tan Chong Siew. “It was so common for me to be late for school and my teacher always scolded me.”

You can catch a glimpse of Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles’ historical past by the numerous newspaper clippings that the Tan brothers have plastered throughout its storefront.

What I attempted at Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles

The menu at Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles is concise however simple— there’s your commonplace Prawn Noodles, Pork Ribs Noodles and Pig Tail noodles, all of which can be found in S$5, S$6 and S$8 parts.

Combinations are additionally out there within the type of Prawn & Pork Ribs Noodles (S$6/S$8/S$10), Pig Tail Prawn Noodles (S$6/S$8/S$10) and Pig Tail Pork Ribs Noodles (S$6/S$7/S$8).

As with most prawn noodle stalls, you possibly can select between dry and soup choices and choose what sort of noodles you’d like.

The first dish I made a decision to attempt was Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles’ Prawn & Pork Ribs Noodles (Dry), and acquired the S$6 portion with yellow noodles and bee hoon.

For simply S$6, I used to be immediately impressed with the quantity I had been given. A considerable amount of noodles was accompanied by three halves of prawns, a handful of pork ribs, and a bowl of soup on the facet.

Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles was beneficiant with the quantity of sauce that had been given with the dry noodles. I didn’t want so as to add any soup whereas tossing my noodles; it was a simple course of that resulted in deliciously shiny noodles.

This was so scrumptious that I wolfed down three to 4 mouthfuls of noodles at one go. This is what I’d think about an ideal bowl of dry prawn mee to style like: wealthy, saucy, and undeniably savoury. 

The chilli was splendidly accomplished— aromatic and lightweight, with only a teasing quantity of spice that made it all of the extra addictive. To prime it off, I may style a touch of shallot oil, which lifted the whole lot up.

What a fantastic bowl of noodles. And I haven’t even gotten to the prawns or pork ribs but!

These had been giant prawns that had been halved for simpler consuming, and I beloved how vibrantly crimson it was, whereas its flesh was white and agency. Each chunk was candy and meaty, and I particularly beloved tossing it within the noodles’ chilli sauce for that savoury contact.

Most, if not all, of the pork ribs that I’ve had with prawn noodles normally include dry pork meat on bone, however Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles’ was totally different. 

These had been tender, entire items of pork meat that had been mushy and meaty, as if that they had been braised previous to being added in. In truth, I don’t even assume I had a single piece of pork rib that got here with the bone— all had been pure items of pork meat that I may simply pop into my mouth like sweet.

Already floored by how scrumptious Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles’ dry prawn mee was, I went straight for its soup and eagerly had a slurp.

This can be what Hokkiens name “tee”— candy, sturdy and full of flavour. I beloved the way it was full-bodied with out being salty, and I may style the briny sweetness from the prawn heads with each sip.

The lard got here in thick cubes. It ticked all of the bins by way of texture— it was crunchy on the surface whereas puffy and ethereal on the within, nevertheless it was a bit of too smoky for my style buds.

I moved onto the soup model of the basic Prawn Noodles, and much like the Prawn & Pork Ribs Noodles, I requested for the S$6 variant with yellow noodles and bee hoon.

While many of the parts had been much like its dry counterpart— noodles, prawns and lard— this bowl of noodles was much less savoury. Instead, the soup served was lighter and extra drinkable, whereas nonetheless remaining aromatic and candy. I’d reckon this is able to be nice for folk who won’t desire spicy or robust flavours, and would need one thing comforting and soothing for his or her meal.

One factor I had seen was that the style of the noodles had seeped into the prawn broth, leading to a barely extra alkaline (or siap) style, which I didn’t notably take pleasure in.

Final ideas

I’d positively come again for the Prawn & Pork Ribs Noodles (Dry) once more. This was such a knock-out dish that I’d extremely advocate. The dry chilli sauce was fairly spectacular and suffice to say, when paired with the tender and meaty pork ribs, I completed that complete bowl in a single sitting. Plus, ordering it dry permits you to benefit from the full drive of its briny prawn broth by itself, with out the noodles affecting its style.

With the most cost effective bowl of Prawn Noodles going for as little as S$5, you’re actually getting your cash’s price right here at Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodles. And belief me, the Tan brothers don’t scrimp on their components.

What a formidable feat for a prawn mee legacy that goes again all the best way to 1946!

Expected injury: S$5 – S$8 per pax

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