Muslim-friendly fishball noodles with XL handmade fishballs

Fishball noodles are in all probability considered one of my favorite Chinese dishes of all time. It may be very accessible, with manufacturers like Encik Tan and the various Kopitiam shops doing fairly first rate jobs serving halal fishball noodles. Whilst these mentioned shops do their finest to fulfil my fishball noodle cravings, I’ve all the time questioned what one with selfmade fishballs would style like. With Top 73+1 Fishball Legacy, positioned at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, I lastly received my reply.

Top 73+1 Fishball Legacy has been round for 8 years and is definitely a scorching spot for the Malay neighborhood to get their halal genuine fishball noodle repair. It solely not too long ago moved to Ang Mo Kio on 1 Dec 2022 with its earlier outlet being positioned alongside Upper Thomson Road.

The restaurant is owned by Mr Tang, whose father additionally offered fishball noodles and different dishes. It was Mr Tang’s want to share the style of his cooking with many who made him open a halal-certified eatery. Because of the shift, they’re within the midst of re-obtaining their halal certification.

And this isn’t simply your run-off-the-mill fishball noodles. They are handmade and are actually scooped utilizing the hand-and-spoon technique. This and different cooking strategies are handed down from his father, who learnt it from a 73-year-old hawker approach again (therefore the title of the stall).

What I attempted at Top 73+1 Fishball Legacy

I simply needed to get their Fishball Noodle (S$5) and likewise Chicken Minced Meat Noodle (S$5). Since the soup was offered in a separate bowl, I opted for the dry choice for each noodles. Some of the opposite picks embrace Dumpling Noodle (S$5), Laksa with Prawn (S$6), Chili Ban Mian (S$6) and even Prawn Paste Chicken (S$10).

Full disclosure: It was evident that the counter girl had a restricted understanding of English and there have been on-line critiques that discovered her impolite. It’s finest to slowly and clearly articulate your orders and repeat them if it’s a must to. Remember, you’re right here for the meals, not the battle.

When I used to be served my Fishball Noodle, I used to be actually astounded by the dimensions of the fishballs. They seemed like smoothed golf balls floating in water with seaweed round them! I didn’t thoughts that I used to be given solely 4 items as they almost lined the floor of the bowl. The noodles got here wanting as anticipated with bits of spring onions and chilli sauce discovered on the base.

Despite being scorching, the noodles had been clumped collectively after I tried mixing them up. I had to make use of just a few scoops of soup to loosen the noodles, after which I gave them a great combine with the chilli sauce. 

Once intermixed, the superbly cooked noodles that had the correct amount of chew and stringiness together with the satisfyingly spicy chilli sauce made this a delight to eat at each chunk. Personally, I’d have appreciated slightly extra depth from the chilli sauce because it leaned closely on the spiciness of it relatively than flavour. Perhaps extra salt or one thing to convey out a extra sturdy flavour to couple with the warmth would’ve labored nicely. 

Also, regardless of having loved the chewiness of it, it was screaming out for a component of crunchiness. The addition of shallots or much more inexperienced onions would have positioned this dish on a pedestal.

As anticipated from most issues handmade, the fishball had a subdued fish style to it, however its QQ chewiness was second to none. This was one thing that factory-made ones merely can not replicate. If I had been to match them to different fishballs, this positively had much less springiness once you chew on them while being tender to the chunk.

As a lot as I admire them being handmade, the marginally one-note flavours of the noodle had me hoping for a stronger fish style to return by way of from the fishballs, which it finally didn’t ship on. 

Next up was the Chicken Minced Meat Noodle which had hen minced meat, hen slices, fish truffles and raw-looking dumplings. It was served with the identical soup and chilli sauce.

Again, the noodles had been clumped collectively and wanted a few spoonfuls of soup to correctly fuse them with chilli sauce. To be sincere, it tasted precisely just like the Fishball Noodle simply with totally different toppings. 

As for the toppings, the minced hen and the hen slices had been simply first rate — barely bland however the hen flavours had been there, simply not the seasonings. The fish truffles, which I doubt had been handmade, had that acquainted synthetic fish style that we all know and love and truthfully, I wanted there was an choice to go for Fishball Noodles which solely had fish truffles.

I do know it’s a near-sacrilegious thought however belief me, the fish cake flavours labored very well with the elementary-tasting noodles. I assume it’s the saltiness from them that introduced out the flavours of the noodles.

The addition of the dumpling felt like an afterthought. It was overly doughy and its exterior tasted uncooked. I couldn’t work out what the filling was. Whatever it was, I hope it was cooked. 

Final ideas

I used to be stuffed by the tip of my meal, and a big a part of it was as a result of consuming two first rate parts of noodles by myself (there goes my New Year decision). The handmade fishballs positively added additional worth to what was an already reasonably priced meal. 

Having mentioned that, the dishes didn’t notably blow me away, as my expectations had been fairly excessive due to the handmade fishballs that had been crafted from an genuine recipe. I used to be struggling to seek out what differentiated it from different fishball noodle stalls that I’ve visited, other than the additional giant and bouncy fishballs after all.

Regardless, Top 73+1 Fishball Legacy positively serves implausible fishball and minced hen noodles and I’d suggest this to those that search genuine and halal Chinese dishes, and even simply noodle lovers basically.

Expected harm: S$5 – S$10 per pax

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