Young hawker recreates grandma’s nostalgic recipes in Ang Mo Kio

Growing up, we’ve all had childhood recollections surrounding meals. Personally, I’ll all the time keep in mind the odor of my grandma’s freshly-baked pandan chiffon cake, however for the younger hawker behind Shiok Shiok Noodles, it was black mee sua soup and hen in pink glutinous rice wine.

Chef Kelvin Tan, who turns 37 this 12 months, drew inspiration from his maternal and paternal grandmothers’ conventional recipes when establishing his first hawker stall at Sin Ming Lane in late 2020.

Apart from paying homage to well-loved and old-school dishes reminiscent of hen in pink glutinous rice wine, Chef Kelvin additionally needed to breathe new life into these dying dishes, which have slowly been phased out over the previous few a long time.

After a 12 months at Sin Ming Lane, Chef Kelvin made the transfer to Teck Ghee Court Market & Food Centre in late 2021, which is positioned in Ang Mo Kio.

You’ll discover Shiok Shiok Noodles alongside the stretch of hawker stalls going through the primary street and it’s simply identifiable by its gleaming pink signboard.

What I attempted at Shiok Shiok Noodles

Shiok Shiok Noodles’ Traditional Black Mee Sua Soup prices S$7 and comes with mee sua, liver kidney, sliced ginger, and a home-made natural soup that jogs my memory of Seng Kee Mee Sua.

If you’re feeling fancy, you’ll be able to prime up one other S$1.50 to get XO liquor added to your mee sua.

I learnt that the recipe for this specific dish hails from Chef Kelvin’s maternal grandmother, and in a bid to attempt his most genuine model of this nostalgic dish, I made a decision to get the model with XO liquor, which labored out to be S$8.50.

Despite the marginally hefty price ticket, I used to be impressed with the broth, which was hearty and crammed with sturdy flavours. The intoxicating aroma of the XO liquor added a depth of richness to the soup, which had a touch of smoky gaminess.

There have been loads of innards in my bowl of mee sua— I counted about six or seven massive items, which have been delicately springy and never too chewy.

Paired with the slippery mee sua, this made for a comforting bowl of noodles which completely hit the spot on a wet day (which it was!). I used to be impressed by Chef Kelvin’s rendition of this old-school dish, which I’m positive will invoke loads of childhood recollections for different diners who grew up consuming this.

There is one dish on Shiok Shiok Noodles’ menu that isn’t from Chef Kelvin’s grandmothers’ recipes: his Spicy Mala Minced Meat Noodle (S$4.50 for small, S$5.50 for giant).

Yes, you learn that proper! Mala bak chor mee.

As an enormous mala and bak chor mee lover, I used to be tremendous keen to provide this dish a attempt.

All it took was one good stir for the acquainted numbing scent of mala to fill the air, and as soon as my mee pok was coated totally with the sauce, I slurped up my first mouthful of noodles.

The mala spice hit me shortly and I may style its iconic umami-filled pepperiness, which shocked me as to how a lot it resembled my favorite bowl of mala xiang guo.

Spice stage smart, I’d say it sits between a xiao la (small) and zhong la (medium). The warmth builds up slowly and steadily, so should you’re not a fan of spicy meals, you’ll be able to go for much less spice. Chef Kelvin shared that for purchasers who ask for much less spice, he’ll steadiness it out with tomato ketchup.

The mixture of textures and flavours labored effectively. You’ve acquired that silky sauciness from the noodles, the springy minced meat, fishballs and fish cake, smoky and crunchy lard, and a superb meaty chunk from the meatballs.

All in all, this can be a strong bowl of mala noodles from Shiok Shiok Noodles. My solely gripe could be that it was lacking that kick of acidity from the vinegar in my regular bak chor mee.

Towards the tip of our meal, Chef Kelvin introduced out a small portion of his Ang Zhao Mee Sua (S$5.50), which is also referred to as hen in pink glutinous rice wine. 

This dish, which hails from Chef Kelvin’s paternal grandmother, is simply out there on weekends at Shiok Shiok Noodles.

This tasted precisely like home-cooked meals and immediately soothed my abdomen. Aromatic with a superb depth of savoury flavours, that is one thing I’d simply journey down on a weekend to have— it was that good, and I’d say, fairly appropriately shiok.

Final ideas

It’s undoubtedly an A for effort at Shiok Shiok Noodles. 

Chef Kelvin’s dishes are infused with a nostalgic old-school style that makes them merely pleasant. I used to be impressed together with his dishes’ authenticity and depth of flavour, and would gladly advocate this to anybody who’s searching for a style of home-cooked Black Mee Sua Soup with XO or Ang Zhao Mee Sua. His personal concoction, the Spicy Mala Minced Meat Noodles, was fairly respectable and would sit effectively with mala lovers for its addictive numbing pepperiness. 

You can wager that I’ll actually be again— maybe even with my very own grandparents in tow, in order that they will take pleasure in a fuss-free bowl of nostalgic and yummy goodness at Shiok Shiok Noodles. 

Expected injury: S$3.50 – S$8.50 per pax

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