Cheapest meal in Singapore?

Ok people, here’s the real deal. This is Singapore street food at it’s best. Not for the fussy kind, not for people who think it’s “too fishy”, not for hard-core vegetarians either (err.. yeah, vegetarians have been known to blur their realities in Singapore). This is the cheapest yummy meal you will get in and around Bukit Timah Singapore!

Most of my “SCORE!!” meals come in the 4 to 5 dollar range, mostly from the famed food courts of Singapore, especially Alexandra Food Court, since that was pretty walkable from where I lived. But one thing I loved to do was explore larger and larger food courts, and walk around all the possible stalls to see just how cheap their regular offerings could get. 

And I found it: $2.50 for a plate of pork rib noodles with Chinese cabbage! But wait, this post isn’t about that. Frankly, that particular stall is not multiple-visit-worthy. What I do recommend is prawn noodles from ABC Food Court. Medium sized plate for a crisp $3.00. 

Hokkien Mee

They call it Hokkien Mee. Staple street food in Singapore and Malaysia. In fact, the two have slight flavour differences, but more on that later. Mee = noodles, Hokkien = cooking style of Fujian province, prawn –> well, the default setting of the noodles is with prawns. 

I don’t even have to tell you which stall in ABC to order this from. Though it is available in every other counter, you will see a consistently long line at one particular stall at the far corner. You will see at least five tables with this particular dish on them as you walk towards that corner. The demand is high for a reason.

Hokkien mee is basically fried noodles. But the way they make it here makes it so much more than that. I’ve seen the uncle and auntie make it - they expertly toss and turn a ginormous spatula in a ginormouser frying pan with two or three types of noodles. And there is this soupy thing – I don’t know whether it’s stock or actual soup or what. It’s used to toss and turn the noodles in for a while, so that the soup effect is gone, but not so much as to make the noodles all fry and dry. 

The end result is almost creamy. The taste is mild but lasting. So you have creamy noodles, without any cream. You have soft soft prawns, without shells. Stirred into gooey goodness. No fried food fat feeling. As if that weren’t enough, a dash of their lime or chilli sauce or both will take it to another level. Have I mentioned it’s $3 for a medium sized plate and $3.5 for a big one? 

If you haven’t tried the hokkien mee at ABC yet, go do it today. If you have, tell me if you’ve had a better one at this price anywhere else!