Here in Dubai I have been enjoying Arabic and Indian/Pakistani food so much that I’ve almost forgotten what noodles taste like. Well of course I haven’t. I remember so fondly all the mees and la mians at the hawker centres all over. So the other day I decided to order prawn mee goreng at a nearby multi-cuisine restaurant.
It was awful. It was Indian Chinese at its worst. And I love Indian Chinese (for the uninitiated, Indian Chinese is a spicier, redder version of Chinese food, more suited to the chilli-covered Indian palate).
So of course my mind drifted to the good old days in Singapore when I would try to decide which prawn mee was the best. The simply-the-best I’ve already told you about, but the one at Malaysian Food Street at Resorts World Sentosa comes a close second.
Sentosa is known more for Universal Studios and Underwater World, which you must definitely chalk out a separate day to explore. They are delights not to be missed if you’re in Singapore. However, the many restaurants, including Hard Rock Cafe, Chili’s and a dozen others covering all mainstream cuisines, are just a short MRT ride away, even if you want to hop over from the city for a nice meal.
Malaysian Food Street is right next to Universal Studios. It’s like a filmified version of a regular hawker food street, with tall ceilings and wooden decor giving it a grander air. Sure as sauce, I spent the requisite 20 minutes surveying ALL the food stalls for the perfect meal. I narrowed it down to the food cart that had the Jalan Alor Hokkien Mee, a famous hawker chain started by a Madam Helen Lem generations ago in Kuala Lumpur. So I ordered their signature hokkien mee. My friend wandered around and came back with a very fragrant claypot ginger chicken rice, which I later found out was from the Huen Kee stall.
The hokkien mee had thick noodles drenched in thick soy sauce. Crunchy kale leaves and well-cooked tiger prawns were, I guess, supposed to be the flavour stealers, but the noodles were definitely the star. There was something different about the sauce, it wasn’t just soy or vinegar. It was just a tiny bit spicy, like a tinge of sambal or some other chilli sauce was added, but not so much that it was fiery spicy noodles. It still had the tangy-ness of soy, complemented nicely by the sweetness of the kale leaves and the simplicity of the prawns. And plus, I hadn’t eaten too many noodle dishes in Singapore that had those thick noodles – I think the thick noodles helped to balance out all the flavours dancing around in there.
The claypot ginger fried rice was a treat in itself. You know that flavour that seeps in when you cook rice in a clay pot like that? That subtle flavour, extracted from a few star anises or cloves. This had that, but with a super strong ginger flavour infused in all over the rice, giving it an amazing aroma, and a punch in every bite. Add to that the chicken which was beautifully marinated and roasted – it would just slip off the bones with your fork. In fact, it was a generous helping of chicken, which was not required, because the rice was so delicious. It was somewhere in between steamed rice and fried rice, so it was crunchy and flavourful enough to eat just like that. Let’s just say I was left scraping the pot for every last bit.
Oh and guess what, we didn’t spend a bomb! The items were about 7 dollars apiece. With regular food centers offering the same for 4 dollars, I think the premium for the ambience and the flavour is totally worth it! These two meals covered only two out of twenty-odd stalls in Malaysian Food Street. Considering how accessible the place is from Vivo City, it’s definitely worth many more visits to cover the rest. Go try! And let me know what I missed!
