Food : Mee Siam

Whenever my taxi is in the vicinity of Sengkang area, in the north-eastern part of Singapore, I would crave to have my  favorite dish of Mee Siam, a dish of thin rice noodles (vermicelli) in spicy, sweet and sour light gravy. It's a popular one-dish meals in both Malay and Chinese version.

Inevitably, I would drive straight to Block 401, Hougang Ave. 10. For the uninitiated, you would probably not be able to locate the stall instantly because it's tucked in front of a larger stall selling assorted Chinese rojak ( Gou Yong Hei Pei ) under a sighboard " Eng Teck Nasi Lemark". The excellent flavor of the Mee Siam would definitely compensates for the difficulty in locating this stall, which has no signboard.

Briefly, Mee Siam  is made by frying a rice noodle that has been dipped in boiling water with a thick, sweet, fragrant sauce. The sauce is made from coconut milk mixed with prawns paste, salted soy bean, garlic chives and tamarind. Additional ingredients, such as deep fried golden tau kwa (pressed bean curd), boiled egg, small dried shrimps, bean sprouts and finely grounded peanuts are added and finally garnished with spring onions. At this stall, the additional ingredients are neatly placed in ceramics bowls for your selection.

I ordered a $2.20 bowl with a small amount of chilli paste. The sauce is fantastic with a nice balance of sweet and sour taste, not spicy or over powering with coconut flavor and fragrant. I didn't mix the chilli paste (factory produced) with the sauce so as not to spoil the overall taste. I understand that the stall is opened 24 hours a day and many taxi drivers frequent it. Hope you can try it when you are in the vicinity of Haugang.