[Singapore] Mee Siam from Jia Xiang Cooked Food, Redhill Food Centre

[klyeoh (Peter)]

“Mee siam”, Malay for “Thai noodles”, is one of the more popular street foods in Singapore. It consists of “bee hoon” or thin, white rice noodles in a sweet-sour-spicy gravy. The commercial version of mee siam is usually served with tofu puffs, hard-boiled egg, and beansprouts, whereas in homemade versions, we also usually add par-boiled shrimps and poached chicken meat, to make it a one-dish meal.

We were down at Bukit Merah, a working-class housing estate in the south-central part of Singapore last weekend, because a couple of my friends wanted to check out a highly-recommended mee siam spot there.

Jia Xiang Cooked Food stall occupies #01-35 of Redhill Food Centre in Bukit Merah Central. It’s currently run by 64-year-old Mdm Tan Bee Eng, earnest and very proud of the little food stall started by her mother nearly half a century ago.

Mdm Tan’s version ticked all the boxes of the dish, as described in Infopedia Singapore:
" The gravy, made with tamarind, sugar, shrimp, belacan (shrimp paste) and taucheo (soya bean paste), is poured over the bee hoon and the dish topped with sliced hard boiled egg, fried tau pok (bean curd), bean sprouts and Chinese chives.4 A dollop of sambal tumis (a type of chilli paste) rounds off the dish."

The rendition here is milder than some I’d tried around town, and suits my taste, although I think many Singaporeans might be looking for those with sharper and spicier flavours.

Jia Xiang also offers lontong - compressed rice cakes with spicy, coconut milk-rich gravy. I’ll have to make another trip back here to try that.

Address
Jia Xiang Cooked Food
#01-35 Redhill Food Centre
85 Redhill Lane, Singapore 150085
Opening hours: 9am-8pm daily

[digga]

Oh my, lontong is a dish I didn’t encounter when I visited Singapore. Man, my mouth is watering at the thought of it, though.

[naf]

@digga

Oh my, lontong is a dish I didn’t encounter when I visited Singapore.

When traveling in MY, I vaguely remember I came across it made in plastic wrap, not in leaves.

photo credit: wikipedia

[thwysg]

Lots of great food stalls around this hawker centre! My old workplace was just around the corner.

[digga]

Don’t see the gravy - does it come in the side

[naf]

Sure, there is always gravy!

[klyeoh (Peter)]

@digga

Don’t see the gravy - does it come in the side

Yes, the compressed rice cakes which @naf showed will be served in a gravy and accompaniments/condiments, depending on where or which South-east Asian country it’s served in. But the common thing is usually that the spicy gravy is enriched with coconut milk.

1. The Singapore lontong is the one I grew up with, and suits my taste preference to a ‘t’. I’ll eat lontong at any and every lontong stall in Singapore, but this one at Kampung Glam Cafe is an old favourite. It’s down at the Arab Quarter of Kampung Glam in Singapore.
   I chose “opor ayam” (a spicy curried chicken), “begedil” (fried potato croquette), tofu, “tempe” and “serunding” (spiced, grated coconut) to go with the rice cakes. The Singapore lontong gravy is richer than its Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts’.
   

   

2. Indonesian lontong, which was served at the Wisma Perdamaian Tugu Muda in Semarang, Central Java. The Central Javanese version is turmeric-heavy, and much spicier than its Singapore counterpart. It came with “opor ayam” (curried chicken), curried gourd, cabbage and “tempe”. No “serunding” (spiced, grated coconut) but a sprinkling of dried herbs/powdered spices.
   

   

3. Malaysian lontong from Kuala Lumpur’s Lontong 'n Such. Thinner gravy here, topped with hard-boiled egg, fried turmeric-marinated chicken, fried beef lung, chilied squid and “serunding”.