In what is almost a ritual when eating at Hoe Nam, I went across the street to get some Ngoh Hiang from Lao Zhong Zhong – there will be plenty of time to make the purchase and finish it before the noodles arrive. To quote a HGWer, Lao Zhong Zhong is an institution for Ngoh Hiang. Rightly so, I felt. Arriving in the late morning, we perhaps even had the luxury of fresh oil in the wok and every item turned out light, crisp and not greasy at all. The prawn cracker is my perennial favourite – airy and crunchy. What could be a better starter before a prawn noodle? I also love a prawn cracker when having Hokkien Mee but that’s another story. Special mention also goes out to the Tau Kwa which tasted richly and properly of beans. Their chilli sauce was spot on too.
Now the prawn noodles. Where do I start? The stock, silly! I thought that day’s soup was perfect. It’s not the strongest tasting prawn stock but it contained purely the sweet essence of prawns without its negative elements (i.e. bitter and muddy notes). The silky mouthfeel and big umami was definitely a result of the rapid boiling of gelatinous pork bones – giving the prawns a solid canvas on which to express themselves. A dash of chilli powder and some fresh chilli takes it lofty heights. My friends thought it was too subtle - different strokes. Noodles were excellent too. I always have Kuay Teow Mee as I find the yellow noodles itself to be too cloying. The prawns were a little better than average but still nothing to shout home about but I quite liked the tender pork ribs. Of course, no prawn noodle could go wrong with a sprinkling of fried onions and little flavour bombs of crispy lard on top.
The Sunday Brunch club:
Alexis
Weixun
Victor
And Your's Truly
No comments:
Post a Comment