We kick of August with a month of Singapore good eats. Sometimes in our journeys to get the next best meal, we stumble onto something so simple and yet so good that fortunately escaped the social media’s attention.
At Tampines Street 11, there’s a UFO like round hawker centre that has been the centre of all the activities every morning for the residents around the area. It was bustling with activities that morning I was there.
I came for this popular bak chor mee 肉脞面 (minced pork noodles), but it turned out to be quite disappointing, or should I be more objective to say their specialty is not the minced pork noodles.
The noodles were quite soggy, and the chilli lacked punch. It turned out that their other types of noodles (braised chicken wings and chicken feet) were the attraction and not the bak chor mee. My brother who used to stay around this area recommended that we try his favourite prawn noodles.
Hokkien prawn noodles is a local comfort food of a spicy flavourful broth served with shrimp, slices of pork, bean sprouts, and water spinach. Lao Lee Pig’s Viscera Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle is hard to miss as there’s almost always an endless queue. And it took my brother 30 min to get his orders in as everyone before him had more than one portion in the order.
The soup stock is the same for all the soup dishes, but the ingredients are different. My siblings prefer the soup version, and I always order the dry version of the prawn noodles with every thing (skin, stomach, intestines, liver, loin, etc).
Mdm He, the store owner, puts in a lot of hard work in preparation of the soup stock from as early as 4am every day. Her signature Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle’s broth had a slight tinge of sweetness. The soup stock is made of pork bones, prawn head, garlic, pepper and some ‘secret ingredients’. The soup is cooked over high heat for about two hours before it is left to simmer overnight.
The prawns were really sweet and succulent. The offals were cleaned properly and had none of the stench or funky taste. I especially enjoyed the addition of the “powder” or small intestine 粉腸, which is not readily found these days because of the hard work involved in preparation. The pork ribs were so tender that I could pull the meat off the bone in just a bite.
The chilli in the dry version was tasty but not enough. I asked for more chilli to be mixed into the noodles and it elevated the dry mee pot up several notches. Of course you can also sprinkle the dried chilli powder, but I never like that stuff. The chilli is different from the usual one that is quite pasty and dark. Theirs looks like the raw chilli paste.
I always order the pig’s tail with my prawn noodles. The pig’s tails were cooked to perfection, and every mouthful was soft and gelatinous. The generous amount of pork lard cracklings floating on the soup were delightful, a heart attack waiting to happen.
This store is now one of my favourite prawn noodles in Singapore. Not very well covered by social media, it is nevertheless very popular with the locals.
Lao Lee Pig’s Viscera Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle 老李猪什排骨蝦麵
Tampines Round Market & Food Centre #01-43,
137 Tampines St 11, Singapore 521137
Visited Apr 2025
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