This is my first ever visit to Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre at 4 Woodlands Street 12. Opened in 2018, it houses 70 cooked food stalls with 80% of the hawkers coming from the Old Woodlands Town Centre Hawker Centre.
While researching for food recommendations here, Ah Yi Handmade Noodle & Fish Soup stood out from the rest of the contenders.
I love handmade noodle and among the types of noodles available, my favorite is the mee hoon kueh. However, most of the times, I would order either the ban mian or u-mian instead.
Why? The reason for doing so is because not all mee hoon kueh are created equal.
While many places tout their mee hoon kueh as "handmade", their dough were actually pressed and cut by machine resulting in every piece looking like they came out of a cookie cutter.
Most of the times, I struggle to pick them up with my chopsticks as they are anorexic-thin! There is simply no pleasure and a absolute waste of calories so I would rather have something else.
The mee hoon kueh here, however, is a cut above. This is one of the rarer stalls that still pinches their mee hoon kueh off the dough by hand resulting in a thicker and irregular shaped noodle.
The stretching gave it a satisfying doughy and gummy mouthfeel which I could only dream of.
Ingredients in the bowl included fried ikan bilis (anchovies), minced pork, an egg and spinach.
The ikan bilis could be crispier but at least they are not extremely salty like how some places make them.
They are pretty generous with the knobs of minced pork however, I felt that they were too heavy-handed with the marinade.
Personally, I prefer my minced pork unseasoned just like those found in bak chor mee. Perhaps just some salt will do but definitely no pepper for me. I even tasted Chinese wine if I am not mistaken. I am of the viewpoint that too much seasoning overwhelms the pork's natural sweetness. Less is more, I guess.
Another thing that I dislike having in my mee hon kueh is an overcooked egg. It happens when the egg is added too early while the broth is still boiling away vigorously in the pot.
Thankfully, this stall only crack the egg into the bowl after the cooking is completed. As the egg did not go through the cooking process on the stove, it remains runny just the way I like it.
Some stalls uses the chye sim while some, like Ah Yi, uses spinach. It all boils down to personal preference. What I prefer is sayur manis (mani cai/马尼菜) instead as the vegetable imparts a distinct flavor which no other vegetables can.
My bowl of mee hoon kueh is great value at $5. It is also available in $4 and $6.
The hawker centre is located on the ground level of Marsiling Mall. My observation is that it can get pretty warm and stuffy in there as the ceiling fan circulates the hot air repeatedly. Also, the dim lighting just does not seem very welcoming.
The shops and supermarket can be found on the second level whereas the third level and above is the multi-storey car park.
AH YI HANDMADE NOODLE 阿壹手工麵粉粿魚湯
Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre
4 Woodlands Street 12
#01-66
Singapore 738623
Business Hours
Fri - Wed: 8am - 8pm
Closed: Thu
Google Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nDFYPW2pZWDkTcWf7
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