Friday, March 26, 2010
Food in Singapore 2: Bak Chor Mee

Today I'll be blogging about another food delicacy in Singapore, Bak Chor Mee. Otherwise known as Minced Meat Noodles, but i prefer to call it in dialect.

So what is this Bak Chor Mee?

Bak Chor Mee is a popular noodle dish in Singpaore. It can be found almost everywhere - as long as you see a coffee shop or hawker centre, you should spot a stall that sells noodles/Bak Chor Mee.

Preparation of this bowl of noodle is also a rather tedious process. First desired outcome is to get springy noodles that have a firm bite and are not soggy. Hawkers would first loosen or toss the noodles to remove excess flour. Then, the cooking process of the noodles usually consists of blanching in hot and cold water multiple times, to increase the "springiness" of the noodle.

It is also important to eat the noodles immediately after it is served. It won't taste nice if the noodles gets too soggy.

What is in this Bak Chor Mee?
This dish is usually served with various other ingredients such as pork slices, sliced mushroom, meat balls, sliced pork liver, lettuce and off course minced meat. The noodles used to cook the dish is known as Mee Pok. Other condiments added to the dish to enhance the taste of the noodles are chilli and vinegar. Small amount of vinegar is added to give it an aroma. The chilli sauce is also a very important factor in deciding the taste of the dish. People who prefer spicy food will will request for more chilli sauce to be added.

A bowl of Bak Chor Mee is usually served with a bowl of hot soup.


Extra: Mee Pok is a type of Chinese noodles that is yellow, thin and fat in width. Together with other ingredents, it can be made into mainly two dishes: the above Bak Chor Mee and another local dish, Fishball Noodles. A very common food in Malaysia and Singapore.

Personal Opinion
I used to hate this dish when I was young. I thought that meat balls tasted weird. However, I don't feel that way now. I feel that this dish is awesome because of all the good taste of the food combined in one.
The softness of the sliced pork liver.
The aroma of the sauce.
The "springness" of the Mee Pok.
The taste of the chilli sauce.

I drool at the thought of it.

However, as nice as this dish may be, I feel that it is not easy to prepare at all. Experience is needed to come up with a really nice bowl of this dish. Take the pork liver for example. If it is overcooked, it will taste hard and it won't be nice. If it is undercooked, it will taste bloody and some people (like me) will be disgusted by it. A good bowl of Bak Chor Mee, in my opinion, should have a bit of sauce at the bottom of the bowl. It's what give the bowl of noodles flavour, it's the essence of the dish.
(Note that this sauce will "dry up" if the dish is left alone over a period of time, so eat the dish immediately after served!)

There are some stalls that sell horrible Bak Chor Mee.
I speak from experience :/
However, if cooked well, Bak Chor Mee will no doubt be a mouth watering dish.

Food For Thought

When I was young, I had always liked Fish Ball Noodles. However, as I grew up, (for some random reason) I grew to like Bak Chor Mee more then Fish Ball Noodles. How about you? What do you prefer, and why?

Kim Yao

Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bak_chor_mee#Bak_chor_mee
http://lifestylewiki.com/Bak_Chor_Mee
http://www.grampianspyreneespcp.org.au/Image/Agency%20Logos/Food%20For%20Thought%20Logo%20Reversed.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/Cai17/Bak20Chor20Mee.jpg @ ieatishootipost.blogspot.com
http://www.makansutra.com/reviews/2009_0406/ah-ho-mee-pok-tah.jpg