Hainan Hokkien Mee is the real OG. My grandparents were already patronising them when the current owner's parents were the cooks. This is that hokkien mee taste that my parents know growing up since the 1940s. The wet version only came along in the 1980s as hawkers transit out of charcoal. I actually still do not consider the wet version hokkien mee, cause it does not qualify as fried. It's more like hor fun. Even fried hor fun is dry.
Been waiting for your review of these two places. I personally used to go to Hainan regularly before You Fu opened. Nowadays I prefer You Fu for their ability to "upsize", no bean sprouts, extra fried pork lard and basically just very enthusiastic young chefs. Just my two cents.
As a Malaysian, Singapore hokkien mee is one of my 3 favourite Singaporean dishes, together with Katong Laksa and Singapore fried beehoon. Next time I'm in Singapore, I really need to get out of CBD and Orchard rd and search for these places because the best Singapore hokkien mee I've had so far was in KL...
hainan hkm is the best dry style hkm in sg. the only gripe is the small portions. btw if u dabao hainan hkm and eat it 10-15 mins later, it’s even better than eating it immediately. but don’t wait too long otherwise it has a bitter aftertaste
come daily is prob one of the top wet types. but if you’ve tried them many years ago before they moved to the current 2nd story market, they were even better, with a more viscous and thick slimy hkm. just within these few years they have downsized their prawns, which is quite disappointing cos they are not cheap and they shouldn’t compromise their reputation.
Great. I will try You Fu next time. As long as it is great tasting and somewhat authentic, doesnt matter if it taste super authentic or not. Improving or redefining an old school dish is still authentic in my books.
@@Alderic. cool. looking forward to it. IMO, the secret "sauce" for me is that it must be cooked with pork belly bits. Those stalls that cook without it are somehow lacking in the "fragrance" department for me.
To be fair, most of the chefs happened to also be the business owners. They have to balance the books as well and maintain some form of profit margins for their livelihoods. Their primary objective is not to feed the general public like a public good or soup kitchen that is subsidised or even funded by the government or some charity institutions, although maybe you could argue that those under NEA hawker centre schemes do enjoy some rent subsidies or rental cost ceiling.
yeah I see where you are coming from, such is the reality of our capitalistic society today. but I think as a profession, there is a certain fundamental value you bring to the table beyond just the exchange of dollars and cents.
Agree with this review. I just tried both recently. They are both very good, except that You Fu indeed taste a little more like white bee hoon. But overall both are good and worth trying.
Crazy how I spent 5 years in Singapore for secondary school and then kept visiting Singapore every few months for the next 10 years and I never went to Golden Mile. Especially since I usually stay at the motel near Albert Center 😅
it's going to get so difficult to rank, everyone has their own opinion of the best, but I don't think there is a lack of good HKM, Chicken Rice, Prawn Noodles etc. if you know your neighbourhood well.
Bro, I think you need an upper tier 3 to further divide the rankings. Maybe can consider further dividing the rankings into 4 stars or 5 stars or maybe have a constant top 3 and see if the new hokkien mee can fit into the top 3 or not. Hokkien mee is going to be super hard to rank and would love to see which brand gets to stay in the top 3.
Alderic, another place that might also be in the big league is Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee at the Tiong Bahru Market. Give it a try if you have time, perhaps you can keep up this streak!
Authenticity is academic... CLASSIC Alderic😂😂.. i sense some bias.... You translated the Chinese comment but not the Malay one... Caught you! 😝😝 Thanks again for the series... Your videos always drive my Monday blues away... THE LATE FOOD KING.. I couldn't stop laughing at your comments today..😅😅
I can't help it but feel that if you don't squeeze the lime over hokkien mee, is not hokkien mee. The acidic taste will help with the flavour profile and make it more flavour bite after bite. And apparently if you dabao hokkien it taste better
yes it does make it taste better but it also helps hide a lot of the potential flaws. normally I will use the lime but for the series, with all these well-established hawkers, I will skip it.
i would like to say i really enjoy your videos starting from the steak reviews which i think you are spot on with how a steak should be cooked in a steakhouse. In my opinion, Ah Hock hokkien mee is overrated, I have been living in serangoon gardens and much prefer the other one nearer to the entrance, it is a less wet version and their chilli might be the best hokkien mee chilli in SG. should give it a try
I tried both stall once on the same day and I prefer YouFu more. HaiNan disappoint me because of the strong alkaline taste. Maybe I need to drop by again
tbh those 2 stalls blew up way before food king started. in the old days the auntie will serve the chicken rice to the customers table. so even though there was no perpetual queue, waiting time was super long still.
hainan hokkien mee - it is good but i was put off by the tiny black bits (in cantonese is called wok xi (shit)) all over the the noodle. having wok hei is not the excuse for the wok xi. when the cze char stall serves me their dishes with all these wok xi, i retrun it. this is basic wok maintenance.
Normally, ppl who give Hainan anything less than 2/3 noodles are just fans of the wet version who are biased. Haha. Seriously, u think it’s easy to make a dry version which is not cloy and flavorful without it being mushy? The wet version is , to me, nice, but way easier, u just need to perfect the stock and u are good to go. I personally like the dry version but i have no qualms giving you fu 3 noodles even if it’s the wet version. If it’s nice, it’s nice. Hainan is nice , just not your cup of tea. And weird that u keep trying after u say it’s bad..
Also tried Hainan a couple times and was sorely disappointed. Dunno what the fuss is about the flavour because there wasn't any. The Simon road one was a lot better, all things considered.
@@auvoir2000 the problem is its not even flavourful? really dont see how maggi powder taste, without any seafood broth depth can be considered as flavourful. Perfecting the stock, controlling consistency, incorporating wok hei == easier? more like you have a dry bias...
@@bennnnft exactly, I tried a few times just to give the store a chance to redeem themselves yet still disappointing as hell lol! To people who got butthurt by my comment, we seriously do not care
Hey Alderic can I suggest that you also buy another plate and send it for E.coli test? See how many bacteria there are in different plate of HKM? I saw another youtuber (cute one) doing that. Very good info to know how much bacteria Tian Tian chicken rice has.
this is a stupid idea. Firstly, hokkien mee are served fresh out of the wok. The entire dish is cooked under high heat that any bacteria should be destroyed. Common sense right? E coli tests are for meats that are left hanging out for the whole day aka chicken, duck, charsiew etc.
To be honest, you wouldn't get that much bacteria in hokkien mee because it is freshly fried, which kills off the bacteria. Chicken rice, esp the white poached chicken version, will have high bacteria counts because it is hung for hours at room temperature before it's cut. Bacteria tends to grow better in such conditions.
@@shazech Oh you got a point there. Actually I was thinking of the hygine level of the plate and stuff. Some hawker center like old airport road are really quite dirty, pigeon friendly etc.
@@Alderic. They are more like the geylang lorong 29. During that time all hokkien mee are looks like that, only recent years maybe 10-20 years ago all these Simon road type start popping up. Plus the uncle will paddle with 3 wheel cart to the kampung to sell the hokkien mee.
Hainan Hokkien Mee is the real OG. My grandparents were already patronising them when the current owner's parents were the cooks. This is that hokkien mee taste that my parents know growing up since the 1940s. The wet version only came along in the 1980s as hawkers transit out of charcoal. I actually still do not consider the wet version hokkien mee, cause it does not qualify as fried. It's more like hor fun. Even fried hor fun is dry.
Been waiting for your review of these two places. I personally used to go to Hainan regularly before You Fu opened. Nowadays I prefer You Fu for their ability to "upsize", no bean sprouts, extra fried pork lard and basically just very enthusiastic young chefs. Just my two cents.
yeah, they recently opened up a new place selling new dishes as well, excited for them.
As a Malaysian, Singapore hokkien mee is one of my 3 favourite Singaporean dishes, together with Katong Laksa and Singapore fried beehoon. Next time I'm in Singapore, I really need to get out of CBD and Orchard rd and search for these places because the best Singapore hokkien mee I've had so far was in KL...
Your Hokkien Mee series is so exciting as always!!!
hainan hkm is the best dry style hkm in sg. the only gripe is the small portions. btw if u dabao hainan hkm and eat it 10-15 mins later, it’s even better than eating it immediately. but don’t wait too long otherwise it has a bitter aftertaste
can’t wait for come daily’s video! imo the best in sg. some guy posted the entire frying process on youtube and it blew my mind
come daily is prob one of the top wet types. but if you’ve tried them many years ago before they moved to the current 2nd story market, they were even better, with a more viscous and thick slimy hkm. just within these few years they have downsized their prawns, which is quite disappointing cos they are not cheap and they shouldn’t compromise their reputation.
Great. I will try You Fu next time. As long as it is great tasting and somewhat authentic, doesnt matter if it taste super authentic or not. Improving or redefining an old school dish is still authentic in my books.
Can do the best Prata in Singapore series?
Hainan fried hokkien mee is my all time favorite. Best of the Best
Hokkien mee is already vv legendary to add hainan hokkien mee goes to show how gd it is
Excellent! Will revisit this complex for sure…and also pay my respects to the recent death of Golden Mile - Little Thailand - RIP 🙏🇹🇭
I’m still searching for one that taste as great as my childhood one. Which are the other 3 plates HKM you’ve tried?
plenty as of now, I will do some moderation at the end of the series.
@@Alderic. cool. looking forward to it. IMO, the secret "sauce" for me is that it must be cooked with pork belly bits. Those stalls that cook without it are somehow lacking in the "fragrance" department for me.
To be fair, most of the chefs happened to also be the business owners.
They have to balance the books as well and maintain some form of profit margins for their livelihoods.
Their primary objective is not to feed the general public like a public good or soup kitchen that is subsidised or even funded by the government or some charity institutions, although maybe you could argue that those under NEA hawker centre schemes do enjoy some rent subsidies or rental cost ceiling.
yeah I see where you are coming from, such is the reality of our capitalistic society today. but I think as a profession, there is a certain fundamental value you bring to the table beyond just the exchange of dollars and cents.
Agree with this review. I just tried both recently. They are both very good, except that You Fu indeed taste a little more like white bee hoon. But overall both are good and worth trying.
Crazy how I spent 5 years in Singapore for secondary school and then kept visiting Singapore every few months for the next 10 years and I never went to Golden Mile. Especially since I usually stay at the motel near Albert Center 😅
it's going to get so difficult to rank, everyone has their own opinion of the best, but I don't think there is a lack of good HKM, Chicken Rice, Prawn Noodles etc. if you know your neighbourhood well.
Bro, I think you need an upper tier 3 to further divide the rankings. Maybe can consider further dividing the rankings into 4 stars or 5 stars or maybe have a constant top 3 and see if the new hokkien mee can fit into the top 3 or not. Hokkien mee is going to be super hard to rank and would love to see which brand gets to stay in the top 3.
You gotta try Daruma Tavern's one. Atas place now, but started at a hawker
Maybe a suggestion is go to some unknown hokkien mee stall, the outcome might be different
I will go there soon and try
Alderic, another place that might also be in the big league is Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee at the Tiong Bahru Market. Give it a try if you have time, perhaps you can keep up this streak!
try the one at kovan! beside punggol nasi lemak 😁
Authenticity is academic... CLASSIC Alderic😂😂.. i sense some bias.... You translated the Chinese comment but not the Malay one... Caught you! 😝😝 Thanks again for the series... Your videos always drive my Monday blues away... THE LATE FOOD KING.. I couldn't stop laughing at your comments today..😅😅
haha I had to think for a bit to recall where I used Malay. thank you! glad you enjoyed the video!
I can't help it but feel that if you don't squeeze the lime over hokkien mee, is not hokkien mee. The acidic taste will help with the flavour profile and make it more flavour bite after bite. And apparently if you dabao hokkien it taste better
I tried dabao and non-dabao before and i think dabao taste a bit better
yes it does make it taste better but it also helps hide a lot of the potential flaws. normally I will use the lime but for the series, with all these well-established hawkers, I will skip it.
For You Fu, you should ask for the free pork lard which they would only give when asked which will make it even more enjoyable
i would like to say i really enjoy your videos starting from the steak reviews which i think you are spot on with how a steak should be cooked in a steakhouse. In my opinion, Ah Hock hokkien mee is overrated, I have been living in serangoon gardens and much prefer the other one nearer to the entrance, it is a less wet version and their chilli might be the best hokkien mee chilli in SG. should give it a try
yes I heard a lot about Chia Keng, shall give it a try the next time I go around.
Hi Aldric no joke but Simon Road Hokkien Mee closed down after you visited it 😂
I believe they relocated. Check the comments in that video
Relocated to kovan. I just had it on vesak day how can be closed down hahaha
yeah they moved to Kovan 209
I tried both stall once on the same day and I prefer YouFu more. HaiNan disappoint me because of the strong alkaline taste. Maybe I need to drop by again
Hainan and the Chicken Rice blew up only because everyone loved to bathe themselves in Food King's recommendations
it's kinda chicken-and-egg because places have to be of a certain popularity already before they get onto Food King's radar.
@@Alderic. not about the discovery part but more of the social influence bias ( rating bubble ) saying its good because someone important said so
tbh those 2 stalls blew up way before food king started. in the old days the auntie will serve the chicken rice to the customers table. so even though there was no perpetual queue, waiting time was super long still.
Looks good. No more $5 liao
pls do a white Bee Hoon series !
I've noticed some don't have lard walao
hainan hokkien mee - it is good but i was put off by the tiny black bits (in cantonese is called wok xi (shit)) all over the the noodle. having wok hei is not the excuse for the wok xi. when the cze char stall serves me their dishes with all these wok xi, i retrun it. this is basic wok maintenance.
Hainan, the noodle n beehoon overcooked, burnt. The other one yet to try. A bit too wet. Both use thin beehoon unlike others used the thick one.
Agree with the him about the 友福 。 prefer the $5 dry version
Homeland of hokkien mee you can not find anywhere else in the world.
youfu is top tier, best noodles in my books ✨
I give hainan 1 star, tried a few times and never disappoint how bad it is 🤣
Normally, ppl who give Hainan anything less than 2/3 noodles are just fans of the wet version who are biased. Haha. Seriously, u think it’s easy to make a dry version which is not cloy and flavorful without it being mushy? The wet version is , to me, nice, but way easier, u just need to perfect the stock and u are good to go. I personally like the dry version but i have no qualms giving you fu 3 noodles even if it’s the wet version. If it’s nice, it’s nice. Hainan is nice , just not your cup of tea. And weird that u keep trying after u say it’s bad..
Also tried Hainan a couple times and was sorely disappointed. Dunno what the fuss is about the flavour because there wasn't any. The Simon road one was a lot better, all things considered.
@@auvoir2000 the problem is its not even flavourful? really dont see how maggi powder taste, without any seafood broth depth can be considered as flavourful. Perfecting the stock, controlling consistency, incorporating wok hei == easier? more like you have a dry bias...
So why you keep trying since it is bad
@@bennnnft exactly, I tried a few times just to give the store a chance to redeem themselves yet still disappointing as hell lol! To people who got butthurt by my comment, we seriously do not care
Did you hate both lime & chilli?
It must be the noodle is too good, no need both liao ...
I think all these places that I'm visiting are good enough to do without the lime and chilli, so far at least.
@@Alderic. that is very hard to say, it will be more missed, hitted will be lime and chilli + taste!!
Neighbourwok is GOAT
The Hainanese version for $5 is indeed too little, hardly fills half of one's tummy. Four or five mouthfuls and your done.
Hokkien mee is very hard to fried
Simon Road provides the best hokkien mee.....
Hong heng hokkien mee also quite gd in seng poh road
where is swee guan ! skip right to it
Hey Alderic can I suggest that you also buy another plate and send it for E.coli test? See how many bacteria there are in different plate of HKM? I saw another youtuber (cute one) doing that. Very good info to know how much bacteria Tian Tian chicken rice has.
Hahahah I know which lady you referring to, the Taiwan Mei Mei
@@TemplarLove yeah cute hor! She is like an angel... i mean interesting hor her E.coli bacteria.
this is a stupid idea. Firstly, hokkien mee are served fresh out of the wok. The entire dish is cooked under high heat that any bacteria should be destroyed. Common sense right? E coli tests are for meats that are left hanging out for the whole day aka chicken, duck, charsiew etc.
To be honest, you wouldn't get that much bacteria in hokkien mee because it is freshly fried, which kills off the bacteria. Chicken rice, esp the white poached chicken version, will have high bacteria counts because it is hung for hours at room temperature before it's cut. Bacteria tends to grow better in such conditions.
@@shazech Oh you got a point there. Actually I was thinking of the hygine level of the plate and stuff. Some hawker center like old airport road are really quite dirty, pigeon friendly etc.
A little irrelevant question, but is there a story to the way you hold chopsticks?😂
nope, I'm just bad unfortunately 😂
lol .. 🤭
Actually the 3 types does not look like what i used to eat when staying in the kampung.
oh? what did it look like back then.
@@Alderic. They are more like the geylang lorong 29. During that time all hokkien mee are looks like that, only recent years maybe 10-20 years ago all these Simon road type start popping up. Plus the uncle will paddle with 3 wheel cart to the kampung to sell the hokkien mee.
I tried hainan large before... It is like 1.8-2.5x of my colleagues' normal
@@auvoir2000 did you reply to the wrong comment? I am talking about portion not scores
@@grandgroody oops. Apologies. I did! Haha
tian tian lai? toa payoh
Indian sushi did not disappoint 🫡
all your episodes two plate special isnt it LOL
intentionally, only 2 episodes so far.
I find these two places overrated and average tbh. I have had much better
Where would you recommend
Interested to hear what you have to say as well as to where one might find better places
Malaysia.
@@PucklesP mf what do you mean, where in malaysia
@@jianyu77 don't think it matters. Anywhere would be better than sg
hi
Bro your chopsticks skills really cannot leh
I thought need to dabao then taste nicer, youfu ... too many garlic notes for the 2nd store.... not as nice imo...
Bro instead of eating Hokkien mee with sambal try replacing it with ketchup. It will elevate the dish and take it to a whole new level. Trust
bruh I think the video might get reported and demonetized 😂
You're so freaking funny, I hope you know!!