Springy kolo mee & flavourful Sarawak-style laksa in Bukit Merah

Zhong Pin Noodle Home catches my eye each time I’m at Bukit Merah Central Meals Centre to seize a chew once I’m within the space for a haircut.

I’ve at all times been drawn to their purple stall entrance and their promise of Sarawak-style noodles. Factor is, I’d by no means been fortunate sufficient to catch them whereas they’re open since I normally drop by within the late afternoon.

In the end (after numerous makes an attempt and psychological notes), I returned on a Tuesday morning, delighted to see the stall shiny and operating. It’s not a tough discover, positioned within the second-nearest part to the doorway.

You may’ve heard of Zhong Pin Noodle Home; it was featured on Mediacorp’s Our Makan Locations: Misplaced & Discovered in 2018. Its stall entrance nonetheless sports activities the TV present’s poster, full with Gurmit Singh’s autograph.

The stall’s menu options a number of Sarawak-style noodles, their recipes the brainchild of stall-owner Roy Ong. Pushed by a ardour for cooking, Roy opened the stall in a bid to unfold the love for Sarawakian delicacies in Singapore. 

The menu does embrace an area contact too, with favourites like Bak Chor Mee (S$4.50) and Fishball Soup (S$3.50/S$4.50). Scrumptious as they seemed, I didn’t need to stray from their Sarawakian signatures.

What I attempted at Zhong Pin Noodle Home

Okay, I’ve to confess that I don’t know a lot about Sarawakian delicacies. I’ve loved a fair proportion of kolo mee, although. With quite a few well-liked eateries priding themselves on the dish, it’s actually the one dish I’ve gotten acquainted with so far as the delicacies is anxious.

That being mentioned, I used to be immediately drawn to Zhong Pin’s Sarawak Kolo Mee (S$4.50/S$5.50). On condition that it was my first ever strive of the stall’s fare, Roy advisable that I begin with the unique White Kolo Mee (S$4.50).

The noodles are available in 2 different variations: Black and Pink, which get their names from the darkish soy sauce and crimson char siew sauce the noodles are respectively tossed in.

The bowl was fairly a visually interesting one, with pops of crimson from the char siew slices and inexperienced from the lettuce leaf and spring onions, contrasted in opposition to the muted yellow noodles. Would it not be an excessive amount of of an exaggeration to say that its look alone whetted my urge for food? Positively not.

I used to be given a saucer of Zhong Pin’s house-made chilli that I may add as I wanted. The spice lover that I’m, I didn’t hesitate to combine in each final little bit of it with my noodles for that additional kick. Mildly zesty with an fragrant belacan flavour, it undoubtedly took the dish up a notch.

Regardless of having ordered the smaller portion, the bowl I acquired got here with fairly a beneficiant portion of noodles that’ll fill even large eaters proper up. 

Zhong Pin has the feel of those noodles nailed – they have been springy and held a satisfying agency chew. Tossed in ample shallot and lard oil, they bore no trace of the egginess that some is perhaps averse to. I devoured down the entire bowl with out feeling jelak within the least.

They don’t scrimp on the components both. I used to be positive to stack every spoonful of noodles with candy meaty char siew slices, flavourful moist minced pork and aromatic crunchy pork lard. The weather got here collectively in excellent concord by way of textures and tastes.

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I couldn’t depart with out attempting the specialty Sarawak Fusion Laksa (S$5.50/S$6.50). In an effort to cater to the generic Singaporean palate, Zhong Pin’s recipe for Sarawak laksa has been particularly formulated to be much less oily and pungent than it authentically is. How fascinating and considerate!

The Sarawak Fusion Laksa was in no way just like the laksa we’re conversant in.

Versus a creamy gentle orange, the broth right here is colored a deep brown and has a runny consistency akin to that of mee siam. It’s fairly heavy on the palate, with a strong and strikingly natural flavour profile. Whereas seemingly unassuming appearance-wise, it had a spice that slowly crept in. Shiok!

Usually, I’d complain about using skinny bee hoon noodles rather than the standard thick ones. To my shock, nevertheless, it felt like probably the most becoming noodle alternative for this dish. The bee hoon soaked up the laksa broth unexpectedly effectively, its unadulterated rice flavour offering a superb steadiness to the wealthy broth.

The Sarawak Fusion Laksa was tied collectively properly by the components that accompanied the noodles. These included tender hen shreds, strips of egg omelette reduce as thinly as tau kee, and three contemporary prawns, together with well-cleaned taugeh that lent every mouthful a pleasing crunch.

Remaining Ideas

My meal at Zhong Pin Noodle Home, although not mind-blowing, left me feeling deeply glad. Whereas I can not vouch for the authenticity of its Sarawak-style noodle dishes, I’m compelled to say that they serve up fairly strong bowls of noodles which are price a strive.

In the event you solely have room for one dish, I urge you to go straight for the Sarawak Kolo Mee. With aromatic shallot and lard oil-laden springy noodles, fragrant chilli and complementary components in addition, it actually stood in a league above others I’ve tried. I maintain excessive hopes for the Black and Pink variations and will certainly be again to present them a worthy shot.

Anticipated injury: S$4.50 – S$6.50 per pax

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