Ban Mian (Handmade Noodles)

Ban mian is translated as "plank noodle", is a hand made noodle, used to be cut into strips using a plank as a ruler, hence the name. Most are now made with some kind of more modern aids, but the term hand made noodle would not be any stretch, and most still make them at the stalls. Would be similar to "hand/home made pastas".

Pale coloured noodles made in different styles, you mian (thin noodles slightly thicker than spaghetti); mee hoon kueh (flat broad stamp sized), and ban mian (fettuccine like). As they are hand made, other forms may exist, what is on offer would usually be shown at the shop.

Served dry or soup based, with sliced pork, minced pork, anchovies and an egg. Dry version would have some delicious sauce mix for the noodles and ingredients, chilli always an option with the sauce, and a separate bowl of soup always given. Soup version would simply be everything in a bowl of soup.

Both the soup and sauce mix are usually delicious and what makes this dish tick. Anchovies are deep fried, and those done very well is another determinant. Fried shallots as condiments would obviously have a say it their tastes too.

L32

Ah San Mei Shi

Top 1

Handmade Noodles (Ban Mian)

Mar 2020

I heard about this place from a Grab passenger back when I was doing just hitch, from a Caucasian lady too. Curious, I came here with a rather fussy eater friend, we both liked it. Since then, whenever I ask her out for a meal, this place comes up often…

The dilemma here is always whether to go soup or dry. The soup is a tasty nice broth, not too strong in flavour with a subtle sweetness. It is not particularly strong but at the end of each mouthful there is this nice umami flavour that makes you go for another gulp. The soup becomes tastier towards the end as the flavour of the anchovies gets soaked in it, making the anchovy based soup more fragrant. The nice thing about the soup order is that it has a nice egg mildly poached inside, with runny yolk wrapped by a thin layer of white, then comes the next dilemma, how to deal with it. Break it up and swirl, or eat it whole…. I let you decide.

You have various options of type of noodles and meat. Pork, chicken, fishball, meatball, prawn, sliced fish, clam, fish head or prawn and sliced fish, with steadily increasing prices, haha. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a stinge, but they always had me at hello, that is, pork noodles for $4.60. I’ve never really gone beyond that! I just love the way pork goes with this dish. Meat balls always feel factory made, so not the wisest choice; or chicken coz the rough and tough texture of pork just goes well with handmade noodles for me. Never a big fan of prawns so that’s never a deal, sliced fish always feels like it will not fill my abundant tummy, clams, not really my thing, so save money and stay pork….

The noodles here are nothing really special, as with all handmade noodles, it’s clumsy, thick, but yet have a nice texture and floury taste. I never felt that the noodles are the reason people love these handmade ones, it’s unrefined, rough, thick, compared to normal noodles. It’s like vinyl compared to CD… but actually, the “thin” noodle is quite soft and springy.

The dry order comes with a small bowl of soup, with the poached egg in it! Noodles are soaked in a nice black sauce that is slightly sweet, very umami and it is filled with ingredients, lots of pork and anchovies. Pork slices are not only in abundance but in generous size and thickness, and the anchovies are fresh and crunchy, very crunchy. At some places, you feel that there is not enough meat to go with the noodles but not here, you do not have enough noodles to go with the meat here, even when there is quite a bit of noodles… And…. Did I mention the poached egg….?

What’s the catch? Just had this yesterday and was told the wait would be 40 mins…. And I thought 8pm would be a good time to come over. The other issue is parking, not easy. As the saying goes, be patient and you will be rewarded….

L32 Handmade Noodles

558 Geylang Road (Lorong 32), s389509

10 Tampines Central 1, Tampines 1 Food Court, s529536

1130am – 930pm, closed on Mondays

https://www.facebook.com/L32handmadenoodles/

Top1

Ban Mian

Oct 2022

Self-prepared noodles with a wonderful texture, mixed with their special sauce and chilli, makes it probably the best ban mian in town. Beware the hot chilli!

Ordering here is simple, choose your type of noodles, followed by your preferred style (dry, soup, tomyam or mala), then the protein (meat balls, white fish, salmon, fish maw, prawn, abalone clam, abalone slices or whole abalone), and finally any additional protein.

Their noodle is excellent. Undoubtedly home-made, its texture is springy and they have an excellent bite to it. The dry noodle comes with a black sauce, chilli optional and always asked if you want it. Be careful there, the chilli is quite potent! You don’t see it as the sauce is dark and the chilli is hidden in the darkness, it is quite spicy. If you can’t take it too spicy, ask for less or none. It won’t make the sauce taste any less as the sauce is excellent itself. So fantastic they sell it by cups….

The plain soup is also very tasty, a strong broth that is very umami. I would always go for the dry version as the sauce is too excellent to miss. Unfortunately, I have yet to try the tomyam or mala, you kind of stop there due mainly to the excellence of both the dry sauce and the soup. Looking around, you can see that these 2 are the better sellers so I’m very sure I’m not missing much!

Before I forget, their meatballs are quite excellent too. I’ve had a few visits here and had always asked for balls with white fish, each time I told myself just the balls are enough but forgot. Next time I will remember! Lightly textured, soft and tasty, it goes very well with the noodles, I’m more than happy with it!

The Qs here can be quite daunting on weekends, I was very happy to come here at around 4pm once to see no on queueing, but they were sold out already… as a gauge, you’d probably Q for about 30 minutes if the Q goes just beyond the edge of the food court. A Q number would be given to you and they’d display numbers on a number machine, the wait after you order is around 5-10 mins.

As a noodle, it is probably the best in town, and as a plate of noodle, definitely one of the best!

Top 1 Home Made Noodles

144 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #04-44 Beauty World Centre, s588177

1030am – 630pm, closed on Wed

https://web.facebook.com/top1homemadenoodle/?_rdc=1&_rdr

Ah San

Ban Mian/Fish Ball Noodle/Handmade Noodle

May 2024

Surprisingly delicious,,. quietly brewing

Maybe it’s some kind of intuition, maybe just blind interest, but I have been wanting to give Ah San a try despite it always looking like it was not too popular.

Soon I realised why there is no Q at this stall, they give you a buzzer, no need to wait and Q at the stall. Took about 10 minutes for my order to be ready, it was 1030am on a weekday, off peak. They were quite busy.

My $4 order of dry hand made noodle (mee hoon kueh) came with a soup, 3 fish balls, 3 meat balls, some vegetables in a pool of dark sauce with chilli added.

Fish balls were soft but crunchy, quite good.

Meat balls were brilliant, extremely delicious and I will definitely ask for more next time, and there will be a next time as I am already craving it now at 2pm.

Soup initially felt a little bland but it grew on me and I liked it. The dark sauce was made in heaven, watery but intense with flavour. Savoury sweet, the added chilli providing a good dose of excitement without causing much stress.

The dark sauce and meat balls here are up there with the best in the business and well worth a try. I’d go for the dry noodles instead of the soup because of the sauce. Can’t wait to try the promising vegetable flavoured home made noodles!

Turns out these various vegetables flavoured noodles are sold on different days, as indicated in the photo at the bottom. Came back the next day the Wednesday special, pumpkin flavor, was sold out by 1030am. Boss said these are usually sold out quite early!

Not much choice but to try their chicken chop noodle then… whoa… this was fantastic as well. Flavoured by the same dark sauce with added chilli, the noodles were delicious and springy.

The chicken was cooked to order, so it was crispy and fresh. The pastry lightly flavoured with some wtf (ie the moment you taste it you go “wtf” and smile with delight, may be cinnamon?). This flavoring was subtle, not intruding but gave it a good lift in taste and freshness.

Tried the pumpkin mee hoon kueh, the extra pumpkin flavour was subtle and the kueh was very nice and chewy. Likewise for the other flavours, with the beetroot adding some sweetness, which was transferred to the soup. The spinach flavoured ones was dull in taste. All the different flavours definitely interesting. The soup noodle was $4, only had an egg, some very nice and fresh fried anchovies, lots of vegetables and a handful of minced meat. All very good.

If you order these flavoured noodles dry, they would suggest a soup order instead, to the point of rejection,, as their flavour would be overwhelmed by the sauces. They were all delightful but I will definitely add some meatballs next time!

Whichever way you do it, the offerings here are brilliant, remember the meat balls!

Ah San Mei Shi

537 Bedok North Street 3, #01-119 538 Bedok Market & Hawker, s460537

5am - 2pm (when soup is sold out), closed on Thursday