Song Kee Fishball Noodle
Fishball noodles is one of those hawker foods which illusive simplicity belies the hard work and technical skill required to make it. A humble dish rooted in Teochew-immigrant origins, it primarily comprises al dente noodles slicked with just the right balance of shrimp-based chilli, oil and soy, and painstakingly-made balls of fish paste and flour. It's not a dish I regularly eat when I'm homebound, but for some reason, will definitely crave the second I touch down on foreign land.
Song Kee Fishball Noodles is one of the top purveyors of this simple but comforting hawker dish. My PMS-induced cravings had insisted on fishball kway teow soup in the middle of the night, barely an hour after dinner, so the very indulgent Hubs curbed his House-of-Cards binge and accompanied me out to supper. We didn't think we'd have to wait very long, since we were having an early supper at 10 pm on a Tuesday night, but wow were we wrong. Although the coffeeshop was only at a 80% capacity, our noodles still took about 40-excruciating minutes to arrive. The Hubs suspects they may have been swamped catching the damn fish.
On the upside, the 90's mandarin songs, and 60's English oldies, wafting through the stuffy coffeeshop were quite the nostalgic throwback. Just when I thought I knew everything about the Hubs, I discovered that he knows the lyrics to Fen1 Shou3 Ba4 by Taiwanese rocker A-Yue. By heart. My ACS-schooled, needs-translations-when-I-give-Mandarin-directions-to-taxi-drivers, Hubs, actually listened to Chinese music way back when. If you ever met the Hubs, you would have found that LOL-hilarious.
We were prepared to hate this place, being "allergic" to waiting and all, but the Fishball Mee Pok ($3.50) was actually worth the wait. Dotted with deliciously sinful cubes of crunchy lard, and balanced with a shrimp-y chilli, the noodles were excellent. The highlight was the fish dumpling, swaddled in a thin chewy skin and stuffed with a garlicky flavourful mince. I would return just for this alone. The fishballs, was a little heavier than I'd expected, but sufficiently springy and smooth in texture. The fried beancurd, stuffed with fish paste, was also homemade like the rest of the stellar toppings.
The Fishball Kway Teow Soup ($3 for small) was the perfect catharsis to my soupy craving. The lard-accented fish broth was delicate, so I wasn't parched although I wolfed down the entire bowl. I also loved how the slippery rice noodle ribbbons slid down like a dream.
An excellent recommendation by the exuberant proprietor, the Fishball & Fish Dumpling Soup ($5) will make the margins of returns more worthwhile.
Song Kee Fishball Noodles
532 Upper Serangoon Road
Open Thursdays to Tuesdays from 7pm to 2am (or whenever it sells out, sometimes by 1am);
Closed on Wednesdays
Song Kee Fishball Noodles is one of the top purveyors of this simple but comforting hawker dish. My PMS-induced cravings had insisted on fishball kway teow soup in the middle of the night, barely an hour after dinner, so the very indulgent Hubs curbed his House-of-Cards binge and accompanied me out to supper. We didn't think we'd have to wait very long, since we were having an early supper at 10 pm on a Tuesday night, but wow were we wrong. Although the coffeeshop was only at a 80% capacity, our noodles still took about 40-excruciating minutes to arrive. The Hubs suspects they may have been swamped catching the damn fish.
On the upside, the 90's mandarin songs, and 60's English oldies, wafting through the stuffy coffeeshop were quite the nostalgic throwback. Just when I thought I knew everything about the Hubs, I discovered that he knows the lyrics to Fen1 Shou3 Ba4 by Taiwanese rocker A-Yue. By heart. My ACS-schooled, needs-translations-when-I-give-Mandarin-directions-to-taxi-drivers, Hubs, actually listened to Chinese music way back when. If you ever met the Hubs, you would have found that LOL-hilarious.
We were prepared to hate this place, being "allergic" to waiting and all, but the Fishball Mee Pok ($3.50) was actually worth the wait. Dotted with deliciously sinful cubes of crunchy lard, and balanced with a shrimp-y chilli, the noodles were excellent. The highlight was the fish dumpling, swaddled in a thin chewy skin and stuffed with a garlicky flavourful mince. I would return just for this alone. The fishballs, was a little heavier than I'd expected, but sufficiently springy and smooth in texture. The fried beancurd, stuffed with fish paste, was also homemade like the rest of the stellar toppings.
The Fishball Kway Teow Soup ($3 for small) was the perfect catharsis to my soupy craving. The lard-accented fish broth was delicate, so I wasn't parched although I wolfed down the entire bowl. I also loved how the slippery rice noodle ribbbons slid down like a dream.
An excellent recommendation by the exuberant proprietor, the Fishball & Fish Dumpling Soup ($5) will make the margins of returns more worthwhile.
Song Kee Fishball Noodles
532 Upper Serangoon Road
Open Thursdays to Tuesdays from 7pm to 2am (or whenever it sells out, sometimes by 1am);
Closed on Wednesdays
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