Lor mee with a spicy kick

The recent crowning of the annual Singapore Hawker Masters - a hawker hunt organised by The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao - left me craving lor mee, one of the categories in this year's search.

Unfortunately, the winning stall, Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee, is in Amoy Street Food Centre, which is being renovated.

I'll have to wait until March.

So I go to a worthy substitute, Keng Heng (Whampoa) Teochew Lor Mee at Golden Mile Food Centre.

For $3, the bowl of yellow noodles is topped with crispy fried wonton, fried fish nugget, braised pork, sliced fishcake and sliced ngoh hiang (five spice pork rolls).

My only gripe is that the pork filling in the ngoh hiang becomes very soft, almost mushy, once mixed with the lor mee gravy.

The $4 bowl includes fried fish skin, which adds a welcome crunch to the dish.

Go for all the condiments: minced garlic, a splash of vinegar, sliced chilli padi and a dollop of fiery homemade sambal belacan, something not all lor mee stalls offer.

If you love chilli like I do, give everything a good mix with the noodles so every slurp is filled with a vinegarish, garlicky and spicy punch.

I do wish the gravy had a stronger herbal flavour as the taste is mostly masked by the chilli, vinegar and garlic.

But it is neither too thick nor too watery - just the right consistency to coat the noodles.

I guess my craving is satisfied. Well, at least for now.

This article was first published on January 4, 2015.
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