2-stall hawker stall’s bouncy handmade fishballs & minced meatball noodles

Many noodle stalls open to a breakfast crowd, trip the lull, then serve lunchtime earlier than closing up after midday. Ru Ji Kitchen isn’t any totally different and presumably has even tighter hours. I convened with a buddy at Holland Drive Market & Meals Centre earlier than midday in an try and beat the gang.

We couldn’t assist however query the cost-effectiveness of working two stall areas in the identical hawker centre. The one on the left sells fishball noodles whereas the opposite (apparently opened extra just lately in 2017) specialises in bak chor mee. It’s already a burgeoning franchise; they’ve 3 different shops and 1 just lately opened at Tam Chiak Kopitiam.

What I attempted at Ru Ji Kitchen

Bak chor mee would have been my go-to order on some other day. Reluctantly, I relinquished that to my buddy for Fish ball noodles with further add-ons (S$5). Banking on the stall holding true to their phrase, I requested ‘much less spicy’ for as soon as.

Every chew of the mee pok produced a constant al dente suggestions alongside the crunch from bits of pork lard so satisfying it robbed no matter heed I used to be paying towards the bowl of fish balls. The chilli had a vinegar-like tang, steadily constructing numbness as I assailed the noodles.

I scooped some soup to douse the flames and it took my tongue just a few seconds to register its lightness towards the rising warmth. A couple of extra spoonfuls confirmed the fragile savouriness. Like light faucets on my style buds, the flavour by no means bordered on tasteless. 

Not like the uniform texture of frozen fish balls, Ru Ji Kitchen’s are inconsistently formed. These have been fairly presumably the bounciest fish balls ever. There was an virtually rubbery resistance as I bit it in two. The faint sweetness went down effectively with the soup and after downing two extra, it dawned on me why these have been so fashionable.

The sides of the fish desserts held firmly sufficient for a pleasing mixture of textures. These have been simply pretty much as good because the fish balls.

Music Heng Fishball Minced Meat Noodle: 40-min queues for hawker’s hefty mee pok in AMK

My buddy’s order of bak chor mee with extra liao (S$5) supposedly had much less spice. Whether or not the employees heard the final 2 phrases stays doubtful – each strand of kway teow was slathered with chilli.

He slurped some kway teow from his bowl and revealed that there was a extra pronounced zest and really some ketchup as effectively. Braised mushrooms introduced depth to the dish with honest hints of umami for his or her measurement. I may completely see myself ending on his behalf if not for the spice.

The meatball soup was in some way extra mellow than that served with the fish balls and with noticeably extra fats swimming in it. The additional oil helped amplify the soup’s soothing impact on my burning tongue and that was a lot appreciated. Every hand-kneaded meatball broke aside too readily however tasted nice nonetheless.

Last ideas

By the tip of the meal, we had drained our soup and wanted a drink on prime of that. The spiciness was to not be trifled with.

You’ll be able to choose from 5 noodle varieties – mee pok, kway teow, mee kia, yellow mee, bee hoon, and mee tai mak, actually not discovered at most fish ball noodle stalls. Additional supplementing with darkish soya sauce and oil as an alternative of the same old ketchup or chilli sauce can be an choice. 

Of the 4 Ru Ji Kitchen shops, the one at Holland Drive is probably the most attention-grabbing for his or her dual-stall setup. Worth for cash is debatable as noodle parts for our orders weren’t significantly giant. The highlights listed here are undoubtedly the soup in addition to hand-made fish and meat balls so when you’re not postpone by queuing purely for these alone, it’s undoubtedly value a go to.

Anticipated injury: $4 to $6 per pax

Chao Yang Fishball Noodle: 20-year-old stall with home made fish dumplings from S$3.50