28 Noodles

Old-school minced pork noodles

Fans of noodle stall 28 Noodles at the coffee shop at Block 204 Serangoon Central, which closed in September 2022, will be pleased to know that the stall is back in business at the same location.

Stall owner Tan Guan Huat, 70, started his noodle stall in 2002 in Yio Chu Kang Road, and moved in 2014 to Serangoon Central, where he operated his stall until he decided to retire in 2022.

Bored with watching television and finding ways to occupy his time, he gladly agreed to reopen his noodle stall when approached by the coffee-shop operator.

The stall unit had been taken over by Japanese fusion mee pok stall Li Yuan Mee Pok from late November 2022, but it closed in July due to a manpower shortage. 

After a year-long hiatus, Mr Tan reopened his stall on Oct 19 with a new signboard. 

Though not many of his former regulars know that he is back in business, the stall attracts a lunchtime queue from 11.30am.

The stall operates five days a week, and is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Prices start at $5 for a bowl of noodles, $1 more than before, as ingredient costs have increased and Mr Tan is bracing himself for the increase in the goods and services tax in 2024. 

A striking feature at the stall is how the actual bowls of noodles resemble the photographs on the menu signboard, which were taken by Mr Tan himself.

The portions are reasonable, and one basic bowl of noodles is filling.

A few regulars grumble that he no longer sells his laksa, but Mr Tan explains that some of its ingredients are now too costly.

The highlight of the stall is Pig Liver Mee Sua. The locally produced handmade mee sua is thicker than the store-bought ones and costs more, which accounts for the higher starting price of $6 for a bowl. But the bowl offers excellent value, as the silky mee sua is filling and tasty.

Mr Tan’s skill at blanching noodles is evident in how the mee sua keeps its springy texture and does not clump together.

The soup, which has a slightly herbal flavour from the use of dang gui (Chinese angelica), is light-tasting and not greasy.

The pig liver, blanched till pink, is tender and has a powdery mouthfeel.

Mr Tan is also generous with the greens in his dishes. Local lettuce, fresh coriander and spring onion lend freshness to the soup noodle dish and keep it from being cloying. He adds a piece of roasted seaweed to complete the dish.

The Minced Meat Noodle comes with a generous portion of noodles, and I choose mee pok which is well-blanched and holds up well, even for takeaway orders.

In terms of seasoning, the noodles rely on the housemade chilli paste, which packs heat. If you are used to heavier seasoning, you may find the style here is on the light side.

Mr Tan eschews tenderisers when marinating the pork. The fresh lean pork loin is simply marinated in cornflour and sesame oil, allowing the natural sweetness of the meat to shine, and each slice is perfectly cooked.

The basic $5 bowl comes with a fish skin dumpling with chicken meat filling, pork balls, pig liver, lean minced pork and local lettuce.

Pork lard, cooked every two days, adds oomph to each bowl.

The Fishball Noodle ($5) comes with bouncy fishballs, fish cake, minced pork and fish skin dumpling. The mee kia is also springy.

Overall, the noodles are more than decent and I prefer this old-school taste over newfangled versions with ramen eggs or scallops on half-shell. If the noodles came with flatfish, it would be perfect.

Where: 28 Noodles, 01-104, 204 Serangoon Central

MRT: Serangoon

Open: 7am to 2pm (Thursdays to Mondays). Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Hakka Leipopo

Fibre-packed Hakka lei cha rice

Hawker stall Hakka Leipopo has you covered if you fancy a fibre-packed meal. Located in the airy One Punggol Hawker Centre, the stall sells a hefty portion of Hakka Lei Cha White Rice priced at $5 a bowl. 

It is worth paying an additional 50 cents for what the stall calls brown rice, but is actually quality red rice, a long-grain rice with red bran.

If you cannot make up your mind, go for the yuan yang, which is a combination of both types of rice. It also costs 50 cents more.

The red rice, cooked using a pressure cooker, is fluffy, tender and has a nutty aroma and flavour.

The white jasmine rice is tasty as the cooked rice is lightly stir-fried in a little garlic to give it flavour.

The bowl offers excellent value for money as each bowl can easily make a filling meal for two small eaters.

The rice is blanketed under lavish servings of vegetables and condiments.

You get dry roasted skinned peanuts, diced French bean stir-fried in garlic, tender cubes of stir-fried tau kwa with Chinese leek, sweet-tasting caixin, stir-fried shredded white cabbage, crunchy preserved radish and a generous portion of stir-fried mani cai (sweet leaf).

The mani cai is skilfully stir-fried until cooked through and is sweet without any of the bitterness that can be present when the vegetable is not sufficiently cooked. 

Plenty of attention is given to each of the ingredients that make up the bowl. 

Owner Kumiko Tan, 42, procures caixin that is more tender and less fibrous. 

She also gets extra-soft tau kwa which does not turn hard when cooked.

She tops each bowl of Hakka lei cha rice with crispy fried pearl dried shrimp, which jazzes up the dish.

For those who want to skip the rice, shell out 50 cents more, as the stall will dish out a larger portion of vegetables. The stall can make a meat-free version by leaving out the dried shrimp.

The bowl of rice and vegetables is served with a bowl of green lei cha on the side.

Unlike traditional versions, this lei cha does not contain tea or green tea, a deliberate decision by Ms Tan to accommodate seniors and young children among her customers who do not take caffeine. 

Her creamy green concoction is made with Thai sweet basil, fresh coriander, roasted peanuts and toasted white sesame seeds, lightly seasoned with salt and ground white pepper.

The stall also sells toasted puffed rice for $1 a packet. You can add this to the rice as a crispy topping. 

The best way to enjoy the dish is to mix the rice with the toppings and eat a part of the mixture before mixing it with the lei cha.

Ms Tan, who is from Johor Bahru and is now a Singapore citizen, also sells Hakka yong tau foo, which she learnt to make from her Hakka mother. 

Each piece of yong tau foo costs $1.20 if bought separately. 

The yong tau foo is freshly prepared every morning, using a mixture of minced pork and fresh mackerel for the filling. Ms Tan uses a subtle amount of mui heong salted fish, or cured mackerel, to season the filling.

The resulting filling, with spring onion in the mix, is savoury without any overwhelming saltiness.

There are five types of yong tau fu: Brinjal, bittergourd, tau foo, tau kee and tau pok.

The tau pok is turned inside out before it is stuffed with filling. The spongy exterior is lightly crisp after frying. My top pick is the thick-cut brinjal, which has a creamy texture. 

Ms Tan makes her own garlic chilli dip which is thick, packs a spicy punch and is zingy with vinegar.

The Hakka Yong Tau Foo Platter offers good value at $7.20 for seven pieces, which is suitable for sharing. 

The stall also offers set meal options, with the largest set meal priced at $11.70 for the Hakka Lei Cha White Rice with the seven-piece yong tau foo platter.

Where: Hakka Leipopo, 02-26 One Punggol Hawker Centre, 1 Punggol Drive

MRT: Punggol

Open: 10am to 7.30pm (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Fridays to Sundays), 10am to 4.30pm (Thursdays). Closed on Mondays

Tel: 8661-1000