Dark, slightly sticky and absolutely hearty KL Hokkien mee is comfort food at its best. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 21, 2015.The culinary feud between Singapore and Malaysia always boils down to which country does it better. From Hainanese chicken rice to laksa and even roti canai (or prata, as they call it across the causeway), connoisseurs from both sides of the border swear their version is tops.
On a recent trip to Singapore, we decided to try three local dishes also available in Malaysia to put them to the taste test: Hokkien mee, wantan mee and bak kut teh.
What we discovered, though, was that apart from their names, the dishes from both countries had very little in common with each other.
Here’s our dissection of three same-but-so-different Singaporean and Malaysian dishes.
Hokkien mee
Kuala Lumpur version:
Hokkien mee is the perennial favourite at all Chinese restaurants in the Klang Valley. Fat, yellow noodles are stir-fried in a hot wok with chopped garlic, pork slices, dark soya sauce and the absolute must-have, crunchy deep-fried pork lard.
The resulting savoury, black noodles with just a touch of thick gravy is a rich, extremely tasty and usually very oily plate of comfort food at its best!
Singapore version:
When we first heard about Singaporean Hokkien mee, we admit to being quite sceptical. I think the relationship started off on the wrong foot, as pictures of pale, limp and thin yellow noodles didn’t quite push our culinary buttons.
While the Hokkien mee across the border may not look like much, it’s deceptively flavourful and we loved the subtle seafood flavours in the broth. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 21, 2015.
But being the adventurous and sporting foodies that we are, we decided to try it out and headed for an award-winning Hokkien mee in the heart of Singapore’s Chinatown.
What greeted our palates was a lighter, braised noodle which was – surprise, surprise – very flavourful and very delicious! We were told that the broth is made by boiling the shells of prawns and other forms of seafood for hours!
The Hokkien mee in Singapore bears absolutely no resemblance to the KL version, but the seafood broth in which the springy, thin noodles were served was bursting with flavour and quite frankly, a delight. The plus point would be that it isn’t as rich or greasy as the KL version, so you’ll find yourselves eating extra portions quite easily!
Verdict: We loved both versions of Hokkien mee. One was comfort food at its best while the other was a subtle but very satisfying burst of seafood flavours.
Bak kut teh
Malaysian version:
Pork-lovers everywhere rejoice at the sight of Malaysian bak kut teh, which is served as a herbal-based soup boiled for hours with pork fat and bones for an oily, dark-coloured herbal soup.
Dark, rich and oily soup bursting in porcine and herbal flavours define the Malaysian version of bak kut teh. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 21, 2015.
Depending on your preference, the dish can be served in a large clay pot where pork is featured with an assortment of vegetables, mushrooms, innards and fried beancurd, or your dish can be served in small separate bowls for each different condiment.
Bak kut teh is almost always eaten with rice and chopped garlic. And it always satisfies!
Singapore version:
Our southern neighbours make theirs lighter, sans-herbs but full of peppery goodness. We loved it, and the dish goes just as well with the usual condiments and white rice. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 21, 2015.
The Singapore version of bak kut teh was a bit of a mystery to us pork-loving Malaysians because, just like the Hokkien mee, the colour was just all wrong. A slightly opaque-coloured soup greeted our hungry bellies as we walked into one of their famous bak kut teh shops in one of the many malls along Orchard Road.
The bak kut teh in Singapore is actually more closely related to pepper soup than it is to the Malaysian bak kut teh. We were told later that this is the Teochew version of bak kut teh. There is absolutely no hint of Chinese herbs in the soup, which is instead a rich, savoury peppery soup that immediately warms the belly.
The dish is also served with the usual condiments like fried Chinese croutons (yoo tiao) and white rice, and after we got over our indignation that a bak kut teh could come as a clear, non-herbal soup, we lapped up every drop of the peppery soup.
Verdict: Once again, we loved both versions of bak kut teh. The Malaysian bak kut teh soup definitely has more depth and flavour because of the myriad of herbs used in the broth, but the Singapore version is a fiery, belly-warming treat on a cold day!
Wantan mee
KL wantan mee is savoury, with the crowning glory usually being a few slices of well-caramelised char siu. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 21, 2015.
Kuala Lumpur version:
Kuala Lumpur’s wantan mee is similar to the Hong Kong version in that it is thin, egg noodles blanched al dente and tossed in a sauce mixture of light soya sauce, sweet dark sauce, oil and (sometimes) fish sauce.
Most prefer their wantan mee dry, so only the slightest hint of gravy can be found coating each string of noodle. Slices of char siu (barbecued pork) are the star of the dish, which is best eaten with sliced preserved green chillies.
Singapore version:
The Singapore version of wantan mee looked promising, but was just too sweet and oily for our liking. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 21, 2015.
The Singapore version of wantan mee looked and tasted totally different from the KL version. It was neither dry nor was it served in enough soup to warrant it being called a "soupy" dish. Also, the overarching flavour of the dish was sweet, and it had an oily texture to it which didn’t quite settle well with us.
A red chilli oil is typically added into wantan mee, giving the dish a trademark rouge tint, but we didn’t really feel the heat from the chilli. Overall, we found that the sweetness of the dish lost it for us, plus the char siu was totally not noteworthy.
Verdict: We’d take the Malaysian version of wantan mee any day. Sweet, red and wet noodles don’t make for a hearty noodle dish in our books. – September 21, 2015.
* All of The Malaysian Insider food reviews are incognito and reflect the personal opinions of our merry band of foodies. If you know of any restaurant serving awesome grub, share it with the rest of the world and drop us a line with details at [email protected].
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