If you want to talk about Lee dynasties, there's another in Singapore that presides over a prawn mee empire. Blanco Court Prawn Mee is the original, started by Lee Pi Duan in the late 1920 and 30s and eventually passed down to his eldest son Lee Seng Hoon. Within this family are other famous prawn mee stalls including Beach Road Prawn Noodle House, Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee and Joo Chiat Prawn Mee. Which is the best is up for debate, but Blanco Court's bowl of prawn mee doesn't disappoint. Join the neverending queues to order a bowl of jumbo prawn and pork rib noodle ($10.90) as well as a plate of ngoh hiang for a satisfying meal.
With roots in Fujian province in China, Hokkien prawn noodles found its way to Singapore in the 1880s and has been an indelible part of local food culture ever since. Perhaps it doesn't enjoy the same reverence as the other beloved noodle dish bak chor mee, but prawn noodles (or hae mee) still holds a special place in the hearts of many Singaporeans.
As with many hawker dishes, preparing Hokkien prawn noodles takes a lot more effort than it looks. Prawn shells, pork bones and aromatics are fried in lard, spices are brought into the mix, and everything is simmered for hours on end before the finishing touches are added. That's not to mention getting the noodles made, and the prawns cooked to just the right texture. What you get is a bowl of noodles swimming in an intense, rust-red soup full of the sweetness and umami of shrimp, topped by beansprouts, kang kong, fried shallots and of course, prawns. Although, not to snub the equally delicious dry version, where the usual ingredients are tossed in chilli sauce and the broth served on the side.
When it's so easy to get prawn noodles wrong, there are just a handful of stalls that do it absolutely right. Here are the best places in Singapore to get prawn mee, and a couple of ones that put their unique spin on this famous local dish.
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