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I’ve always found the concept of soup-style bak chor mee so wonderfully unique. You know, that soupy variant of our local favourite minced meat noodles championed by the renowned Bedok 85 BCM stalls. It’s so iconic that it’s become synonymous with the East — to an almost exclusive extent, sadly.
As a lifelong Westie, it has never been convenient for me to get my fix, as much as I’ve yearned to try the dish. However, now that I’ve greater freedom to travel and write about food, I leapt at the opportunity to visit My Father’s Minced Meat Noodles in Tampines.
The establishment operates out of a pretty small coffeeshop. Nonetheless, its facade is distinctive. With an illuminated signboard featuring a playful illustration of noodles being lifted from an iconic rooster bowl, it exudes a nostalgic charm reminiscent of the hawker pushcarts of 20th-century Singapore.
In fact, the stall’s history harkens back to that very era. Currently helmed by second-generation hawker Aaron Lim, the biz was started by his dad in 1992 after he learned the craft from Aaron’s grandfather, who ran a BCM cart in the 1950s.
To pay homage to this multi-generational legacy, Aaron renamed the stall ‘My Father’s Minced Meat Noodles’ in 2018, replacing the original ‘Chai Chee Minced Meat Noodle’ name. The young hawker manages the stall’s social media presence, creating slice-of-life reels on TikTok and providing regular updates on Facebook alongside occasional memes and quips that I may or may not have spent a while snickering over.
What I tried at My Father’s Minced Meat Noodles
My first order of business had to be the Soup (S$4.50/S$5.50/S$6.50) bak chor mee, which I ordered a S$5.50 portion of.
The bowl contained mee kia noodles and several meatballs in a cloudy broth topped with 3 yellow wantons, pork lard and spring onions. And yes, the dish came presented in a porcelain rooster bowl no different from the one depicted on the stall’s signboard.
Not to exaggerate, but receiving and tucking into it felt somewhat like a dream come true for this suaku West-dweller.
The soup struck me as a little cloudier in appearance compared to Bedok 85’s renditions. Fret not, that isn’t congealed fat (or put bluntly, scum); they’re actually fine chunks of minced meat ladled into the bowl and cooked in the piping hot soup.
First taste and you could call me a soupy BCM convert. Despite its rather unassuming appearance, this broth was packed with flavour. It had a full-bodied profile enriched by robust porky flavours and aromatic garlicky undertones that made it just so savoury.
However, I wouldn’t necessarily deem it light on the palate as I foresee that some may find it a tad salty. Nonetheless, it clearly wasn’t MSG-laden as I had spoonful after spoonful without reaching for water — perhaps a little too many spoonfuls before I even started on the noodles.
I’m a sucker for great noodle textures, and the mee kia delivered exactly that. They were cooked to a perfect al dente, retaining a springy and chewy bite despite having soaked in the soup for a while.
To my surprise, the noodles were also devoid of any overpowering alkalinity that’s usually characteristic of mee kia. Instead, they were so well-infused with the rich essence of the broth that if there was even a hint, it was so muted that only the most sensitive of palates could discern it. The combination was simply slurp-worthy.
The wantons were a delight, too. Encased in each chewy wrapper was a decently sized chunk of tasty meat that burst with flavour in my mouth. These toothsome morsels are also sold in containers of 30 for just S$15 at the stall, and I won’t lie — I was definitely tempted to purchase one on a whim.
On the other hand, the meatballs were just like any other; although to be fair, you can never really go wrong with them. They were firm and dense, with a meaty flavour enhanced by sharp hints of pepper. Although there was nothing much to shout about here, I appreciated that there were 3 pieces on top of 3 wantons and a generous helping of minced meat — great value for money!
Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian: The one and only soup-style bak chor mee you’ll need at Bedok 85
I decided to give My Father’s Minced Meat Noodles’s Dry (S$5/S$6/S$7) bak chor mee a shot next, and opted for the S$4.50 portion this time.
Don’t be led astray by my shot; each bowl of dry noodles comes with a small bowl of soup filled with wantons and meatballs. My bad, I was so hungry that it didn’t even occur to me to get a shot of them together.
The mee kia was adorned with minced meat chunks and spring onions, while a pool of dark sauce lay beneath the bed of noodles. The portion here was visibly smaller, that’s for sure.
I tossed up the noodles, coating them evenly in a sheen of sauce that got its slight orangey colour from the dollop of sambal within as I had asked to have my noodles spicy.
Once again, what I loved most about this bowl was the springiness and chewiness of the noodles. They paired well with the sauce mixture, which had a shiok fiery kick from the piquant sambal and a pleasant fragrance from the lard. However, its flavours took a bit of a backseat here — I would’ve appreciated a dash of tangy vinegar to bring out the savouriness of the sauce.
The minced meat chunks tasted clean and weren’t gamey, complemented well by the sauce along with crunchy, nutty bits of lard and fresh spring onions. They were firm and meaty, lending the chewy noodles a textural contrast that I enjoyed. I did think that the portion could be bigger, though.
While the Dry noodles paled a little in comparison to their Soup counterpart, I maintain that they weren’t shabby at all. Furthermore, it does boil down to personal preference as my dining partner held the reverse of my sentiments.
The bowl of soup on the side contained more minced meat chunks, 3 meatballs and 2 wantons, 1 less than the S$5.50 portion of 3. While I need not elaborate further on each individual component, I must add that the soup had a much stronger garlicky profile here, given the absence of noodles to neutralise it.
If you find it a little cloying, mixing a few spoonfuls into the dry noodles could help balance out the flavours.
Final Thoughts
I haven’t stopped thinking about the Soup bak chor mee I had from My Father’s Minced Meat Noodles. Yes, it was that good, and I don’t think I can ever go back to fully enjoying dry BCM again.
Although I haven’t tried Bedok 85’s version, I’m convinced that My Father’s Minced Meat Noodles is a formidable competitor in the realm of soup-style BCM. So, if you’re looking for a great place to have your first bowl, I urge you to give the stall a try. And yes, it is every bit worth an arduous journey to the East.
Order Delivery: foodpanda
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