Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Wang Jiao Handmade Noodle in West Coast Market Square is a simple stall. It does however have many loyal regulars, especially in the evening. The stall also has an impressive 4.8-star rating on Google Maps, which convinced me it might be worth a visit.
Wang Jiao serves your usual dry and soup ban mee, as well as mee sua and u mee. One of them, a fairly uncommon fermented rice residue noodle dish, caught my eye. My mom and I aren’t big mee sua fans, but we like red glutinous rice wine chicken – it’s a family favourite.
Other dishes include Clam U Mee (Dry/Soup) (S$5.30/S$6.30) and Fuzhou Fishball Ban Mee (S$4.30/S$5.30). They all cost S$6.30 and below without any extra ingredients, which is still considered reasonable, especially if the portions are generous.
What I tried at Wang Jiao Handmade Noodle
My first pick was the Tom Yam Ban Mee (S$4.50/S$5.50) in the smaller size. Truth be told, I had not expected so large a portion before I came despite having seen the reviews before I came.
The smell of the steaming hot soup was precisely like it tasted: zingy. A clear tomato tom yum broth, it was sweet and not exactly spicy for one traditionally containing chilli. Its impression was more of a watered-down and more acidic Haidilao tomato soup base. Admittedly, it was also addictive and had me gulping down more despite my not-so-impressed opinion.
While Wang Jiao’s name contains the term “handmade noodle”, the ban mee appeared to be commercially made. They were soft and slippery but not very chewy, to my slight disappointment.
Most of the dish’s protein came from the minced pork bits, a pleasantly large amount of which had been scattered into the soup. Their meaty flavour and chewiness were delectable, especially since they tasted fresh and not gamey.
While the egg was slightly overcooked, I acknowledged that this was normal for most soup ban mee dishes. It must’ve been cooked with the soup and not cracked in right before serving.
The ikan bilis garnish wasn’t crunchy, but that made sense since it had been sitting on the noodles and absorbing the steam. Slightly salty and briny, the tiny fish topping was just alright and I didn’t mind it at all. Boiled chye sim pieces balanced out the savoury meatiness of the other ingredients, and I liked that there was lots of it as well.
Our second dish from Wang Jiao Handmade Noodle was the Fermented Rice Residue Mee Sua (S$4.50/S$5.50). Like the first, it contained a reasonable amount of meat and greens.
As expected, the mee sua also seemed factory-made, and the thin noodles were so soft that they almost melted in my mouth. Like the ban mee, there wasn’t any chewiness to the strands. You can probably see why this isn’t my usual go-to, but I’m sure it may be for soft noodle fans.
My mom remarked that my grandfather could cook a better red rice wine chicken than this. With all due respect, I can see why – it was nice, but not phenomenal. The fermented glutinous rice taste had been infused into the soup, which while hearty seemed more salty than flavourful. The chicken leg meat was normal, and its taste wasn’t affected by the glutinous rice wine residue, the only noticeable effect being its maroon colour.
Mom was craving crispy dumplings, so I ordered a plate of 8 Fried Dumplings (S$5.30 for 8pcs/S$6.30 for 10pcs). The cooking process took a while, and the auntie was still shallow frying the goods when I returned to wait for collection. They came served with julienned ginger and a pour of tangy black vinegar.
We both had very different opinions on the dumpling skin. While I enjoyed the crisp exterior and thick skin, my mom felt it was too doughy and unnecessarily tough.
The filling’s upside was the jiu cai (garlic chives) and carrots mixed with the minced pork. Garlic chives have a juicy, oniony flavour, and it was no surprise that this went well with the fatty pork. However, both of us agreed that it still lacked some flavour depth. Not even the chives provided enough savouriness, and my mom suggested that it could use some ginger and less sugar.
Final Thoughts
Like most Asian moms, mine found the dishes too sweet for her liking. I see where she’s coming from, but it was overall not too bad for me. I had ordered small portions of all the dishes, but they were more than enough!
While Wang Jiao Handmade Noodle isn’t a stall I’d intentionally return for, I can see why many do. The inexpensive and big bowls of noodles are great for the locals to fill their bellies with after a long day of work. It’s also quite hearty, and no doubt comfort food for them.
Expected Damage: S$4.30 – S$6.30 per pax
