My grandma's leg has been acting up lately, making it quite inconvenient for her to move around. So being the good grand child I am, I offered to send her home after her usual 'hobby'. Another of ah ma's friend also tagged along for the car ride so we thought why not we have dinner together?
Four of us, including my mum, arrived at Bedok Corner Food Centre; a place where my dad used to frequently bring my mum & me for dinner..long before it was renovated. The upgraded Malay Village influenced Food Centre now has 30 over stalls arranged around a central courtyard to reflect kampung-style community living.
While i ordered Or Luak , Satay & Jiu Hre Eng Cai, mum was in the queue for the famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee for more than half an hour. The wait for so long that the gramps couldn't tahan their hunger and started without us. When we came back with the noodles, we also saw popiahs and sugarcane 'juice' on our tables, courtesy of Ah ma & her friend. Overload of food yet again! Sigh. I decide to forgo the also famous Ye Lai Xiang's Cheng Tng because there're already sugarcane drinks. The sugarcane drink was overly sweet. Obviously the S21 owner had dliuted the original sugarcane juice and replaced a portion of it with sugar water yet still claim them to be "Sugarcane Juice" instead of "Sugarcane Water".
This crispy type
Or Luak was just so-so for me. I personally favoured the gooey-more-potato-starch type rather the crispy type. Having to taste it only 20 minutes later, the crisp was already losing its 'power'. The mild chili dip also lacked the fire. My mum and the golden agers didn't think much of this as well. But the good thing is this stall is halal and the oysters' size are tad above average.
On the other hand, the chicken & mutton satays were very well marinated and barbequed. Unlike other stalls I've tasted, the chicken satays were tender and juicy. Peanut sauce dip was sedap and of the right consistency! Nicely done! Pity the stall helper wasn't helpful when my mum wanted to da bao (pack back) those satays we couldn't finish.
Despite this stall not using the traditional opeh leaves, the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee still delivers! This version is the wet and dark kind which uses thinner bee hoon (not like the usual laksa thick bee hoon). Noodles are not soggy and flavourful with prawn stock. Sambal chili was not overwhelming, just the way I like it and also prawns were fresh. It would have been perfect with some crunchy pork lard but too bad this stall is one of the vendors supporting healthier eating by Health Promotion Board (HPB). Good news for the health conscious! This stall actually is one of my dad's fave!! Fyi, the couple has been in this business for quite some time, way before the food centre was listed for the upgrading programme. Uncle looks paler now and also has slightly swollen legs (must be due to long hours of standing!) Business is so good that he hardly has any time for toilet and smoke breaks. Must take care of your health leh, Uncle!
Jiu Hre Eng Cai was a little disappointing; the wow factor had somewhat disappeared since I ate it years ago. This overpriced, not value for money dish pales in comparison to the one at 16 Bedok South. For $5 a plate, the servings of cuttlefish, tau pok, cucumber and pineapples were quite pathetic. The elderlies also had a tough time chewing the hard tau pok and cuttlefish. :x.
*Bedok (Corner) Food Centre
Opposite Bedok Camp
Junction of Upper East Coast Road & Bedok Road
Open from 12pm till late
Jiu Hre Eng Cai (Cuttlefish Kang Kong)
Ye Lai Xiang - Stall 31
Or Luak (Oyster Omelette)
Halal Green Signboard - Stall 02
Satay (Meat Kebabs)
Two stalls to the left of Or Luak Stall - Stall 04
Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Big-Prawn-Pic-with-words'Prawn-Mee' Signboard - Stall 29
Labels: asian, bedok, east, family, food, hawker, local, memories
