oPaH lEaF hOkKiEn MeE...

Mum is off to chalet today, so it's me again as the delivery boy to tah-pow food... it's juz me and my voluntary nature... Coz if i'm the one who buys the food, i'll get to choose wat i wan to eat... heehee... *scheming*

I was at ayer rajah hawker centre early this evening to 'lim kopi' with my colleagues as we had finished work early... When time is up and we are officially knocked off, we bade goodbye and went on our own ways... I ventured around the hawker centre to scout for dinner, but in my heart, i already know wat i had wanted...... fried hokkien mee!!!

This wonderful stall serves hokkien mee in the traditional opah leaves... For the younger generation *ahem*, opah leaves are used to wrap tah-pow food in the olden days... As technology improves, people do away with the leaves and use paper packaging instead... However, the impression still lingers... this explains why your chicken rice and char kway teow is wrapped in the brown paper that you see at hawker centres...

The treasure within the opah leaf: hokkien mee...

There are a few reasons why opah leaves are used to wrap food... it is said that food wrapped in opah leaves are more fragrant, as the leaves retain the aroma and heat, and together with the natural fragrance of the leaves, it's an ultimate combo!!! Opah leaves are also hardy to keep the food and gravy intact to be safely transported home...

This stall serves hokkien mee in servings of $3 and $5... I ordered the $3 wan and it's a generous big pack... The ingredients are fresh and tender, and the prawn stock is well absorbed by the soft noodles, giving you oomph in every bite... Simply deli-cious!!

the good ol' 70s...

For $3, you get 3 pieces of prawns, some sotongs, thick prawn stocked noodles, and wonderful fragrant chilli which i must add... Definitely worth every cent of it!!! Good buy, must try!!!