A good plate of fried hokkien mee requires the right amount of moisture (the viscosity of its gravy), a good chilli paste and the perfect mix of noodles, topped with a bonus whiff of “wok aftertaste”.

Hokkien Mee, one of Singapore’s favourite dishes, was brought into Southeast Asian countries by immigrants from the Fujian (Hokkien) Province in Southwest China.

Singaporeans swear by a good plate of hokkien mee. Both noodles and ingredients are braised in a rich pork and prawn stock, stewed for a minute and fried till damp. Thick egg noodles and bee hoon (rice vermicelli) are stir-fried together with other ingredients such as prawns, slices of fish cake and squid, vegetables and loads of garlic. At times, small cubes of pork lard are added to increase the tastiness of the noodles.

The best plates of Hokkien Mee rely heavily on individual frying skills of the hawkers; this determines the quality of the Hokkien Mee, which should be served moist and not too dry. The dish is served steaming hot and garnished with a wedge of lime and spicy sambal chilli, which is to be tossed and mixed in with the noodles before tucking in.

You can easily imagine, from this description, how good this dish tastes!