the following issue will be a sensitive one, so beware.
i believe many of us Singaporeans love Ban Mian. at least i know
it definitely used to be very popular. but lately i am very upset
that our local food might be going going gone.
i had been to a Ban Mian stall at a Food Junction foodcourt. i
don't know since when it starts to be operated by non other than,
Ah Tiongs. the Ban Mian that i ordered as usual, had ikan bilis.
but before the Ah Tiong added them to my noodles, i noticed the
strong stench from the ikan bilis. they were not fried, but were
rather moisted and reddish. after i had tasted the ikan bilis, i
was extremely disappointed. the ikan bilis were obviously not fresh
and were definitely about to spoil.
i understand that normally the ikan bilis could be kept for many
days (but still tasted fresh) for Ban Mian but for this case, i had
no idea how the ah tiongs handled it.
can we call the NEA for this case?
that is 1 stall down for 1 of my favourite local food.
just today, i had another bowl of Ban Mian at a stall in a
Kopitiam Foodcourt. it was operated by ah tiongs once again. i
tried not to be prejudiced. but i couldn't understand their
attitude.
usually they had ikan bilis on top of the noodles as a form of
garnish. when i couldn't see them today, i asked the stall ah tiong
if she had added. she said yes. after i sat down and sort of
stirred my noodles, i found like only 3 ikan bilis? i went back to
the stall to ask for more. she did give me more but like slightly
more than 5 pieces? and with a rather unhappy look on her face.
i seriously could not understand why. i thought i was their
source of income.
that is another stall that i will never patronize again.
there was also a Fishball Noodle stall in Lau Pat Sat that was
recently handed over to ah tiongs to operate. the noodles cooked by
them tasted funny. 1 trait that was missing was the Q-ness of the
noodles when the previous couple (i believed were locals) cooked.
the ah tiong also almost added tomato sauce to my noodles when i
asked for chilli only.
previously i swear i had no opinions with ah tiongs. now i am
worried about our local food being cooked by ah tiongs.
does anyone have any similar experiences?
