I’m not sure what it is about the ubiquitous bowl of bak chor mee (BCM, a.k.a. minced pork noodles) that’s so attractive to the new generation of hawkers, but @mincedpork.bros have decided to squeeze into the overcrowded niche of noods.⠀
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Out of their quartet of offerings, the Teochew Modern Pork Noodles appealed to me the most. At six dollars a bowl, the Teochew BCM adds dried sole fish chips, half a soft boiled egg, and a whole abalone to the traditional ingredients of assorted pork products. The mee pok (flat, wide egg noodles) were boiled a few seconds short of being al dente, and as such they boasted a harder, chewier bite.⠀
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The sauce mix that seasons the entire BCM is what makes or breaks a bowl of bak chor mee, and the Bros made it. It’s distinctly vinegar forward, with the Bros using high quality black rice vinegar that defines & felicitously flavours the BCM. The sharp acidity of the vinegar is tempered by the fermented, almost soy sauce like savouriness of the vinegar. The addition of soy sauce, chili and a splash of the broth that all the meats are cooked in complete the sapid, flavourful sauce. ⠀
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The ingredients were all well cooked and fresh. The abalone was cooked adeptly, boasting a desirable bounciness, the minced pork & sliced pork were poached perfectly, retaining just a little of that porky scent for extra flavour, the soft boiled egg was nicely flavoured from being boiled in a soy broth, and the extra dollar I spent on adding prawn paste wasn’t a bad idea. ⠀
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The most memorable thing here is definitely that piquant pork ball, which had a truly interesting texture. Biting into the ball reveals that the meat inside the ball is layered, almost like a thinly sliced pork mille-feuille. The mouthfeel is intriguing, with a dense, hard bite that gives way to a soft bounciness once you’ve bitten in far enough.⠀
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What holds the Bros back from perfection is the dismally diminutive portion. Six bucks getting you a whole abalone ain’t bad, but I would’ve gladly swapped it for a standard sized serving of BCM. Perhaps I should’ve just gotten the four buck big bowl of Classic BCM. This is delish, but the portions ain’t cutting it chief.