Toppings vary from stall to stall but the usual suspects include braised eggs, ngoh hiang (five spice meat rolls), fish cakes, braised pork and fried fish fritters and a flourish of Chinese parsley and chopped spring onions. The bevy of ingredients are topped on a bed of thick, yellow flat noodles, smothered in a thick luscious broth.
Fans of the dish usually add liberal amounts of black vinegar and chilli for extra oomph. From crunchy to gooey, a mishmash of textures and flavours ensues. It may seem haphazard but the age-old combination works.
Here are five lor mee stalls to visit for a satisfying one-dish breakfast.
1. Lor Mee 178
One of the many snaking queues in the popular Tiong Bahru Food Centre belongs to this Michelin Plate stall that is renowned for its golden brown shark’s meat fritters that are wrapped in a light-as-air batter. At Lor Mee 178, the nuggets remain surprisingly crispy, even after a prolonged dunk in the slurp-worthy gravy. 30 Seng Poh Road, Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre #02-23
Each bowl of lor mee at this family-run stall is embellished with a generous amount of flavourful braised pork as well as the unusual addition of shredded deep-fried Batang fish or Spanish mackerel.
Using a secret heirloom recipe for the gravy, the owner simmers starch, eggs and a mix of spices for four to five hours. The sauce is laced with vinegar which packs a sour punch and has a distinct coriander fragrance. 51 Old Airport Road, Old Airport Road Food Centre #01-116
3. Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee
Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee, which is recommended in the MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2017, is known for drawing long queues during lunch time at Amoy Street Food Centre. It has its roots as a street stall along Boon Tat Road before it moved to its present location in 1984.
Compared to most other lor mee stalls, its gravy is less thick and sticky, which makes downing an entire bowl less cloying. This thinner gravy also lets you taste the slabs of pork belly and fried prawn cakes without a thick coating of gravy. 7 Maxwell Road, Amoy Street Food Centre #02-79/80
4. Hai Tang Lor Mee
Those who live in the Western part of Singapore would probably have heard of Hai Tang Lor Mee in Mei Chin Road Market in Queenstown, which serves up a value-for-money bowl of lor mee.
For $3, you get a generous bowl noodles brimming with ingredients such as braised egg, braised pork, mushrooms and ngoh hiang. The lor is a delightful treat with lashings of potent black vinegar. 159 Mei Chin Road, Mei Chin Road Market #02-14
5. Zhi Xiang Special Lor Mee
The word “special” in Zhi Xiang Special Lor Mee is not a marketing term. Instead, it refers to a curious addition of deep-fried yam fritters that resemble unbroken blocks of the Mamee noodle snack. The deep-fried clumps have a hint of sweetness and are addictive on their own.
In fact, the intensely crunchy yam fritters are so memorable that you forget about the other toppings such as the hard-boiled egg, ngoh hiang, fish cake and braised pork belly that are all swathed in a viscous gravy that has the right balance of water and starch. Block 93 Toa Payoh Lorong 4 #01-49
Main photo credit: Melvin Lau
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