Makansutra: Prawnaholic's prawn mee will bring you to your knees
Prawnaholic in Pasir Ris deserves more attention than it is getting
Other than imparting good cooking skills, the best advice chef Alan Choong's sifu (teacher) gave him when he was 17 was "how to be a good person and be professional".
And he never forgot it.
His teacher was none other than the well-respected chef Sam Leong, who once headed the Tung Lok kitchens and helmed the award-winning Forest restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa. Leong is now semi-retired and takes on part-time gigs.
The first time I came across a bowl of Choong's prawn noodles at Prawnaholic at Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, I knew this was one talented 24-year-old with a thinking mind.
Believe me, not many cooks and hawkers use their heads much.
The layout of his kitchen is simple and effective, with stations for blanching and mise en place (pre-cooked ingredients placed in decks). There are woks, a sous vide section for his eggs and a steel rack to hold his homemade char siew during hand-torching and searing.
Choong basically runs a one-man show, with just a part-time assistant. The lard he uses is freshly rendered daily, and so are his fresh fried shallots.
He also makes his own prawn balls, like how a granny or a good restaurant would do - by hand-chopping fresh prawn meat, mixing it with egg whites and moulding them into balls.
All that, I reckon, has to do with respect - for himself as a cook and for his customers - all things that he learnt from Leong.
I adore Choong's dry king prawn noodles (from $6.50). The light sambal is a unique blend and has sweet-savoury hints of thick soya sauce.
The wow factors are the toppings - a runny sous vide egg, a fresh blanched and butterflied king prawn, slices of torched and seared belly pork char siew and two crunchy prawn balls.
"Dip the char siew in the yolk and then devour the whole dish," Choong said.
The bits of crispy lard with fragrant fried shallots atop were amazing finishing touches.
The soup version (from $6.50) comes with a richly brewed stock made with bones and crustacean shells. It is dark and intensely sweet.
It is topped with seared char siew, butterflied king prawns and prawn ball with kangkung.
Order a bowl of his deep-fried prawn balls with vegetable crackers ($6.50) dunked in his homemade salted egg yolk sauce that is slightly sweet.
FRIED FISH SKIN
Add a platter of his fried fish skin and torched char siew with salted egg sauce ($8.50), and it will bring you to your knees.
But Choong said this is off-menu, and two months are needed for the management to approve any new items from the hawkers here.
Sadly, for all of his talent, he is rooted in this ulu social enterprise hawker centre. Many know where it is, but not many go. He pays about $4,000 a month in rent and services (minus manpower) and struggles to "get by".
I support him and hope you do too. These are the modern street food heroes we need, to carry on our food culture into tomorrow and help shine a light on the potential Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription our Prime Minister seeks.
Prawnaholic
#02-12, Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, 110 Pasir Ris Central
Tuesday to Sunday, 11.30am to 9.30pm;
Closed on Monday
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