Okay, I know what most of you fellas are thinking. THIS IS NOT A SLEAZE JOINT ! Just so happens, the owner, Jimmy decided to name the Zi Cha place after one of their specialty, the Old Mother Hen Soup, hence the namesake. So stop getting frisky and all, I seriously don’t want readers turning up at the stall with a certain kind of look on their face. This hideout in Geylang is a well kept secret among food aficionados and talking about secret, I am somewhat at risk of having my fingers sliced off by my fellow foodies for revealing the outlet in this segment. As with many Zi Cha stalls, they offer a myriad of signature dishes, namely their famous Black Sauce Hokkien Mee which we’ll be featuring right about now.

This hokkien mee dish came about in the early 30s when coolies back then migrated from Mainland China to the South East Asia region to seek prospect, bringing along this ol skool Hokkien recipe. During those days, it was a simple dish of fried noodles, pork slices, vegetables and starch without the bells and whistles unlike nowadays. You get things like fishcake, crabstick, 20% discount voucher and what nots being added. The thick noodle then were made from basic ingredients like flour and probably more flour. Eggs were considered a privilege food, hence to derive a spongy texture from the noodles, alkaline water was added to substitute the eggs. At the same time, soy sauce factory was found all over the Straits Settlements, therefore, to counter the funky taste of alkaline water and at the same time used as a condiment, dark soy sauce was introduced. Along the way, the dish was further improvised by stewing it with a heartier stock and eggs added to the noodles. So there you have it, a rundown on the origins of this humble yet sumptuous dish.

The version dished out at Old Mother Hen is rather identical to the ones found in Zi Cha stores in Kuala Lumpur, which many claim to be the “original” Hokkien Mee. It is much darker, drier and the noodles are slightly thicker than the ones you get from our local Zi Cha outlets. The dish comes presented on a no-frills plastic oval plate, topped with plenty of spring onions and generous serving of pork lard. Accompanying the noodles is this special blend of KL styled belachan to go with the dish. The noodles are very well fried, thanks to the very good wok hei* executed by the chef. The stock is proportionally stewed into the noodles, which in turn looks and taste really succulent. Like very well marinated udon, you can taste the burst of umami and the crunch of pork lard in every mouthful. Seriously superb stuff !

Fellas who enjoy rich and flavorful cuisine should visit this eating place as Old Mother Hen has a wide spectrum of dishes that are of pretty outstanding standards compared to the regular Zi Cha stall. For newbies, the Black Sauce Hokkien Mee is a nice introduction to their mind boggling range available here. Their menu is a 5 cm thick photo album, so even your pet turtle will have a clear picture of what’s hot and what’s not. Adventurous blokes with an appetite for offal and reproductive organs can request for a serving of stir fried fallopian tubes. Less exotic but equally gorgeous is their house special tofu, claypot rice and signature soup.

Old Mother Hen is the kind of restaurant I would suggest going in groups. In this manner, you’ll get to savor a wider variety of dishes without having to worry about over-ordering. Go on and check out this joint, you’ll not be disappointed. As a matter fact, you’ll pity the fool who hasn’t done so.

* Wok hei, a hallmark of Cantonese Cuisine is a term that refers to the essence and flavor of food brought forth by the intense heat of the wok. In fact there is a whole frickin scientific theory behind this process which would probably include test tubes, periodic tables and a whole bunch of blokes with thick glasses in lab coats.

-Darth Sidtoh