Ah Lim Bak Chor Mee (Jalan Tua Kong)

Bak Chor Mee (肉脞面) or BCM for short, is a staple street food in Singapore. You can be sure that if one stall (selling any food) is successful, there will be many copy cats using the same or similar name punctuated with “original” or stories of some relations linked either through blood or previous employment. That’s not much of a problem except confusion arises when they are within a stone’s throw to each other. There are so many Ah Lim’s Bak Chor Mee in Singapore that when I was searching for the intended stall’s exact address, I came across a few funny distinctions to the noodle stalls/street names i.e. “Jin Tua Kong”.

According to Sg Forums (http://bit.ly/2uHjYqs) Jalan Tua Kong = “Jalan” is Malay word for road, trail or path and “Tua Kong” in Hokkien dialect, depending on the intonation can mean either eldest grandfather (the older brother of your grandfather) or solid/big. Therefore, “Jin Tua Kong” in Hokkien means “Really Solid!” but the most hilarious translation has to go to Google when one reviewer Mr. Ong commented “(Original) Must try 肉搓面” to “(Translated by Google) Must try rubbing the surface of meat”.

Ah Lim Bak Chor Mee (肉脞面) translation.

But Google is not at fault because Mr. Ong wrote “搓” instead of “脞”. And “面” can be face/surface or noodle. I’ll remember to rub the mince between my fingers next time I visit! Lol…

Definitions of 搓 (cuō) (http://bit.ly/2ufIg8z)
to twist
to rub or roll between the hands
rubbed
VERB: to rub or roll between the hands or fingers

Definitions of 脞 (cuǒ) (http://bit.ly/2uffViN)
NOUN: chopped meat
minced meat
trifles

See Mr. Ong Ken Gee’s original posting here (pls expand his comment): http://bit.ly/2ufEcoS

This article will give you more in depth of the Mee Pok War: http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/simpang-bedok-the-new-mee-pok-hot-spot

Ah Lim Bak Chor Mee starts at S$4.

Dumplings available at Ah Lim’s.

Mee Kia or Mee Pok, both wheat noodles, as usual are the popular choices when it comes to Bak Chor Mee…

…but Vany and I prefer Kway Teow (broad rice noodle) with lots of chilli and vinegar.

Ah Lim’s is one of our favourite Bak Chor Mee places to eat.

This is one of my favourite BCM which is located in Soy Eu Tua Coffeeshop. If I am not wrong, it is also the cheaper, if not cheapest among the competitors, which starts at S$4 a bowl. Both the mee pok and fish balls have good QQ (bouncy) texture that is al dente and crisp to the bite. The sambal also has the right amount of savouriness and the ingredients are generous. Still, I prefer kway teow because they soaked up the gravy providing extra oomph to my meal!

There were recommendations that the chicken rice stall also serves good roast so we tried. Not bad but I won’t go out of the way to eat this nor the Cendol that is also sold in the same kopitiam.

Ah Lim Bak Chor Mee
inside Soy Eu Tua Coffeeshop
1 Jalan Tua Kong, along 15 Upper East Coast Rd,
Singapore 455207.

Opening Hours: 7am – 5pm (Close on Mondays)

Happy eating and bonding!