MELAKA, Aug 13 — There’s nothing quite like handmade mee hoon kueh.

Growing up in Melaka, I had never encountered pan mee, its plainer and far less exciting cousin. For my family, it was always mee hoon kueh.

You had it in a soup if you felt like something comforting or if it was raining; you went for the dry version if you prefer something you didn’t have to sweat over; and you asked for the sambal or chilli paste as soon as you were old enough to handle the spice.

To satisfy my mee hoon kueh craving, we decided to drop by Siang Ge Mee Hoon Kueh.

Located in Melaka’s commercial Kota Syahbandar area, the shop is far enough from the tourist trails of Jonker Street that the tables are all occupied by locals. (Always a good sign of the food quality, no?)

Remember to order first at the counter. In terms of the front of house, Siang Ge is basically a one-man operation as the owner mans the cashier as well as the drinks station.

Besides the cook in the kitchen, there is another staff who brings out the food and clears the empty dishes but customers are expected to queue up to order and pay before enjoying their meals.

Which isn’t unusual except I observe how smoothly everything is run despite the appearance of being short-handed. Everyone was smiling at each other while waiting for their turn to order.

Perhaps I am too used to the impatience and ill tempers at restaurants in bigger cities; what a breath of fresh air this is!

Naturally, it helps that many customers are from the offices nearby and families from the neighbourhood. Later I observe the boss chatting with some regulars and teasing the small children.

No fuss or fancy menus, but when the lunch rush is over, some unexpected warmth. More of a human touch than chain eateries.

Given the sweltering weather, we both decided on iced liong cha to cool off. The beverage’s herbal notes seem to refresh us as much as the ice cubes. An oldie but a goldie, as they say.

We also agree to have the same dry mee hoon kueh; it’s far too hot for soup noodles. The boss asks us whether we want the original dry mee hoon kueh or the spicier sambal version. The latter, always.

(Fight fire with fire, yes? Sambal beats the sun, or so we believe.)

What is served looks fairly standard: roughly shaped morsels of pork paste, pork meatballs (more dense than bouncy), some leafy greens, fried shallots, crunchy ikan bilis and, of course, the hand-pinched squares of dough.

Ask for a poached egg to go with your mee hoon kueh. I have learned my lesson the last time I forgot to order an egg to go with my noodles; nowadays I always remind myself not to miss this absolutely essential add-on.

Though it wasn’t apparent at first, the cook had poached the egg in the soup itself. We realise this with our spoonful of the naturally sweet broth; there were gossamer threads of egg white in the soup, which is the sort of nice surprise that can make your meal.

Details matter.

Then comes the sacred ritual of tossing the hand-torn noodles together. Or, to be more specific, separating them first.

Unlike the more plebeian pan mee, the more artisanal nature of mee hoon kueh means that quite often you’d have two pieces stuck together.

For obsessive-compulsive diners (I include myself in this venerated category), this is more boon than bane as it can be quite fun to pry pieces of mee hoon kueh apart using nothing but a pair of chopsticks and sheer dogged determination.

It is also critical to mix the dark soy sauce and the fiery sambal well; we don’t want any rogue blobs of the chilli paste to catch us by surprise!

We are rewarded for our care and diligence with a meal that, if you’d pardon the cliché, truly hits the spot. Every bite was sheer textural pleasure: toothsome and flavourful, slick with grease and suffused with just enough heat to warrant another sip of liong cha.

No, you can’t slurp these noodles up like ramen or pan mee but therein lies its magic. You are expected to go slow: to chew and savour, to linger over each bite like it’s a gift.

Which, when I think about it, this definitely qualifies as.

There are other noodles dishes offered such as yee mee and ginger wine mee sua. But nearly everyone orders the mee hoon kueh.

Who could blame them? Siang Gee’s mee hoon kueh is exemplary, some of the best we have had in Melaka.

Siang Ge Mee Hoon Kueh 祥哥面粉糕

25, Jalan KPKS 3, 

Kompleks Perniagaan Kota Syahbandar, 

Melaka.

Open daily (except Wed closed) 10:30am–4:30pm

Phone: 018-959 8600

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* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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