手工面 Hand-made Noodle

Mian Fen Guo (面粉粿)

U-Mian (幼面), Ban Mian (板面) and Mian Fen Guo (面粉粿) are three varieties of noodles classified as hand-made noodles (手工面) and is popularly served in the food courts and hawker centres of Singapore and Malaysia. 

In Malaysia, however, they call it the "Pan Mee".

The dough, which is a blend of flour, egg and water are first kneaded and left to rise. It is then flattened and rolled into the pasta maker; and depending on the kind of pasta you are making, it is then sliced into the desired width.


U-Mian is thin, round noodles while Ban Mian is in wide, flattened strips.

Mian Fen Guo, on the other hand, is sliced into squares of identical size.

The noodles are given a quick bath in boiling water, then served in a savoury broth of Anchovy stock topped with minced meat, Sayur Manis, fried Anchovies and an egg. 

Among the three, my favorite is Mian Fen Guo which is more commonly known by it's Hokkien name - Mee Hoon Kueh.

I prefer my Mee Hoon Kueh prepared in the traditional way which is to tear chunks off the unflattened dough by hand. The resultant noodle is irregular in terms of shape, size and thickness as compared to the uniform thickness when done by machine.

The stall I frequent tears their Mee Hoon Kueh by hand and the texture is smoother, chewier and basically more fun to bite into.

Mee Hoon Kueh torn by hand

Mee Hoon Kueh made by pasta maker

Hand-made Noodle is something so simple and yet so comforting especially when eaten on a cold day.

So, which hand-made noodle do you like and do you know of any stall that tears their Mee Hoon Kueh by hand?