The Dead Cockroach: Shun Li Ah Ma Lor Mee - Laksa @ Redhill Market & Food Centre

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After trying the lor mee from Shun Li Ah Ma Lor Mee at Redhill Market & Food Centre, I felt I had to come back to give their laksa a try as well.

This time, it is the male cook who served me as the lady helper is prepping ingredients at the back of the stall.

Just like my previous visit, I was asked if I wanted bean sprouts however, nothing could prepare me for the next question because, this is the first time in my entire existence that I was asked how I wanted my cockles.

Stunned, I replied "yes" when he asked if I wanted them cooked? I had actually meant to say "no" since the hot broth would be enough to blanch them but at that moment, I simply could not process the question in my brain.

Wow, these guys really go the extra mile with their service! I am still reeling in from the shock!

My bowl of thick bee hoon laksa ($4) was filled to the brim and the ingredients arranged in a similar fashion as the lor mee.

Ingredients included cockles and tau pok surrounded by a semi circle of sliced fish cakes and half a hard boiled egg. The fish cakes were slightly messed up when I tried to squeeze in the spoon.

The cook welcomed me to help myself to the sambal chili.

Such warm hospitality!

The mildly spiced broth leans more towards the thin side but you could add more scoops of sambal chili to add depth to it.

I actually like it this way as I felt laksa is more about its rempah paste than the coconut milk. Too coconutty and the rempah would be overshadowed by the coconut milk so this is actually okay for me.

One thing I noted is that it is not too oily so this may appeal to the health conscious.

Also, I like how the laksa broth come without dregs (eg. dried shrimps) as they tend to make me choke and cough like the famous one from Yishun did to me.

If anyone should shoulder the blame for the unfortunate overcooked cockles, that person would be me since I gave the go-ahead to cook the shellfish.

The hard boiled egg and fish cake were fresh but otherwise quite generic however, I must give a special mention to their tau pok.

I am not too big a fan of tau pok as I did not like its texture but I will still eat them anyway as I do not like to waste food. The one here is the rare one that I will and willing to eat as it is supple and smooth.

This is not your typical Katong laksa hence the thick rice noodles were uncut. Slurping noodles up noisily is an enjoyment to me thus I prefer them long. The short ones just can't cut it (oh, the pun!).

The contrasting texture of the noodle and bean sprouts pairs great with the laksa broth.