The Dead Cockroach: Mian Wang 1971 - Salted Egg Yolk Calamari Hokkien Noodle @ Blk 537 Bukit Batok Street 52

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There used to be two brothers running their respective food stalls in a coffee shop at Blk 537 Bukit Batok Street 52.

The brother managing Mian Wang 1971, specializes in fried Hokkien noodle while the one managing Lao Cai Curry, specializes in curry rice.

The latter has since moved out to another coffee shop in the vicinity while the former remains at the humble coffee shop near Little Guilin at Bukit Gombak.

What makes the Hokkien noodle here interesting, is that you have the option to pair it with salted egg yolk calamari, mala calamari, sambal belacan pork belly, flamed red braised pork, chicken cutlet and sambal lala.

I decided to drop by one late Friday morning to pick up brunch while on my way home after my physio.

Looking through the menu, I decided on the regular-sized salted egg yolk calamari Hokkien noodle ($6.50/$8) that took about ten minutes to be ready.

My order was packed in a special takeaway box where the deep fried calamari is kept separate from the wet noodles.

While on the way home, the box could not contain the fragrance of the salted egg yolk from infiltrating the entire train cabin, drawing curious stares from the other commuters.

Once home, I found out why.

Several tiny holes have been punctured on the lid, allowing for the escape of steam. Despite the effort, the fried calamari rings were still a little wet from the condensation.

One thing I find puzzling is that I did not see any traces of salted egg yolk sauce on the calamari yet the distinctive aroma is rather strong with hints of curry leaves.

I also could not feel the grainy texture on my tongue and heck it, there is no residue of salted egg yolk sauce or even curry leaves left behind in the container after all the calamari were gone.

Now, how did they achieve that feat?

Mian Wang 1971 uses a combination of thick bee hoon and yellow noodle with ingredients such as prawn and squid.

There is no evident wok hei though it might have dissipated before I reached home. The Hokkien noodle is the wet kind and the gravy were a little dried up but not totally.

Texture wise, the yellow noodle were soggy, probably due to the residual heat that continues to cook the noodle on the journey home.

This is my first time trying this stall and I have not seen the business owner before but somehow, I believe that it was not him who fried my noodle. I only managed to catch a glimpse of the chef's back and it was someone younger - a second gen perhaps, or someone they hired?

I also bought a medium-sized traditional Hokkien noodle ($3.50/$4.50/$7) which is packed in the usual transparent square tapau box for the folks to share. They too find the noodles too soft for their liking.

Nevertheless, once the no dining-in rules are relaxed, I am going to try it again to see how it compares.