The Lor-Mee at a fishball noodles stall 联光鱼圆面

I like chancing upon undiscovered eating places. With all the hooha surrounding new, famous restaurants, and with bloggers talking, raving/ranting about the same place and food, it can get boring sometimes. 

So when I found a stall in this corner coffeeshop along Serangoon Road (at the junction of Perumal Road, next to Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple), I was a little more than excited. The coffeeshop is Hock Kee Eating House, with just a drink stall and 3 food stalls; Tzechar stall, Muslim stall and this stall which I am going to talk about - Lian Guang Fishball Noodles.

This stall is manned by an old plump lady, who has a hunch back and walks slowly. She is the only one manning the stall, but look at the variety of noodles she serves: Wanton Noodles, Fishball Noodles, Lor Mee, Prawn Noodles and Laksa.

The main focus - Lor Mee. I seldom find a good bowl of Lor Mee these days. Either they are too starchy, or too watery, or they just do not have the punch. Here the Lor Mee is not laden with fried items, as is so common these days.  The ingredients used are very lean 3-layer pork (三层肉), dark roasted char siew, hard-boiled egg and fishcake, and I sighted tiny pieces of delish pork lard too.

I like the 3-layer pork (三层肉) which is very lean and braised just right with a nice texture of chewiness and firm pork. I prefer the traditional flattened yellow noodles in my Lor Mee.

Look at the dollop of minced garlic which the aunty heaped on the Lor Mee. Minced garlic, vinegar and chilli are crucial to a good bowl of traditional Lor Mee. I, as usual, like hard boiled or braised egg in any of my noodle dish. While I do not think it is the best Lor Mee I have eaten, this bowl of Lor Mee from Lian Guang gave me a very warm and comforting homecooked-food feeling. And that is all that matters. 

On my second visit to eat Lor Mee again, the aunty told me that she was not selling Lor Mee that day. I think she serves Lor Mee and Laksa on alternate days. I decided to try the Laksa. The main ingredients of Laksa here include tofu puffs, fishcake, egg, shrimp and cockles.

Aunty was very generous with the tiny cockles (see ham). While I used to like see ham in the older days, nowadays I do not take them or stop at one/two, because I find the smell and taste "pungent".

I still remember the older days when my father used to order a plate of raw cockles (doused by hot boiling water) and eat them almost raw after dipping  them into chilli sauce. Nowadays, see ham is not my cuppa tea anymore, for health and religious purpose.

Anyway, back to the Laksa. This bowl of Laksa is unlike the ones we get nowadays aka. Katong Laksa type. The thick bee hoon is thick and long and the gravy is not as lemak as the Nonya Laksa. And you do not scoop the Laksa with a spoon.

The warmth of the laksa gravy and the mix of the bee hoon and ingredients make a good bowl of Laksa. As usual I slurped up the whole bowl of gravy.

Here is the Teochew aunty I am quite fond of. She is quite elderly, speaks calmly, walks very slowly and with a hunch back. She said she has diabetes, I think. One of the reasons why I patronise her stall again, is because I feel we should support hawkers of the older generation who are still making their own living in their humble modest way. It is not because her food is fantastic or OTT, but it is just that I know and can appreciate the hardship she goes through to cook that bowl of Lor Mee and the warm homely feeling I get when I eat it.

Hmm, I have not even tried the other noodle dishes yet. Will do so if I am nearby again.