Fishball noodles

Fishball noodles is an ubiquitous hawker dish in Singapore. You can find it at practically any food centre, coffeeshop and food court all around the island. There are numerous noodle variations in this dish: one can choose from the following, in 'dry' or 'soup' style:

• Mee kia (thin noodles)
• Mee pok (thin flat noodles)
• Kway Teow (flat rice noodles)
• Thick yellow egg noodles
  
  

What's remains the same, however, are the fishballs. They are traditionally made from raw fish flesh, pulverised into a paste and kneaded in a wooden bucket. Seasoned with salt, and sometimes, finely chopped chilli and coriander, the mixture is then shaped into balls. Most food-stalls selling this dish no longer obtain their fishballs through such a method. They are invariably factory-made, and often from the same manufacturer. The fishball paste is made using industrial-size machines, with flour, stabilisers and other additives (egg white, humectants, sorbitol, sugar, soy protein, monosodium glutamate) added. It is no surprise that fishballs from different stalls tastes pretty much the same.

Individual skill and creativity can still be discerned through the sauce, soup and whether the noodles are al-dente. There's a great deal of subtle variation on the sauce, but it would usually contain the following:

• Oil [variations: shallot, lard, garlic]
• Tomato Sauce
• Chilli sauce
• Vinegar
• Dark Soy Sauce [occasionally]

And therefore, fishball noodles everywhere tastes pretty much the same. And that's inevitable, given that almost all the ingredients come from industrial factories (Fishball and noodles). While the sauce and noodle texture (dependent on factors such as cooking time, manufacturer of noodles [Oh boy, that can warrant another blog post], whether the noodles is subjected to a wash of cold water] can have variation, that offers limited latitude for culinary prowess or ineptitude. The star of the dish is after all, still the fishballs.

In a August 22 Straits Times article, "Hawker fare: Teach it or lose it", Professor Tommy Koh (Ambassador-at-large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), he was quoted as saying, "My impression is that, over the years, there is a decline in the standard of our hawker dishes...There is plenty of hawker food in Singapore, but there are very few chefs who cook their hawker dishes to perfection." He also said that hawker food is a social-leveller, and clearly, an important part of the Singaporean culture.

A reader, Eric J. Brooks (I would guess he is an ang-moh expatriate?) in a Straits Times Forum reply said, "Modern hawkers rely on a multitude of pre-mixes used in place of carefully prepared, carefully cooked sauces and flavours. These usually contain starches, dyes and other additives in place of the original ingredients - they are cheap and fast but not good...When offered synthetic, cheap substitute ingredients, money-tight hawkers with inferior cooking skills take the bait. This lowers the food's quality."

I completely agree. Unfortunately, as a relatively young person, I had not tasted the authentic, hand-made and unadulterated flavours of yester-years. I can't tell the difference, frankly. But as someone who does cook, I completely agree with Eric's point. Sauces are but one example; a bottled sauce simply does not taste the same as a sauce made from scratch.

This is why I was quite happy to have visited Song Kee Fishball Noodles at Toa Payoh Lorong 5 to try the food. It is clear that they do not simply order fishballs from an industrial supplier.

It just tastes different, especially the texture of the fishballs. While I would never have the chance to taste hawker food in its earlier incarnations, I think I had a little glimpse of it through the bowl of fishball noodles. And it certainly does taste different from all the other bowls of fishball noodles produced from industrial ingredients: