Food Tasted: Abalone Kolo Mee, Water Chestnut Drink
Appearances can deceive. On first glance, Jia Xiang’s signature dish, the Kolo Mee, looks almost identical to its ubiquitous (at least here in Singapore) cousin, the wanton noodles, save perhaps for the prawns and mince-meat that are not commonly found in wanton noodles which may induce suspicions otherwise. Subjected to the scrutiny of the taste-buds, however, any chance of mistaken identity crumbles quickly. The Kolo noodles are surprisingly crunchy and springy to the bite, much more so than your regular wanton noodles; the over-starchy aftertaste that sometimes accompany wanton noodles are also absent. It is no wonder that Jia Xiang uses only this type of noodles, which are specially air-flown directly from Sarawak. The sauce base used in Kolo Mee is also distinctively different from wanton noodles: the latter uses dark soy sauce and sesame oil; whereas the former uses onion oil and char siew oil. The distinctive flavours of fried shallots and vinegar also emanate from the sauce base, all of which blends into a remarkably tasty fragrance. The other ingredients are no let-down too: the fresh and succulent prawns, the sweet and tender char siew, the wanton and the fragrantly fried mince-meat can all hold their own against the noodles; but I personally prefer to have them complementing each other, enhancing the overall flavour of the dish. As if all these are not enough to tempt the taste-buds, there is also the option of adding abalones to the soup, making the dish truly irresistible. Variations of the Kolo Mee are also available, like the Curry Kolo Mee and the Fish Fillet Kolo Mee; side dishes and beverages – hot and cold, are also available.
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