Market Stall Staple · Braised Noodles

Lor Mee

Photo: ProjectManhattan / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The gravy is thickened with starch until it clings rather than pools — a properly made bowl is dense enough that the fried fritters on top stay crisp for minutes instead of turning soggy on contact.

Thick yellow noodles are ladled with a starch-thickened, five-spice-scented braising gravy, then piled with braised pork belly, fried fish cake, a hard-boiled egg, and crispy flour fritters, finished with a splash of vinegar and raw garlic.

Why it's made this way: Lor mee grew out of Hokkien braising traditions as a way to use leftover braising liquid, and it became one of the signature dishes sold at Tiong Bahru Market's hawker stalls after the market's 1955 rebuild gathered the area's street hawkers under one roof.