I suddenly had these overwhelmingly seductive thoughts about mee pok tah. It is one of those gastronomic flings or one meal affairs many of us must submit to ever so often, especially if you had just returned from a one week trip overseas (can you imagine those based in strange lands where mee pok is called Pancit Canton or chinese fetucini). I had just unloaded myself off a plane from Manila where I had to interview some chefs for a project.

Ah Ho mee pok tah has a distinctly dry and earthy sambal flavour

I recalled one particular chef who came to the kitchen, with a bag of dried mee pok (they call it Pancit Canton) and some condiments. Interviews with chefs, to me, are best done in a kitchen where action speaks louder than any fancy schmancy curriculum vitae. He confidently tossed the high-fire wok and spun some savouries like soy sauce, garlic, chinese wine, stock and oyster sauce with a sprinkling of sliced meat, vegetables and bean sprouts before dropping in a bowl of pre-blanched Pancit Canton. I can’t help but think our beloved mee pok tah with every flick of the wok he attempted. I was momentarily and intermittently drifting in and out of an illusion.

I saw a hawker place some flour dusted mee pok on a blanch ladle and lowered it into the pot of simmering stock. The steam in the air spelt – fish bones with soy beans and dried ikan bilis. He then stirred the noodles with a pair of chopsticks, to loosen it and to ensure even heat distribution. At every juncture of that 30 second flick in the hot stock, its flavour was influencing each strand of noodle. Then he artfully removed the perfectly blanched noodle, held it above for two seconds and gave it a flick-jerk to fling the hot soup lingering and threatening to overcook the noodles. He went on to dunk the noodles into cooled stock to stem the cooking and firm the aldente-ness. Then another flick-jerk. By then, a bowl laced with sauce, oil and chilli sat beside, waiting to smolder the warm al dente noodles.

I drifted back to Manila and contained my drool. The chef was still shoveling his pancit canton and no matter how much he raked and shoveled, the noodles still looked pale and brown. I was anticipating a waft of some sambal in the air. Wishful thinking. Then I drifted again. I saw the hawker put a spoonful of top grade soy sauce, a splash of lard, a few drops of sesame oil and plonked a big teaspoon of sambal chilli in the bowl. I could taste what I saw, especially the sambal. Many top hawkers I know have these few magical ingredients in their sambal symphony – shallots, garlic, blue ginger, lemongrass, chilli, roasted dried shrimps, belachan and the secret that makes their chilli look blackish, buah keluak nut paste. The proportions and method of cooking may differ, but the distinct taste of buah keluak nut and roasted dried shrimps led the way and calmed the chillies.

The noodles were all ready to be possessed by that sauce mix. He placed it in the bowl, but does not mix it into the sauce (that’s a pleasure he reserves for his customers), and topped it with pork and fish balls, black mushrooms, lean meat, a dumpling, bean sprouts, lettuce, some lard cracklings and a small slice of crispy fried tee pok (dried sole fish bone). I know it is very unfair for the chef for me to be hallucinating while at work, but it is a curse within which I think many won’t criticize me for. Besides, we did not say no to the chef. For your fix of some of my favorite mee pok tah around…

The sambal, which comes hauntingly close to what I described, is dry and coats the noodles nicely. The flavour of the dried shrimps and the subtle earthy taste of buah keluah is distinct. The bowl is dry when you complete the meal unlike unworthy peers which wet the noodles with soup before serving and turns it soggy. Order their dry mee pok classic and give the soup version a miss.

If you don’t have at least half an hour of spare waiting time, then this is not your mee pok Shangri-la. Their sambal comes a dry and very fragrant and it has a nice kick of chillies in the concoction. It is smoother because there is just a hint more lard used and hey, whose complaining. Again, the dry version is their killer application.