Mee & Me

WILD Rocket chef Willin Low remembers vividly how, as a boy, his favourite memory was of sharing a bowl of wonton mee with his mother. Sure, he's tasted better since, but there's no replacement for that particular bowl, more out of sentimentality than quality.

Most Singaporeans would share that emotional connection with the humble noodle, the most eaten Asian staple after rice. Being a cosmopolitan society, noodles here come in a bewildering range of choices, from kway teow and mee pok to Japanese ramen and Italian pasta.

Origins

Law Wee Pheng runs one of the oldest noodle-making plants in Singapore, Lau Boon Heng Kwei Teow & Noodle Manufactory. He recalls that in the past, producing noodles was a very specialised undertaking, with each dialect group focused on its traditional noodle type. Mr Law is a 55-year-old Teochew; his family started making and selling kway teow two generations before he was born. It was only in 1977 that wheat and other rice noodles were added to their selection. And while the Teochews produced kway teow, the Hokkiens were known for yellow mee and the Cantonese for egg noodles - known colloquial…