Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle: Jumbo prawns and thick pork lard in rich soup

When we think of entrepreneurs in Singapore, we imagine young fresh grads or the like, don’t we? Definitely not a 72-year-old upstart. But that’s what the founder of Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle @ Aljunied is.

Tiang Wen Liang, or William, used to assist his father at their prawn mee pushcart outside the National Theatre. This was back in the 60s and they called the dish prawn soup instead of prawn mee. The recipe from back then is the basis for Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle.

As if re-enacting the heartwarming tale of father and son, Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle is owned by William’s son Clement. He was the one who begged William for the recipe and encouraged him to open up his own shop. 

Things have been going swimmingly for them since they opened on 18 Oct. Now they have plans in the works for more outlets in Serangoon and AMK hub for instance. 

They’ve even managed to hook in some local celebs like Terence Cao and Jack Neo. With this much going on for them, you have to wonder if the noodles are worth the hype. 

What I tried at Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle

I had a Royal Jumbo Prawn Noodle (S$19.80) order with additional ingredients, compliments of Clement so I could sample them. 

If you’re the type of person who prefers their prawn mee dry, it’s also on their menu. But you’d be sorely missing out as their soup is liquid gold. Born from the combination of Clement’s and William’s principles of not skimping out on ingredients – no substitutes here, Clement insists – and boiling the broth for 6 hours at minimum. 

They add whole prawns and prawn heads into the mix, again not using any other substitutes, and you can see the result from the rich dark amber colour of the soup to the strong umami prawn taste. It’s subtly sweet with a sharp taste, almost peppery, like a concentrated twist on a traditional recipe.

It compliments the yellow noodles and thick bee hoon, pairing well with the steaming soup and making the combination insatiably addictive. Raising the expeirence these are the thick bits of pork lard that are plentifully sprinkled at the top of the bowl.

The Royal Jumbo Prawn order comes with all that and braised pig skin with slices of pork belly. Of course, we can’t talk about prawn mee without touching on the crown jewel that is the prawn itself. For Jumbo orders, you 2 huge half prawns. 

The prawn flesh was sweet and not a hint of fishiness. This is because all the seafood here is fresh from the farm. 

The additional ingredients were thin slices of kurobuta pork and tobiko prawn balls. You can usually find these as their own menu items. If you’re keen to try, they’re the Prawn Noodle with Kurobuta Pork (S$12.80) and Prawn Noodle with Tobiko Prawn Balls (S$9.50).

These two dishes come with regular-sized prawns instead of the Jumbo ones but are still pretty sizeable pieces in threes.

I quite enjoyed the prawn balls especially, the pops of prawn roe in them were always a delightful surprise. They were juicy and had a good balance, not too mushy or dense. There’s also a natural sweetness to them.

If you’re looking for more seafood in your prawn mee, Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle also offers Flower Clams in some of the variants. You can, of course, simply add on the ingredients. The clams will cost you S$3.50. Aside from the ingredients I have already gone over, there is the option of Pig Tail (S$3) as well.

I also had the opportunity to try the Wu Xiang Platter (Set A for S$8.50, Set B for S$13.50, Set C for S$18.50), which is an array of sides. It’s a mixture of handmade and store-bought items, served with an old-school sweet sauce and homemade chilli blend. This sweet and savoury mix is not too spicy.

The sweet sauce was new for me, more used to the thick, red and pasty kinds. This was almost gelatinous and pinkish. The flavour was lighter than what I was used to.

The platter pairs well with the soup with the richness of the broth helping wash down the fried stuff. It would be great if you had friends or family to share this with. 

Final Thoughts

On personal taste, all you need to do for me to consider your prawn mee as good is be a good old-fashioned homely bowl. Or like my grandma’s cooking, to put it plainly. Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle’s prawn mee is on a whole other level, one that I have to say is the best that I’ve had.

It’s enough to spoil me for any other bowl of prawn noodles from here on out. So, I can confidently say that despite the pricier range for a bowl, it’s well worth it.

I greatly encourage you to check them out yourselves, at least just once, to see if they satisfy your craving for a fantastic bowl of prawn mee. 

Expected damage: $9.50 – $22.80 per pax

Order Delivery: foodpanda

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