Visit Penang Kia and you will be greeted by the young and handsome Gerald, who used to work as an air steward. But how did he end up as a prawn mee seller?

So the story goes… Gerald has been together with his girlfriend Julyn for years. Julyn is also an air stewardess. Her father used to run a Hokkien mee stall in Tanjung Bungah, Penang. In Penang, prawn mee is also known as Hokkien mee. Julyn’s father retired and passed the recipe to Julyn and Gerald. The couple wanted to settle down, so decided to find a shop to sell prawn mee.

The Penang Prawn Mee at $3.50 came with 3 pieces of medium-sized prawns and slices of lean meat then topped with dried shallots and handful of bean sprouts. Gerald insists on fresh, wild caught sua lor sea prawns, instead of resorting to pond raised shrimps.

The highlight of the dish was the robust prawn broth that is umami-rich from the copious amounts of prawn heads and shells that have gone into the preparation of the stock. The prawn heads are first stir fried with the spices before blending and eventually adds to the stock. Sweet and spicy, with pungent smell of shrimp paste.

The smooth and well-balanced broth doesn’t leave a hint of bitterness on the palate either. The level of spiciness for the chilli powder is not too underestimated. It was quite spicy for me though i have a pretty high endurance for spiciness.

Penang Kia 仔

Address: Blk 205D, Compassvale Lane, #01-02
Opening Hours: 10am to 9pm

As novice hawkers, it had not been an easy ride for Gerald and Julyn. Yet, that had not stopped Penang Kia from participating in Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014. This is a fund raising event for the beneficiaries under the care of Touch Community Services. Penang Kia is going to serve a solid bowl of prawn noodles with HUGE wild prawns (not the one I had in the picture above). So worth coming right?

Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014
Venue: SUNTEC Convention Hall 401-402
Date: 22 Nov 2014 (Saturday)
Time: 11am to 5pm

Faster buy your tickets online ah: www.ultimatehawkerfest.sg