Zhi Wei Xian - Michelin Bib Gourmand Prawn Mee at Zion Road

At Zion Riverside Food Centre, hawker Teo Aik Hua has spent over two decades refining a single dish — prawn mee — into something that has earned the Michelin Bib Gourmand for multiple consecutive years.

The stall, known as Zhi Wei Xian Zion Road Big Prawn Noodle (知味鲜), draws its identity from a broth built on the natural sweetness of prawns, simmered for up to six hours without cuttlefish, a deliberate omission to keep the prawn flavour clean and at the centre of every bowl. Teo, who began learning the trade from his father at age 13, now runs the stall alone, managing queues that form with regularity across both lunch and dinner sessions. What follows is a look at the dish, the preparation, and the elements that make each bowl at Zion Road worth the wait.

The foundation of every bowl here is a prawn broth simmered over an open flame for up to six hours. Teo does not use cuttlefish in his stock — a considered departure from many traditional prawn mee preparations — specifically to prevent any competing flavour from diluting the natural sweetness of the prawn heads. The result is a broth that reads as clean and concentrated: the prawn umami sits at the surface without heaviness, and the soup remains easy to drink through to the last spoonful. Teo himself has described his version as sitting between the lighter Adam Road style and the denser Newton Food Centre preparation — positioned, by design, for a broader palate.

Pork Rib & Prawn Mee (Soup) — from $8

The soup bowl arrives with the broth at its base, a mound of springy yellow noodles, a generous handful of pork lard, fried shallots, stalks of kang kong, and the prawns split lengthwise for ease of eating. What distinguishes this version from a conventional prawn mee is the treatment of the pork ribs: Teo prepares them in the style of bak kut teh, introducing pepper and garlic into the cooking process. The ribs arrive deeply flavoured — peppery and garlicky — and the rendered meat comes away cleanly from the bone. The pork lard deserves particular attention: each piece carries a smoky crispness rather than the soft, gelatinous texture more common at other stalls, and it integrates into the broth as both flavour and textural counterpoint.

Pork Rib & Prawn Mee (Dry) — from $8

The dry version separates the noodles from the soup. Yellow noodles are tossed in a thick, grainy chilli sauce and topped with fried shallots; the soup, along with the pork ribs and prawns, is served on the side. The chilli coat clings to each strand, and the fried shallots add a further layer of savoury fragrance. Diners who prefer a more pronounced oil note tend to favour this version, as the dry toss concentrates the seasoning without the broth diluting the noodle base. The same prawns and bak kut teh-style ribs feature across both formats.

The Prawns

Teo sources Red Tiger Sea Prawns as his primary prawn, though supply is supplemented with Grey Farm Prawns depending on availability — a reality he acknowledges openly. The prawns are not peeled before service; they arrive halved lengthwise, head intact, at portions that scale with price. Bowls from $12 and above come with noticeably larger, chunkier specimens. At the entry tier of $8, the quantity remains generous relative to comparable stalls. The prawn heads, once split, release their roe directly into the broth — a moment that deepens the stock in the bowl as the meal progresses.

Pork Lard

The pork lard at Zhi Wei Xian merits its own note. Unlike the soft, braised fat pieces served at some prawn mee stalls, the lard here is rendered to a smoky crispness — a preparation that holds up even as it sits in the broth. Teo offers these at the counter and includes them as a standard element of each bowl. They are not charged separately. Eaten on their own or left to absorb the broth, they carry a defined smokiness that rounds out the soup’s natural sweetness.

Zhi Wei Xian Zion Road Big Prawn Noodle offers one dish, but it is a dish that Teo Aik Hua has spent a lifetime approaching with precision — from the broth’s deliberate six-hour simmer to the bak kut teh-seasoned pork ribs and the smoky rendered lard that sets the bowl apart from most of its peers. The Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition, held for multiple years, reflects a consistency that diners at Zion Riverside Food Centre return for across both service sessions. Bowls are priced from $8 and available in both soup and dry formats, making the stall one of the more accessible Bib Gourmand entries in Singapore.

Zhi Wei Xian Zion Road Big Prawn Noodle (知味鲜)
70 Zion Road, Zion Riverside Food Centre, #01-04, Singapore 247792
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 11:30am – 3:00pm and 6:30pm – 10:00pm. Closed on Mondays.
Tel: +65 9006 4655