The humble Opeh leaf comes from the inner sheath of the bark of the Betel Nut tree and was used extensively during the Post War years to wrap foods like Hokkien Mee, zichar horfun, etc.
Serangoon Hokkien Mee: Traditional Opeh Leaf Hokkien Mee!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Those who still remember eating Hokkien Mee wrapped in the traditional Opeh (Areca) Leaf will rejoice when they see the picture above! You know the adage “The brain is the biggest sex organ?” Well it turns out the brain is also the biggest taste organ as well. Somehow, when you see the Opeh Leaf, your brain immediately tells you that the taste of the Hokkien Mee is bound to be great! The uncle tells me that he doesn’t think the leaf imparts any taste to the Hokkien Mee, but Hokkien Mee Afficianados would disagree.
By the way, have you ever wondered where the leaf comes from? The humble Opeh leaf comes from the inner sheath of the bark of the Betel Nut tree and was used extensively during the Post War years to wrap foods like Hokkien Mee and Chee Cheong Fun. We now have to import these leaves from Malaysia and they are not cheap. They cost about 30 cents per sheet, which is why they only give you a small piece on the plate in most places. Here, if you buy the $4 or $5 portions, you can Tar Pau (doggy bag) the Hokkien Mee in the Opeh leaf.
Not only does this stall have the traditional Opeh leaf, the receipe for the Hokkien Mee hails from the stallowner’s father who had been frying Hokkien Mee (sitting down over a charcoal stove, I might add) over at the Sing Thye Coffee Shop at the Junction of of Balestier and Serangoon Roads. He was frying from the post war years until 1989 when he died. Fortunately his son Francis took over the family business so we can still taste this 60 year old receipe.
Kim Keat Hokkien Mee: Turning over a new Opeh Leaf!
Hokkien Mee on Opeh Leaf
I met this young pastor recently who asked if I could help his uncle who had just been released from prison. He had been in and out of prison for the past 20 years and had finally decided to get baptized and start life anew. He had opened a stall selling Hokkien Mee and asked if I could drop by to see if his Hokkien Mee was any good and perhaps give some tips on how it could be improved.
I like such inspiring stories but was a little apprehensive because Hokkien Mee is not a skill that someone can just pick up overnight. So I visited the stall not thinking that I would blog about it.
However, that all changed when I saw him at the wok. Mr Lee was attacking the wok like a veteran. He was using two ladles to toss the noodles up in the air till you could smell the aroma of the noodles and garlic! A lot of Hokkien Mee nowadays suffer from a lack of vigorous frying which results in a plate of noodles that is more like pasta, where the noodles and beehoon are just given a bit of a stir around the wok and then braised in the prawn stock. For good Hokkien Mee, the noodles have to be well fried in lard, eggs and garlic till the noodles are just a little charred before the stock is added. That is when you get that smokey charred flavour which you don’t ever get with pasta. You can easily tell if the hawker is doing it right by observing if he needs to scrape the burnt bits off the bottom of the wok after each session of frying!
Singapore Hawker Food: Halal Opeh Leaf Seafood Hor Fun
Seafood Hor Fun in a Opeh leaf
The Opeh leaf has an undeniable task of keeping the food warm, indeed after a few minutes of eating the Hor Fun and it’s gravy still piping hot inside, as I seated outdoor to enjoy the little wind blowing, the fresh air and watching the world goes by.
Where Do Opeh Leaf Wrappings Come From? It is not a Leaf
Opeh leaf or hak comes from the betel nut palm (scientific name, areca catechu)
When I was a child, hot hawker food was often sold wrapped in a light brownish wrapping known as opeh leaf or opeh hak. Char kway teow, fried Hokkien mee, chai tow kueh, char hor fun, fried crab bee hoon, orh luak, etc. Can you name more?
Opeh leaf is an excellent hot food wrapping as it insulates heat very well with lots of small air pockets inside its sheet, like organic bubble wrap. As an organic product it is earth friendly too. But opeh leaf or opeh hak is a lot more than just a traditional food wrapper. When the brown sheet wrap around steamy hot food and its sauces, they all interact with each other, infusing the food with a nice woody fragrance. The opeh hak was more than just a wrapping - it was like one of the essential ingredients for the best fried Hokkien mee, fried hor fun, fried kway teow, etc.
It is hard to describe that smell and taste but anyone who grew up in that era (Malaysia and Singapore up to the 1980s) will know it. In recent years, opeh leaf has made a come back, not as a wrapping but an underlining or decorative tray for nostalgic reasons. Used in this way, it imparts little if any fragrance to the food.
Char Kway Teow in Opeh (Betel Nut) Leaf
Using natural leaves is definitely better than plastic lined paper
Char Kway Teow is a very popular hawker/street food in Singapore. To find Char Kway Teow wrapped in Opeh (Areca) Leaf (Betel Nut Leaf) as a takeaway or to-go is rather rare these days.
Similar to Otak-Otak wrapped in Banana Leaves or Coconut Rice cooked with Pandan Leaves, using Opeh Leaf (Betel Nut Leaf) as a food wrap must be doing good to Char Kway Teow in terms of retaining aroma, warmth, or moisture. Maybe eco-friendly too? I don't know. I wonder if we are hurting the Betel Nut Tree population.
Significantly characterized by the use of dark sweet sauce, the Singapore Char Kway Teow is different from Penang's Char Kuey Teow.
The Opeh Leaf
When the opeh leaf comes into contact with hot food, a subtle woody fragrance is infused into the dish, enhancing flavours. That’s why in the good old days, it was used to serve anything from chwee kueh, a type of steamed rice cake served with diced preserved radish and chilli sauce, to char kway teow, a noodle dish traditionally stir fried in pork fat.
The Opeh Leaf
Waaa, ever had fried hokkien prawn noodles or oyster omelet packed in one of these? It’s really delicious and fragrant! Opeh leaf enhances the “wok hei” taste of the dishes! It not as common these days but if you do see one, be sure to try it! foodline.
