Flying Dragon Noodles: Ex-chef whips up gravity-defying noodles with crayfish chilli crab sauce
Magically floating soba noodles hit the internet in 2016 for its mind-blowing visuals and seemingly levitating chopsticks. More often than not, this is just a well-hidden gimmick, with actual chopsticks hiding under the mountain of flying noodles. Not at Flying Dragon Noodles though— these noodles are truly standing on their own!
This humble hawker stall can be found on the second floor of Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, just a few stalls down from the well-loved Wild Olives, a western stall that is well known for its incredibly long queues.
If you’re worried that these flying noodles are just for show, you might be pleased to know that the man behind the cooking used to be a former head chef of a seafood restaurant. James Tan spent a decade as the head chef of now-defunct Pioneer Seafood Restaurant before deciding to open Flying Dragon Noodles with his partner.
When we visited the stall on a weekday afternoon, we were initially disappointed to find out that the titular “flying” noodles were actually fried already! James explains that when the stall first opened, he would fry each batch of noodles upon order. However, to save time, he began to prepare the noodles beforehand.
Thankfully, upon our request, James agreed to fry our orders on the spot.
The flying noodles are prepared by draping Hong Kong-style egg noodles over a pair of wooden chopsticks. We watched as James expertly balanced the delicate egg noodles over the chopsticks, before quickly walking over to the stove for the next step of the cooking process.
Once he’s skillfully secured both the chopsticks and a metal strainer in one hand, James began to pour hot oil over the noodles. Cue plenty of sizzles!
After a minute or two, the egg noodles are now rigid and can stand on their own— no magic or concealed chopsticks needed here! James transfers the crispy noodles over to a large plate, before proceeding to douse the noodles with the sauces of our choice.
What I tried at Flying Dragon Noodles
We decided to go for Flying Dragon Noodles’ priciest but presumably the most impressive item on the menu: Crayfish Flying Dragon Noodle with Chili Crab Sauce (S$16).
Despite the whopping price tag, this was a seriously impressive dish. It came with two halves of a crayfish, a handful of lala, and plenty of chilli crab sauce— but unfortunately no actual chilli crab meat.
Now, how were we to eat this dish? My dining companion tried to pour the gravy over the crispy noodles in hopes that it’d soften slightly, but that method didn’t work. We ended up demolishing the tower of standing noodles by crushing it with our utensils, before tossing it in the rich chilli crab gravy.
Flying Dragon Noodles’ combination of crispy noodles and savoury chilli crab sauce was absolutely perfect.
Each slurpful of noodles was super substantial, with just the right mix of crispiness, slurpy yet not completely soft noodles, eggy savoury yet mildly sweet sauce, and a touch of spice at the very end. Plus, since the egg noodles had been fried with hot oil, it added a slight roastedness to every bite and provided a smokey base for all the fantastic flavours from the sauce.
My only tip would be to selectively mix in the crispy noodles, so that you’d have some addictive crispy bits to pair with the viscous gravy.
We had been given two halves of a crayfish. My dining companion and I decided to have one half each, and after wrestling with the crayfish shell to pry out the meat, I was delighted to find that the crayfish meat was supple and tender, with a mouth-watering briny sweetness that typically came with fresh seafood.
However, I must say that the amount was abysmally little, especially given Flying Dragon Noodles’ hefty S$16 price tag.
For those looking for more wallet-friendly flying noodle options, you can try Flying Dragon Noodles’ Flying Dragon Noodle (S$6), which features the same levitating crispy egg noodles, but with silky egg gravy similar to wat tan hor fun.
On its own, the gravy’s flavour was much lighter than expected, but it had a mild seafood-like sweetness that went well with the fresh and springy prawns. I wished that the gravy had come with the characteristic wokhei that accompanied most horfun dishes, as its lightness made me want to douse it in soy sauce.
My advice would be to have the silky egg gravy together with the crispy noodles for that well-needed savoury touch.
Final thoughts
Would I pay S$16 for a plate of Crayfish Flying Dragon Noodle with Chili Crab Sauce? Probably not. While the novel concept deserves two thumbs up and the chilli crab sauce was fabulously delicious, the amount of crayfish given was disappointing. Instead, I might consider sharing it with a dining companion.
As for the Flying Dragon Noodle, the silky egg horfun gravy itself was lacking in depth and saltiness, but the lacklustre sauce was saved by the crispy and savoury fried egg noodles.
Some critics might compare Flying Dragon Noodles’ crispy levitating noodles to ee mian, so if you’re not one to be enticed by such visual theatrics, I’d recommend you go for the stall’s other zichar offerings, such as Fried Pearl Rice with Pork Cutlet (S$6), Prawn Lala White Bee Hoon (S$6) or Minced Meat & Egg Mui Fan (S$3.50).
Expected damage: S$3.50 – S$16 per pax
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