Fried kway teow (this portion is S$3.00; prices start from S$2.50)

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the elder generation of Singapore hawkers. For most of them, there will be no one to take over their trade once they retire, as their sons and daughters have no wish to toil for hours behind the hot stove like their parents have done for decades.

When this happens, a generation of priceless skills and recipes will be forever lost.

Hence, my current mission in life is to seek out as many of these heritage hawkers as I can before they hang up their woks and pots for good.

One of them is Mr Tan Teng Mui, 62, who has been frying char kway teow for more than 40 years. He started his business at the tender age of 18 near the former Thong Chai Medical Institution. In those days, that area was known as Wayang Street (before it was renamed Eu Tong Sen Road). Mr Tan is thus popularly known as the Char Kway Teow Man of Wayang Street.

Since 1987, Mr Tan has been operating at his current location after the hawkers in Wayang Street were resettled due to urban redevelopment.

At first bite, this tastes like your average fried kway teow. But with each subsequent mouthful, it slowly grew on me.

The slippery flat rice noodles are very smooth and moist, contrasting nicely against the al dente yellow Hokkien noodles.

Although the wok hei flavor isn’t very intense, the noodles are sufficiently fragrant. I would have preferred a heavier hand of black sweet sauce and fish sauce, but overall, the sweet and savoury flavors are superbly balanced.

I also like the generous dose of beansprout for that crisp, refreshing touch.

And though I’m not a fan of see hum (blood cockles), I appreciate the fact that Mr Tan and his wife still insist on shucking fresh cockles on the spot for their char kway teow. Most hawkers these days opt for the packaged ready-shelled variety, which definitely can’t beat freshly shucked cockles when it comes to flavor.

Mr Tan also fries up a more than decent plate of fried Hokkien prawn mee. But between the two, the must-try dish is definitely the fried kway teow.

Stall has no English name — Chinese name is thus translated as:

Sheng Cheng Fried Kway Teow Hokkien Mee 生成炒粿條福建麵
132 Jalan Bukit Merah
132 GHK Food House
Singapore 160132

Open daily: 12pm to 9.30pm
Closed on ad hoc basis

The image in this post was captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

French toast set (S$4.00); kaya toast with butter set (S$4.50)

The owners of Ya Kun Kaya Toast really ought to do more stringent QC checks on their franchisees. We’ve tried various outlets, but none can match up to the original store at Far East Square (which is run by members of the founding family) when it comes to consistency.

In this instance, our coffee and tea came lukewarm. For the crispy kaya toast, the bread was unevenly toasted and the kaya unevenly spread. The icing on the cake was my French toast — the middle wasn’t thoroughly cooked. Imagine biting into soggy bread with uncooked egg! Eeeks!

It’s such a sad thing when a reputable brand name is marred by franchisees whose only motive is $$$.

Ya Kun @ SAFRA Mount Faber
2 Telok Blangah Way #01-06
Singapore 098803
Tel: +65 6377 2865

Daily: 7.30am to 9.30pm

The image in this post was captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

Chwee kueh, 6 pieces for S$1.80

Hubby had his usual chwee kueh from the legendary Jian Bo Shui Kueh.

Somehow, I find that it’s oilier and the topping not as fragrant as it used to be. But it still has its following of die-hard fans.

Kopi gao (extra thick coffee with condensed milk)

And to go along with chwee kueh — kopi gao (extra thick coffee with condensed milk).

You Ji

Five stalls away from Jian Bo is this stall. Quite an extensive menu, mainly breakfast fare like chee cheong fun, steamed pumpkin and yam cakes, fried beehoon and kway teow, and bak chang (glutinous rice dumplings).

Interestingly, they also sell gingko nut congee.

Chee cheong fun, pumpkin cake, yam cake, S$3.30

The chee cheong fun was good. Thin, smooth, bouncy rice flour sheets — drizzled with sweet sauce and chilli — reminded me of those excellent ones I had in Penang.

The steamed yam cake had chunks of yam, but pity the texture was lumpy. Same for the pumpkin cake.

Jian Bo Shui Kueh

Here are the respective stall unit numbers:

Jian Bo Shui Kueh
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-05 Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre
Singapore 168898

You Ji
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-10 Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre
Singapore 168898

The images in this post were shot with Sony NEX-C3 with SEL1855 lens (on loan from Sony Singapore).

Fried Hokkien prawn mee, S$4.00

Although they use the thicker type of beehoon — as opposed to thin beehoon which absorbs more stock — both Hokkien noodle and thick beehoon had sufficiently soaked up the stock. The seafood-base stock was tasty and complex enough without being too rich or salty.

For the ingredients, they weren’t so generous with prawn and squid. But they were very liberal with egg. Bits of scrambled egg were evenly spread throughout the noodles. Together with beansprout and Chinese chives, the dish had great texture and flavor.

The only thing that’s missing was wok hei (wok breath aroma). But I ended up polishing off the entire plate of noodles anyway, and I wasn’t even that hungry to begin with.

Notice the neatly folded and stacked boxes for takeaway?

This stall has been around for quite awhile. For some reason, I’ve never got around to trying it. It occupies the same unit as it did (next to the popular Tanglin Halt Western Food stall) prior to the upgrading of the food centre.

While I won’t be making a special trip to Clementi just for this fried prawn mee, it’s certainly worth a shot if you’re in the area. Prices are rather steep. Perhaps it’s because there’s no other fried Hokkien prawn mee stall in the vicinity?

Clementi food centre

Here’s what the food centre looks like after upgrading. The shape and structure looks the same, but it’s much cleaner now, with more seating.

Most of the original stall owners seem to be back. Hubby and I remember the Hainanese chicken rice stall (beside the goreng pisang stall) used to serve blanched beansprout with chicken, but not anymore. Also, their food doesn’t seem to taste as nice. Maybe it’s a different operator now? Have you got any favorite stalls to recommend from this food centre?

Nam Kee Fried Prawn Noodle
448 Clementi Ave 3
#01-12 Clementi Market & Food Centre
Singapore 120448

11.30am – 2.45pm, 4.30pm – 8.30pm
Closed on Mondays

Rice with fish, chicken, and veggie (S$4.00)

Behind the famous Golden Mile Food Centre aka army market at Beach Road is this coffee shop in an HDB block. The main attraction is a highly popular nasi briyani stall. Unfortunately, I was there after 1.30pm that day, and they were already sold out.

Luckily, I remembered reading this forum thread that its neighboring nasi padang stall — a split from the popular Nasi Bawean at Desker Road — is also worth checking out.

Likewise, many dishes were already sold out. No more fried chicken. No more bergedil. Boo hoo.

From the limited selection left, I picked:

1. Ikan assam pedas (tangy & spicy fish): The fish steak was fresh and rather thick. The chunky sauce — a blend of freshly ground chilli and aromatics — tasted vibrant and lively. It delivered a strong, spicy punch, but stopped short of overwhelming the tastebuds. But I thought the assam (tangy) part could have been bolder.
2. Opor ayam (?): Not sure if it’s opor ayam, but it was a very mild chicken curry. The gravy was pleasantly smooth and fragrant. I like!
3. Stir-fried beansprout: Lightly stir-fried, the beansprouts were tasty and still crunchy. A refreshing accompaniment to the spicy dishes.

Total damage: S$4.00. Very reasonable pricing by nasi padang standards. Portions were generous, too.

Will certainly swing by again if I’m in the area. The only problem is that seating here is very limited, and it gets very crowded at lunchtime. Forgot to ask for their operating hours, but it seems their main business is lunch, with most of the good stuff unavailable by around 2pm.

Nasi Padang Boyan Beach Road Power
Blk 17 Beach Road
Ground floor coffee shop, facing back of Golden Mile Food Centre
Singapore 190017

Yong tau foo (hidden below) with chee cheong fun

If your order is for dry yong tau foo, they will blanch the yong tau foo and place it together with chee cheong fun and sweet sauce and/or chilli in the same bowl (above pic).

Chee cheong fun 猪肠粉

If you order the soup version, they’ll serve the chee cheong fun and yong tau foo in soup separately.

The chee cheong fun is the factory-supplied variety. Very ordinary on its own, but somehow, it tastes extra special with yong tau foo!

Yong tau foo in soup

For their yong tau foo, it’s the generic variety offered by other yong tau foo stalls, eg. stuffed tau kwa, tau pok, eggplant, bittergourd, ladies finger, chilli, fishball, et al. The range is rather extensive as there’s both fried and boiled items.

What makes their yong tau foo unique is their fish paste stuffing, which is mixed with carrot strips. There’s certainly a very homely feel about their yong tau foo. Our only grouse is that they could be more generous with the amount of stuffing.

Expect long queues at lunchtime!

This stall is immensely popular with the lunch crowd, with their chee cheong fun being the bestseller. Sometimes, they even run out of chee cheong fun by 1pm, so make sure you come early!

Their prices are as follows (accurate as of 11 May 2011):

• 6 pieces + rice/noodles – S$3.00
• 6 pieces + chee cheong fun – S$3.20
• Add-on yong tau foo – S$0.40 per piece
• Chee cheong fun – S$0.80 per roll
• Takeaway surcharge – S$0.20

Zhen Jie Hakka Yong Dou Fu
7 Maxwell Road
#02-112 Amoy Street Food Centre
Singapore 069111

Mon to Fri: 10am till sold out, usually around 2pm
Closed on Sat, Sun, and public holidays

Cheng tng, S$2.00

Oft touted as one of the best cheng tng in Singapore, Ye Lai Xiang has been selling this much-loved local dessert for more than 5 decades. They use at least 10 different ingredients: dried longan, sweet potato, mung bean, winter melon strips, sago balls, dried persimmon strips, white fungus, gingko nut, barley, pangdahai, and lotus seed.

While the single small cube of sweet potato was nicely candied, some of the other ingredients could do with some fine-tuning, eg. the mung bean and dried longan which needed to be further softened. The broth was sufficiently flavorful without being overly sweet.

The stall

One of the oldest and better cheng tng stalls around, I would certainly endorse Ye Lai Xiang more, if not for the fact that they try to upsell their $3.00 “special” version (comes with bigger portion of ingredients) by downsizing the amount of ingredients for their $1.50 and $2.00 versions.

Ye Lai Xiang Cheng Tng 夜来香清汤
1 Bedok Road
Stall 31, Bedok Food Centre
Singapore 469572

11.30am to 8pm (earlier if sold out)
Closed on Mon & Tue

This week’s Tried & Tested rounds up the best Ipoh hor fun in Singapore. Which stall makes the most slurpilicious hor fun? Click here to read the full article!

Curry chicken potato puff, S$1.10

OMG, my mouth is watering as I’m typing out this post! See the pic below and you’ll understand why.

Curry puff, cross-sectioned

The crust of this handmade curry puff is so thin and crispy! It’s light, but isn’t too flaky. Also, it’s not overly greasy, and stays crisp long enough to bring home.

Much care has also gone into making the filling. What I like about the rempah (spice paste) is that it’s moist, fragrant, not too spicy, and doesn’t have an overwhelming taste of curry powder.

In addition, the potato cubes hold their shape, but disintegrate easily in the mouth. Tender chicken cubes (leg meat is used) and a wedge of hard-boiled egg make this a very satisfying filling indeed!

Madam Moh — the creator of these puffs — made her signature puffs into pyramids so as to make them stand out from the competition. Besides the bestselling curry chicken potato, other variations are available, and they come in the conventional half-moon shape.

Curry potato & egg puff, S$0.80

The curry potato & egg is essentially the same as curry chicken potato, minus the chicken. But it’s slightly smaller, and doesn’t seem to be as amply filled as the pyramid puffs.

Ooh, if only I could cart the whole tray home!

The history of Watten Home-Made Curry Puffs goes back more than 20 years ago when they started at Bougainvillea Park in Watten estate (opposite Hwa Chong Junior College).

The stall

Since then, they’ve relocated to Teck Chye Terrace, then Balestier Hill Shopping Centre. Their current location is this coffee shop in Toa Payoh Lorong 7 (next to Kim Keat Palm Market & Food Centre).

Price list

Too bad this place is out of the way for me, or I’ll definitely be coming here on a more regular basis. The otah puff sounds interesting, will definitely try that at next visit!

Watten Home-Made Curry Puffs
Blk 19 Toa Payoh Lorong 7
#01-264
Singapore 310019
Tel: +65 9389 4408 (Madam Moh’s mobile)
URL: http://www.sbestfood.com/wattencurrypuffs.htm

Tuesday to Sunday: 10am – 6pm (or till sold out)

Soy sauce chicken

One of the oldest chicken rice specialists in Singapore, Lee Fun Nam Kee has been around for more than 40 years. In the late 1960s, it began life as a humble hawker stall in a market in Toa Payoh Lorong 4. At that time, Toa Payoh was one of the newest public housing estates in Singapore. A few years later, Lee Fun Nam Kee moved into a corner shop unit a few blocks away, and since then, has been in operation there.

In the 1990s, an attempt by the second generation to expand the business resulted in an upmarket venture in Clarke Quay. This short-lived undertaking failed to maintain standards of the food, and drove away quite of number of their old-time fans, including my venerable foodie lunch mate for this meal, A.

"White" chicken

And so, this meal was a re-revisit of an old childhood haunt for A. For me, it was a chance to discover their “white” chicken, and how it compared against their popular soy sauce chicken.

Here’s our comments on Lee Fun Nam Kee’s “white” chicken vs. soy sauce chicken:

Soy sauce chicken:
The meat was silky smooth, but its original flavor was smothered by the sweet, thick gravy. Somehow, it goes very well with their noodles — which was fabulously executed on my previous visit — rather than rice. However, there are fans who dig this serving style.

Hainanese “white” chicken:
We polished off this plate faster than the other. Smooth and tender, the juicy meat had a lovely springy bite. The bird had been properly chilled, resulting in firm yet not oily skin. The light soy and sesame oil dressing enhanced the chicken without overpowering it.

Rice:
Loose and puffy, the rice was very old-school. It was mildly flavored with chicken stock, quite unlike the robust, ginger-infused version that’s more commonly available. On the upside, it was light and not greasy.

Chilli sauce:
Fresh and vibrant, the chilli was a lively mix of spicy and tangy. Thumbs up!

Kailan

This is a stellar example of how kailan should be served. Carefully picked to be free of tough and fibrous parts, these stalks were blanched to al dente on the crunchy side. They were then topped with oyster sauce dressing and — the piece de resistance — crispy pork lard cubes.

Many a times, I’ve had blanched vegetables or 油菜 that’s undercooked or overcooked, and topped with those horrible factory-made, fragrance-less fried shallots that come out of a bag. How I wish they’d take a leaf out of Lee Fun Nam Kee’s book (pun intended)!

Shrimp dumpling in soup

Respectably plump, the shrimp dumplings made a pleasant accompaniment to the meal. The clear soup was rather light (read: not heavily loaded with MSG) and had stalks of spinach.

I don’t have prices of the individual dishes, because this was a lunch treat from A and his lovely wife HL. Thanks, A, for the lunch treat and enlightening foodie insights!

As a rough guide, we ordered the following and the total bill was about S$40 for three diners (for the chicken, they served us rather generous portions for three):

1. Soy sauce chicken
2. “White” chicken
3. Kailan
4. Shrimp dumpling in soup (6 pieces)
5. 2 glasses of iced chin chow
6. 1 glass of iced lime juice

Lee Fun Nam Kee’s chicken rice is a more refined and elegant rendition of the hawker version. It’s also pricier, but one must take into account the food presentation and posher ambience (clean & airy coffee shop, leather seats).

Lee Fun Nam Kee Chicken Rice & Restaurant
94 Toa Payoh Lorong 4
Singapore 310094
Tel: +65 6255 0891

Open daily: 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm