Goldhill Hakka Restaurant (1997) : decades old Hakka Yong Tau Foo

This is a humble Hakka restaurant located along Changi Road for 22 years. Steven Lee, the owner, started helping his father at about 8 years old on a trishaw in Katong. He eventually moved into the shop and named it Goldhill, which means Jin Shan (金山), this is none other than his Chinese name. He has been making Yong Tau Foo for more than 40 years and Wen Long, his son, has started helping out but not too sure whether is he in the process of taking over the business.

Their signature is Hakka style Yong Tau Foo that consists of a limited selection of just 7 items. These 7 items are Tau Hu, Square Tau Pok, Triangular Tau Pok, Fishball, Tau Gi, Better Gourd and Chilli that are stuffed with fish paste. There is the selection small portion at $6 (10 pieces), the medium portion is available at $8 (15 pieces) and the large portion at $12 (20 pieces). There are also Yam Abacus Seeds ($4, $6 and $8), Steamed Lala Venus Clams ($12/$24), Vegetables with Oyster Sauce ($6/$12) and Steamed Fish at market value. There are only a total of 6 items on their menu.

I was there on a Public Holiday, the restaurant was almost full and there were still customers kept coming in, most of these customers are regulars and they came as a family. Wen Long was at the counter and he signaled to me when I was wondering how should I order so I walked towards the counter. I said, "This is my first visit." He pointed to the menu and said, "This is what we have. We do not serve rice and noodle." I replied, "There are two of us." He said, "You can order the individual set of Yong Tau Foo or a medium set to share." I ordered the medium portion of Yong Tau Foo and a small serving of Yam Abacus Seeds. He recommended to try the Steamed Lala but I did not order. 

The Yam Abacus Seeds is also one of the must order items, it is the Hakka version of Yam Cake. It is still made using the traditional laborious method and more yam than rice flour is added for a firmer yet softer texture. It is served with a concoction of dried shrimp, shredded cuttlefish, and minced salted fish then garnished with chopped spring onion, which is different from the others.

Those pieces of handmade Yong Tau Foo were stuffed with fish paste, the fish paste is freshly made using fish, a little flour and other ingredients based on the recipe passed down by his father. My dining companion said, "Every piece is so fresh but it is a bit plain if you do not eat it with the sweet sauce and chilli." 

It was steamed then served with just a drizzle of sesame oil and garnished with coriander, served together with the sweet sauce and chilli for dipping. The texture of the fish paste was quite firm. The soup that served along was lightly flavored with a slight hint of ikan belis. 

Payment is made at the counter after done eating. Wen Long saw me taking pictures of the menu. He said, "Like our FB page, the menu is there."

GOLDHILL HAKKA RESTAURANT (1997)

299A Changi Road SINGAPORE 419777

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 9.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)

Meixi's Kitchen : Hakka Yong Tau Fu

This is a new stall opened in the recently renovated coffee shop just beside the food centre, serving handmade Hakka Yong Tau Fu. 

The standard order is 6 items with noodle or rice at $4.20 and at $5.00 if go with the laksa gravy. They will deep-fry the items again and serve it on a separate bowl if you order the soup and laksa version. The handmade items tasted relatively fresh and my all time favorite has to be the stuffed brinjal, meatball, ngor hiang and stuffed tofu. 

The condiments are available at the counter for self-service. There is also a pot of soya beans for you to add into your soup. 

This brand has been around since 1986 and they have a few outlets islandwide.

MEIXI'S KITCHEN

Block 630 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 #01-972 SINGAPORE 560630
Operating Hours: 7.45 am to 9.00 pm (Daily)

Ah Lock 豆腐店 at Yishun Park Hawker Centre : Hakka Tofu Bowl

Lee Lock Teng, 24, an undergraduate of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in National of University (NTU), he decided to take a semester break of 6 months to operate this hawker stall, an "incubator stall" in the recently opened Yishun Park Hawker Centre under the Timbre Group. Under this scheme, the hawkers just need to pay for the rental and utility fees, excluding the costs of pest control, dishwashing, and other costs. This is to allow the first-time hawkers to take up a stall for a year with kitchen equipment sponsored and some operational charges waived. They will also receive mentorship from Tommy Teo, the head chef of Timbre Group.

He started this stall to fund his university education as he has run out of savings to pay for his school fees after the first year.  He came from a family of five and their total income is just enough to support the daily expenses. His mother, 47, is a housewife and his father, 51, is a technician. He has eaten his mother's Thunder Tea Rice and his grandmother's Hakka Yong Tau Foo since young. He started helping his mother to prepare meals since his primary school days. He picked up the kitchen skills and eventually learned to cook these dishes by himself. He cooked these dishes for friends that he met and also for those that offered accommodation to him when he went traveling for 5 months. 

His stall is serving Hakka Yong Tau Foo using the family decades' old recipes that passed down from his mother and grandmother. He twisted the recipe a little, he is serving Hakka Yong Tau Foo and Thunder Tea Rice in the concept of Japanese donburi (rice bowl). He wants to present the "old-fashioned" Hakka food in a modern way to create awareness amongst the young people. It takes about 5 to 7 hours each day in cutting and scooping out the tofu then stuffing it, it has to be done carefully to prevent the tofu from falling apart. 

Hakka Tofu Rice Bowl ($5.50) is one of their signature dishes, it is a combination of the traditional Hakka Yong Tau Foo and Thunder Tea Rice, presenting in the form of Japanese donburi. It consists of Japanese rice and topped with ingredients like deep-fried tofu and tau pok that stuffed with minced pork belly with meatballs, chopped long beans, and shredded seaweed. And, right at the centre, it is a pile of tofu cubes with sambal mayonnaise and garnished with Alfalfa sprouts. Their other signature dish is Hakka Meatball bowl ($4.50), it consists of 3 pieces of meatballs and tofu puffs on a bed of rice. 

The chili that came along was quite different from those that usually along with the Hakka Yong Tau Foo, the level of spiciness was rather mild with a slightly sweet undertone but went well with those pieces of Yong Tau Foo. 

His elder brother, Lock Phon, 25, will helm the stall after 6 months when he starts to attend classes. He is determined to strike a balance between school work and cooking.They will continue running this stall if the response is good. He will also convert to taking part-time night classes at NTU and he intends to give himself about 4 to 5 years to complete the course.

If i do go back, I will go for their Tofu Rice Bowl again and will add $1 for extra meatballs. 

AH LOCK 豆腐店

51 Yishun Avenue 11 #01-08 Yishun Park Hawker Centre SINGAPORE 768867

Operating Hours: 12.00 pm to 2.00 pm / 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm (Closed on Wednesdays)

The Hakka Yong Tau Fu Stall : handmade based on a home recipe

This stall has been around for the longest time and is one of the popular stalls in this food centre, serving traditional Hakka style Yong Tau Fu using a home recipe. I used to visit this stall quite often when working and staying near here. The queue is usually quite long during lunch as well as weekends and they usually sold out before 1.30 pm. Some of the items were already gone when I was there at 12.30 pm and it only left a few choices when I went back later to take away. 

You are expected to choose your items first before joining the queue. When it is your turn, you handed the bowl to that assistant and telling her your preferences. You will be given a number and you are expected to hang around the area to wait for that number to be called in about 15 minutes or so.

Most of the items like egg, pig's intestine, brinjal, beancurd, fishball, yam and others are freshly fried to give it a slight crisp. Each item is freshly made and is stuffed with minced meat or fish paste. Some of the unique items that you should try are the fried pig's small intestine, fried tau pok with minced meat, lotus root with fish paste and fried meat roll, these are my usual favourites. Each of this handmade item is reasonably priced at 0.60 cents and it is served along with a bowl of lightly flavoured soup if you have it dry. There are bits of nicely fried garlic added to the soup for that extra flavour. You could choose to have it with bee hoon or rice for 0.50 cents. It is served separately on a plate then garnished with chopped coriander and white pepper to serve. 

THE HAKKA YONG TAU FU STALL

Block 20 Ghim Moh Road #01-25 Ghim Moh Food Centre SINGAPORE 270020

Operating Hours: 7.30 am to 2.00 pm (Daily)

Ding Hao Yong Tau Fu : Good Hakka style Yong Tau Fu, Must-try!

This shop is nestled amongst the others in this housing estate, it is located near the end of Block 304 after passing by 3 coffee shops just to get there and it has been around for more than a year. The owner inherited a secret recipe from Ya Rong Yong Tau Fu in Johor Bahru, Malaysia for Yong Tau Fu as mentioned on their Facebook page. They serve it the Hakka style with specially marinated minced pork together with a small proportion of fish paste instead of with just the fish paste like the Cantonese style that is commonly available. 

They minced the pork by themselves and to maintain its freshness, they added in the ice cubes in the blending process. Those pieces of Yong Tau Fu are handmade daily just 2 hours before their opening and are available at 0.60 cents per piece. You could choose to have it with soup or dry or with the curry sauce, they even have it with bean paste or go with the chee cheong fun or try their house special, the stir-fry Yong Tau Foo. There are different versions of stir-fry Yong Tau Foo like Kapitan Yong Tau Foo, Gan Xiang Yong Tau Foo, Sweet & Sour Yong Tau Foo, Marmite Yong Tau Foo, Gong Bao Yong Tau Foo, Lemon Yong Tau Foo, Rendang Yong Tau Foo and Thai Sauce Yong Tau Foo. And, their broth is simmered using prime ribs and mushroom. 

The number on the receipt will be called out when it is ready for collection which is not as effective. It happened when I heard my number was called by the lady serving at the counter. When I was at the counter, another customer thought it should be his order as he heard it wrongly. 

Apparently, they actually mixed up the order. We ordered 2 portions, the first portion is to go with the curry sauce and thick bee hoon, the second portion is to go with chee cheong fun and minced meat sauce but they mixed it up.

The Curry Yong Tau Fu is a popular item on their menu. The curry gravy was not too thick nor too diluted with a comforting level of spiciness. It went well with the thick bee hoon and also those pieces of Yong Tau Fu. The highlight has to be the fresh-tasting handmade Yong Tau Fu items and every piece of it is equally enjoyable. 

The minced meat gravy though looked uninterestingly but it was quite tasty and not overly saltish. It somewhat reminded me of Jason Niang Dou Fu at Beach Road and if you are a fan of that particular Yong Tau Fu then you would also enjoy this one, too.

The Uncle that manned the counter came over to clear the table next to us and he asked, "How was it?" I said, " I liked it. I could actually taste a mixture of minced meat and fish paste." He then said, "We added in to give it a bite of fish taste." And, I said, "The location is not very good though" which he agreed and said, "Most people would not walk all the way to the end and they will usually miss our shop." Before he walked away and he said, "Do come back more often since you liked it."

They strive to bring their customers a unique and pleasant dining experience by offering variety on their menu as stated on their card. They have a royalty card programme for their regular customers and a stamp is received for every $5.00 spent and to accumulate 8 stamps in exchange for a free set meal. 

This Yong Tau Fu is quite similar to the famous Hakka Yong Tau Foo at Ghim Moh Food Centre, both are good but in a different style. Nonetheless, this is worth a try. 

DING HAO YONG TAU FU

Block 304 Ubi Avenue 1 #01-85 SINGAPORE 400304

Operating Hours: 10.00 am to 9.30 pm (Closed on Public Holidays)

Mei Handmade Hakka Yong Tau Foo 美手工客家酿豆腐 at Woodlands

The food centre was rather quiet on a Sunday with most than half of the stalls were closed. After placing my taking away orders at the Yan Ji Seafood Soup, i went walking around to look for other choices for lunch as i did not want to wait for at least 45 minutes to eat as that was the expected waiting time at the Yan Ji Seafood Soup.

This stall caught my attention with quite a few of those awards and certifications prominently displayed and amongst them, one has even listed them as serving one of the best Yong Tau Foo in Singapore. Though no queue but there was a constant flow of customers so i guess they must be of certain standard. When looking at their Yong Tau Fu items, it is not difficult to tell from its odd and uneven shapes that most of them were handmade.

The owner is an elderly Uncle in his 60s. We started chatting in Hokkien. When i pointed to those awards displayed, Uncle chuckled and said, "All of those ah? Kelong ones la!".  His eyes sparkled with pride when he was saying that. 'Kelong' is a term usually used in Singapore and Malaysia to indicate cheating to achieve an objective by non-appropriate means. They have moved to this food centre for about 8 years now but Uncle has been at it since a teenager.

Uncle was all alone at the stall when i was there so i asked whether is he running the stall all by himself, he said, "I am doing it with my Zha Bo Lang (查某人)". Uncle was calling his wife as my woman, which is the meaning of Zha Bo Lang in Hokkien. I could not quite remember when was the last time when i encountered a man that is still proudly referred his wife as my woman. My late Grandpa used to do that too.

Uncle said, "We are usually at the stall at about 3 am to do all the preparations and we will also start selling by then too." He said his wife will come to take over later so he can go back to have a nap and they operate till about 8.00 pm.

Uncle told me that they handmade most of the items themselves, he said, "We could not make too many at a time, this is to ensure their freshness and also to avoid them from turning bad". Though most of these are the standard items that are commonly available at most Yong Tau Fu stalls but those from this stall are mostly painstakingly handmade.

Uncle said, "It is getting difficult to find the handmade Yong Tau Fu these days, a lot of hard works involved so many stalls have already given up and acquired these items from the factory instead." He continued to say, "The handmade and the factory made ones tasted quite different but again, not many of the younger generation could actually tell the difference."

Uncle was telling me that his most popular items are those handmade meatballs, he said, 'You do not get these anywhere else.' There were 2 different types of meatballs, the fried one and the steamed one, both tasted equally good.

I wanted to have yellow noodles to go with my Yong Tau Foo, Uncle asked. "Extra chilli with a bit of sweet sauce? it has to go with sweet sauce then is nice."

Most of the items tasted really fresh with not a bite of stale taste detected. Though a lot of chilli was added but the level of spiciness is quite mild and the sweetness from the sweet sauce enhanced its flavor quite a bit. It was quite enjoyable and easily one of the better Yong Tau Fu that i have eaten.

One of his regular customers was telling me, he said, "You should try the Laksa here, it is very good". Uncle said, "I added lemongrass into it and that is the key".  I told Uncle that i will come back for his Laksa soon. 

With many of the first and second generation hawkers went into retirement, many of the foods did not actually taste quite the same anymore. 

美手工客家酿豆腐 
Block 4A Woodlands Centre Road #02-29 Woodlands Centre Road Food Centre
SINGAPORE 731004
Operating Hours: 3.00 am to 8.00 pm

928 Ngee Fou Restaurant (Hakka) Ampang Yong Tou Fu

We were there at about 8 pm, close to their closing time. They dimmed their signboard and it didn't left much food at their counter. I thought they must have already sold out but still approached the lady and asked, there were still some left for 2 people though some items were not available. We asked for a mixture of everything that they left with 2 bowls of rice. 

It came quite quickly, the items include kang kong, fishball, fried dumplings, dried beancurd skin, squid eggs brinjal and bitter gourd stuffed with fish paste served in a pool of sauce. Nothing fanciful but pure comforting. 

My favourite item has to be brinja stuffed with fish paste. It tasted fresh, went well with rice, with or without the sweet sauce.

This is worth a try, if you happen to be in the vicinity.

928 NGEE FOU RESTAURANT (HAKKA) AMPANG YONG TOU FOU

928 Upper Thomson Road SINGAPORE 787121