4th gen Melaka-born hawker sells natural kway chap & pork lard rice

Funnily sufficient, I by no means used to like kway chap, as I usually discovered it veering on the funkier facet of issues. It was solely because of this job that I realised kway chap, as soon as cleaned and cooked proper, may very well be extremely scrumptious. Teaching me precisely that was Hakka Lau Wei, a humble kway chap stall situated in a quiet espresso store alongside Guillemard Road in Geylang.

Hakka Lau Wei is run by John Lau, a buff man who was expertly chopping braised meat once I visited the stall on a quiet Thursday. Though barely 3 months outdated, Hakka Lau Wei has been garnering a gradual however regular following on-line because of its distinctive Hakka-style kway chap. 

The kway chap that Singaporeans know and love is Teochew-based, with a robust savoury broth that comes with flat, broad rice sheets (aka kway) and your alternative of braised innards. Hakka Lau Wei’s household recipe varies, because it originated from John’s great-grandfather, who got here from Shanwei, China, and migrated to Malaysia and commenced promoting kway chap there.

The consequence: A sweeter braise, a herbal-ish broth and thinner noodles, aka kway teow kia.

Interestingly, Hakka Lau Wei’s stall appeared makeshift, because it occupied a small nook within the nearly abandoned espresso store, with a freezer doubling up because the serving station.

In a coincidence, John additionally shared with me that we caught him at a superb time. They’re within the midst of shifting! “The crowd here is too little,” he stated. “We’ll most probably be shifting to 446 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 in a couple of months.” 

Key phrase: Most most likely. Best to test Hakka Lau Wei’s Facebook web page for any modifications in handle earlier than heading down!

What I attempted at Hakka Lau Wei

Hakka Lau Wei’s menu is impressively intensive, with over 30 objects starting from particular person braised elements comparable to Braised Pig Ear (S$3/S$5) to rice units like Economic Braised Pork Rice (S$2.50) and Braised Beef Rice (S$8.80).

As I got here with Aaron, my fellow colleague, we determined to get the All Pork Organs Platter (S$8/S$15), which got here with 6 several types of braised meat: Big Intestine, Small Intestine, Pig Ear, Pig Head, Pig Heart and Pig Tongue.

As people who’ve solely eaten the normal varieties of kway chap, we had been unfamiliar with the rarer cuts like ear, head, coronary heart and tongue, so we had been excited to offer it a attempt.

Out of all 6 elements, the Pig Ear turned out to be Aaron’s favorite, partly attributable to its novelty, and in addition partly due to its texture. While there wasn’t a lot flavour within the gelatinous, jelly-like exterior, the white-coloured cartilage on the within was crunchy, virtually like delicate bones.

My private favorite was the Big Intestine. It had a terrific texture— barely spongy and chewy, like tau pok, whereas nonetheless being fats and meaty. The better part was its absorbent nature, which means that it will soak in all that wonderful savoury but candy braised liquid, leading to a flavour bomb in your mouth.

One factor that Aaron and I agreed on was that the innards had been all cleaned extremely properly, with gentle to zero funkiness that’s usually related to kway chap.

This was my first time making an attempt distinctive cuts like Pig Heart and Pig Head, and admittedly, I wasn’t an enormous fan of each. 

The Pig Heart was harder than I anticipated. I assumed it’d be like rooster coronary heart or liver, nevertheless it was neither. Instead, it resembled powerful rooster breast. As for the Pig Head, I didn’t benefit from the pores and skin’s bristly exterior texture. However, Aaron had a unique take, and he ended up loving the Pig Head for its gelatinous and delicate underside.

You can select to pair your braised innards with Rice Noodle (S$1), which is obtainable in each soup and dry variations.

This was most attention-grabbing, as most kway chap locations solely supplied kway with soup. This was the primary time I got here throughout a kway chap place providing a dry model in addition to kway teow kia, and I used to be eager to see the way it’d end up.

This is most positively not the kway chap we’re used to. Herbal, aromatic, with a light-weight pepperiness, Hakka Lau Wei’s broth jogged my memory of Malaysian bak kut teh. 

It’s uncommon to say the least, however not unenjoyable. I favored its mild herbaceousness, which paired properly with the strongly flavoured braised innards, however discovered myself craving a stronger savoury punch.

I extremely advocate that you simply attempt Hakka Lau Wei’s dry Rice Noodle. Though it appears to be like plain, give it a superb combine and watch because the dish is remodeled in entrance of your personal eyes. 

This was silky kway teow kia tossed with black sauce and shallot oil, making a smoky but savoury bowl of noodles that immediately transported each Aaron and myself to Malaysia. Super underrated and extremely scrumptious. Must-try!

The very last thing we tried from Hakka Lau Wei was its Pork Lard Rice (S$2.50). This was a sinful bowl of white rice topped with a soft-boiled egg, a touch of braised liquid, and loads of deep-fried pork lard bits. 

To eat this, merely break the yolk and provides the rice a superb stir.

This was a dish that hit it out of the park— fluffy, delicate and moist white rice, with smoky and umami-filled pork lard bits that infused each chew. The pork lard was crispy and addictive, whereas the egg yolk mixed the whole lot collectively. 

Undeniably, this acquired too salty after some time, nevertheless it was so good that I couldn’t cease consuming.

Final ideas

Hakka Lau Wei’s natural kway would possibly’ve not been up my alley, however I beloved its dry kway, which was tossed in aromatic shallot oil and darkish sauce. Pair that along with your alternative of braised innards, which was cleaned expertly and had minimal funk, for a sinful but totally satisfying meal that didn’t break the financial institution in any respect.

While Hakka Lau Wei’s single drawback was its quiet location (it’s a 15-minute stroll from Aljunied MRT), John appears to have rectified that by its potential shift to 446 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10— a a lot busier location in a mature property, and proper behind Chong Boon Market & Food Centre too.

I look ahead to visiting John once more for an additional wallet-friendly but scrumptious meal. See you quickly, John!

Expected harm: S$2.50 – S$10 per pax

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