$3 plates of hor enjoyable & fried rice by 72-year-old hawker

I travelled to the quaint neighbourhood of Cambridge Road the place Pek Kio Market And Food Centre is situated. I chanced upon Tong Siew Fried Rice in one in every of my Facebook teams final yr, and so they specialize in S$3 plates of hor enjoyable and fried rice in addition to prawn omelette for less than S$4.

On Google, it mentioned that the stall opens at 1pm. But after we arrived, the uncle was nonetheless getting the stall began.

“Come back at 1.30pm,” he mentioned. And so, we patiently waited.

Uncle was as punctual because the trains in Japan… it was already open at 1.25pm. I approached the aunty (his stall assistant) who took my order, and she or he requested me the place my desk was.

When she came upon that it was distant, she obtained right into a frenzy and issues began getting awkward between us. 

“Can you sit nearer so that it’s easier for me to send it to you?” she exclaimed. I noticed the phrases ‘self service’ on the signboard, so I wasn’t positive what was happening. In the top, we agreed to her request and adjusted tables.

What I attempted at Tong Siew Fried Rice

It was stunning to know that regardless of the current GST hike, Tong Siew nonetheless sells their meals on the identical worth level from final yr.

My eating companions and I obtained the ball rolling with the Fried Hor Fun (S$3). The plate had items of rooster, fish cake, inexperienced veggies, and a mound of hor enjoyable doused in a viscous egg gravy. 

The hor enjoyable was easy and slid down my throat simply. Unfortunately, it lacked the aromatic wok hei that you just’ll normally get at different zi char stalls. The gravy was effectively seasoned however wasn’t distinctive.

As I dived deeper into the dish, I discovered the hor enjoyable generously loaded with tender rooster items and attractive slices of fish cake. Honestly, the parts of the substances exceeded different institutions which cost the next worth.

We proceeded to attempt the Prawn Egg (S$4) subsequent. It was an aesthetically stunning round omelette which had horny golden brown surfaces.

I jabbed my chopsticks and spoon gently into the egg, and slowly pulled it aside to disclose chunky items of prawn and spring onion bits.

I used to be shocked on the insanely lavish quantity of prawns within the open-faced omelette for less than S$4. 

“How is the uncle earning any money?” I assumed to myself.

The omelette itself was tasty, and the marginally charred surfaces enhanced the aroma of the egg, making it subtly smoky.

Dunking the items of egg into the chilli modified the expertise utterly. The chilli dip had an acidic and spicy combo occurring on the identical time, carefully resembling the dips that you just’ll get from orh luak stalls.

We then moved on to our last dish, the Fried Rice (S$3). The pile of rice was closely laden with bits of rooster, fish cake, egg, whitebait and spring onions. For the value I used to be paying, I used to be impressed as soon as once more by the quantity of substances it contained.

The crispy bits of whitebait had been delicious and injected tiny bits of saltiness to the rice.

I need to say that despite the fact that the fried rice had no wok flavour, it was tasty in its personal method. Everything from the mini egg bits to the items of rooster proper right down to the tiny sprigs of spring onion added their very own tiny personalities to the dish. The total desk agreed that it was scrumptious and we completed each final grain.

Final ideas

With inflation the way in which it’s as we speak, it’s tough to find hawker stalls which provide dishes on the identical worth level as Tong Siew Fried Rice. Even although issues had been a bit of awkward firstly, I managed to strategy the aunty as soon as once more for a bit of chit-chat. 

I came upon that the Uncle has been doing this for the reason that age of twenty-two, and it’s been 50 years… that makes him 72 this yr— superb!

Be affected person while you head down right here and bear in mind to take a seat close to the stall. The aunty will gladly serve the meals to your desk personally, with no service cost concerned. Score!

Expected harm: S$3 – S$7 per pax

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