Yong Li: Treat your hawker nice Day!
With Cactuskit, Wahcow and smart
Well, we Singaporeans are an honest bunch. We know our faults and we openly admit them. Impatient, rude, unforgiving and downright Kiasu. We sigh in frustration when we experience graciousness in other societies and lament that we can't be the same. Hey, all is not lost. Deep inside each and everyone of us, there is that spark that just needs to be ignited. We all have it in us and it is just a matter of expressing it so that we can make a difference.
Why do I say that? Because there is still a lot of niceness and goodness out there! And it is as close as the hawker that you buy your food from everyday.
Take this little old lady selling kway chap for instance. You could go up to her, order your $3 kway chap, pay your money and sit down and eat. Or, you could do what our friend Cactuskit did and start showing real interest in the lady, chatting with her frequently and even going to the extent of inviting her to one of his church functions. It's no wonder she treats him like a son and cooks a special chilli stingray dish for him when she found out we were coming for breakfast on a particular day!
That is why I feel that if you want to see more graciousness in our society, it starts right where you are. And one of the first people you can start with is our humble hawkers who work so hard everyday to feed us but often don't get any credit and very little thanks for what they do. A big smile and a simple word of praise for their food usually gets things going and I assure you that you will go away feeling much better about life too! In fact, if I were a Director in the Ministry of Community Development, I would even declare an official "Hawkers Appreciation" Day to try to spread some goodwill around. Happy hawkers make yummier food and yummier food make us all happier.
This little stall in Haig Road Food Centre does not have any newspaper clipping or awards of any sort, but they have been cleaning out pig innards for more than 30 years. Ever since Cactuskit mentioned them in the forum, it has been winning approval from our forummers including our venerable uncle Smart who declared that the lady makes the best "Da Chang" (Large Intestines) and pig skin in Singapore.
I think the thing about their "Da Chang" is the fact that they managed to get it so clean that you don't have any "smelly" taste in it. Now, here is the secret which I immediately spotted, thanks to my years of studying histology and anatomy in Med School. (Yeah right). Notice from the picture that they stripped off the layer of mucosa (innermost layer which is in contact with the fecal matter), thus exposing the inner layer of circular muscle? That is the secret. The old lady laboriously turns the large intestine inside out and painstakingly strips off the mucosal layer. This extra step results in a clean tasting "Da Chang" which even someone (like me) who doesn't usually eat "Da Chang" can appreciate. Smart gives it a 4.75/5 and says that the texture and taste is almost perfect.
So here's the nice little old hawker Aunty who has been stripping off pig innards for 30 years. Be nice to her and to your favourite hawker Aunty and Uncle today!
Conclusion
If you like "Da Chang" and pig skin then according to our kway chap experts, you should give this stall a try real soon!
Yong Li Cooked Food
Haig Road Food Centre
Open 7am to 2pm daily
Closed on Monday
What to do next?
Read about other Kway Chap stalls by clicking here
Like to find more Mom and Pop stalls? Click here
Find out what else is there to eat at Haig Road FC. Click here
Don't miss the Putu Piring that is just round the corner! Click here.jpg)
Remember to vote today! Click here
33 comments:
Hooray! 3 cheers for Aunty Ya Lan! She's such a dear : ). Thks for the lovely article on her.
just had it yesterday for breakfast!...yup no strong offal taste in the intestines, loved the chilli, seems like they add a bit of plum sauce in the chilli?
all the love is in the big intestines......beri beri good
ah good idea to put links to the other places nearby! :)
Dr. Les made 1 mistake I give a 4.75/5 not 4.5/5. Been eating all over Spore n her large intestines is the best, very tender, melt in your mouth (take hours and work to perfect it). Pig skin is crunchy but some people prefer soft type.
Came across this stall by chance. Didn't look special and had no awards/ recommendations. I just felt like having kway chap that day about 4-5 years back. So I tried it. Have gone back almost weekly ever since. : )
Yes, her specialty is the big intestines and chilli sauce. Rest is nice too, of course.
Sorry I'll change it!
wah Cactus, you called Smart a lady killer but looks like you are quite a si1 nai3 sha1 shou3 yourself.
thanks for the post, has been looking for kway chap to eat, cant really find nice kway chap nowadays.
wow cactuskit, you go back almost every week? haha
Haha. When I first ate there. I remember asking aunty if she could choose the leaner cuts of the meat for me. She replied grouchily that if I didn't take fat, then I shouldn't order it. I apologised and said it was ok, and that she needn't bother. Guess what? The plate came with meat that had the fats cut away. I was really touched. She was on OMO and busy too.
That week, I returned 3 times. Started chatting with her and got to know her better. : ).
Nowadays, I eat there about twice every 3 weeks. : )
again the one I missed. I love da chang too~~~
now that we have found the best da chang, where can we find the best kway for kway chap? The super thin super smooth melt in da mouth type :)
Yee, Dr Les talks about fecal contacts with the mucosa for such nice da chang write-up.
Cactus, you seemed to have found a new godma and being a nice kai chai to visit her so often. Follow the CofSaviour evangelism and win hawker's heart.
Must try this stall since it is go good 4.75/5 is good rating. Got a onetime $150 from coy to beat current inflation. Money will be well spent to pass on helping AUnty with the spiralling costs of living expenses.
I am fussy with da chang that have been "lor" for hours; hoped hers is like that. Will make a beeline when I am free to try.
You'll enjoy the da chang, jencooks. She is fairly busy but you don't have to make a beeline lah. Not that long wait.
Yet to see you in the forum leh...
Wow, I always eat Kway Chap at Ah oah at Tampines St 11, This one is better? Sure Sure I will try.
Jencooks, you not dating me when you go Yong Li ah? I gave a 4.75 and pai sei if you not agreeable with me after you ate.Now my neck on the chopping boeard.
I live in Japan but will be visiting in Sept - I so wanna try this! Thanks for posting.
Been a lurker here for two years and just want to say good job on the blog. Your pictures of hawker food helps me imagine the flavours I am missing!
Ming Lui
My gosh, I pity you. You have been lurking for 2yrs without being able to try all the nice food posted is torturing.. you can now have a freeflow in Sept....Enjoy!
Uncle Smart
No need to paiseh; One man's meat is another man's poison and rating is about what you enjoy and relish and would like to share with others. If the other party thinks otherwise, too bad; his tastebud has just a diff frequency.
I recall Cactus finds it hard to date you; Cactus, you want to date Uncle Smart is easy now cos he wants to date me for Yong Li; You come along and he's be there....haha My $150 inflation buster money is still not spent yet...
Cactus
Blog britzbratz is a straight road to walk the pen but I check in forum, so many things I dont where to u turn, left turn right turn and I am often at red light where to start....give me some time.
Ok give you some time,but not too long.
alamak, where is haig road food center, can't seems to find it anywhere online. please help. big fan of kway chup. hahha.
cw, you can follow this link to the forum page where I attached a map of Haig Rd FC. : )
http://ieatishootipost.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=568&page=1
Enjoy!
After reading the post, I went down on Saturday to try it. True enough by 11am most of her stuff were sold out.
But I managed to have the big intestine and the skin. One thing though, as much as I hate fatty bak, the fat on it when I had my Kway Chap was out of this world.
Definitely going back to have more kway Chap!
Glad you enjoyed your meal.: )
Jason from Ya Kwang tried it and said it was good too. Said the da chang is da chang tou.
The kway also goes very well with the handmade fishcake and stingray at the corner teochew porridge stall diagonally across it.
finally tried it this morning.
First thing I noticed when I stood at the front of the stall was that the pig skin does not look fatty at all.
Next thing was that the price was quite a steal.
On the plate were da chang tou, stomach, taukwa and salted vege together with a bowl of kway. Cost me $3.50. Went back to the stall with the plate and asked for some pieces of pig skin which they forgot and the aunty didn't charge me for it.
The da chang tou here was thoroughly washed and had no foul smell. I wouldn't say it was melt in the mouth, but it certainly was tender.
Unlike some others, the pig skin had some springiness in them. I like this slightly chewable texture.
I found 2 items a little sweet. The salted vegetables and the chilli sauce. The salted vegetables would have been wonderful eaten with plain porridge. The chilli should be palatable for those who take very little chilli.
There's still so much to try in the east. Next time you coming can jio me. : )
thanks. Will do so. The East really have a lot of treasures. Luckily not staying at the East. If not, skate faster than Kimi also no use.
oooo another F1 fan? :)
no lah, sorry, not a fan. Was just quoting Cactus about how fast Kimi is.
Thanks cactus, will make my way there soon. i stayed in the east for so long and i didnt know that was called haig rd fc. >.< hahahah
You're welcome. : )
Thats why you must come to the forum more often... : )
Aunty informed me that she had a first-time customer telling her she heard about the stall from Leslie's FM93.8 recommedation. That's proof that it works. : )
Post a Comment