Since the success of Sing Lung HK Cheong Fun, Chef Wei HK Cheong Fun (Holland Drive), and Pin Wei Hong Kong Style Chee Cheong Fun, more indie Cheong Fun places have popped up all over in Singapore.
For this one, you will have to venture to Toa Payoh West Food Centre (Lor 1) or Tiong Bahru Food Centre to get a bite of this striking-pink Cheong Fun.
Yes, not only is Grandpa Homemade Cheung Fun 石磨腸粉 made from scratch, it is also known for their multi-coloured choices, as the they comes in green (spinach) or pink (dragonfruit) on request.
Behind the stall is a father-and-son duo who hails from Shenzhen. The junior left his engineer job to pursue F&B, supported by his father who is a retired restaurant chef.
They chose to come up with their own recipe from scratch, and their trial and error eventually led up to the current iteration.
It starts with a bulky stone mill used to grind rice into rice flour and truly from scratch.
The Cheong Fun is different from the HK dim sum style in appearance. The usual ones may be a thin parcel with fillings folded inside, made by steaming a thin sheet of rice flour and folding it.
Here, the pearl rice flour rolls are simply steamed in a metal tray, cut into portions, and drizzled with sauces.
The result is chunks of thicker Chee Cheong Fun with a wrinkled texture, with toppings simply laid over them.
Instead of the plain white look that comes with every plate, the selling point here is the availability in two other colours, being green (incorporated with spinach) and pink (dragonfruit), for an additional $0.20.
Although the colours are only available when it is not too busy, as the metal tray used for steaming has to be meticulously scrubbed between each order. Yup, I once went during lunch time, and only the plain ones were offered.
However, these colours do not add any additional flavour, but it is just a good feast for your eyes.
Get the Char Siew ($5.20) filling for your first try. The pork pieces are homemade with a secret marinade, also air-fried instead of oven-baked for a crispier texture.
The classic pairing is the Prawn ($5.20), which comes with a few shrimps within the Cheong Fun.
Other combinations include Plain ($3.90), Egg + Veg ($4.50), Egg + Veg + Sausage ($4.80), Prawn + Char Siew ($5.80), and Corn + Sausage ($5.80).
As the rice flour layers were on the thicker side due to the method of preparation, I thought the customers could have preferred something less starchy-tasting and silkier in texture.
To be fair, I did notice more neatly folded ones on other online reviews, while mine was pretty ‘lumpish’.
The winning element to me was the sweetish sauce and the spicy dried shrimp chilli sauce.
There is also congee available, but I found the texture on the ordinary side. The star here, is still the Cheong Fun with its chilli sauce.
Grandpa Homemade Cheung Fun
Tiong Bahru Food Centre #02-32, 30 Seng Poh Road, Singapore 168898
127 Lor 1 Toa Payoh, #02-22, Singapore 310127
Opening Hours: 7am – 2pm (Mon – Sun)
Other Related Entries
Sing Lung HK Cheong Fun (Beach Road)
Chang Le Chee Cheong Fun 尝乐猪肠粉 (Chinatown Food Centre)
Sing Lung HK Cheong Fun (Beach Road)
Chef Wei HK Cheong Fun (Holland Drive)
Pin Wei Hong Kong Style Chee Cheong Fun (Pek Kio)
* Written by Daniel Ang and Dean Ang. Follow @DanielFoodDiary on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube for more food news, food videos and travel highlights. DFD paid for food reviewed unless otherwise stated.
