Yong Tau Foo is familiar enough in Singapore, but this stall at Chinatown Complex Food Centre (the yellow section) has a slightly different take.
Heritage Yong Tau Foo 怡保客家酿豆腐 focuses on Ipoh Hakka-style Yong Tau Foo, with handmade stuffed pieces made using Spanish mackerel.
The stall’s recipes are said to come from what the owners grew up eating, passed down from their parents.
That explains the emphasis on handmade mackerel filling, ikan bilis soup, dry tossed noodles, and even Fried Sengkuang, an Ipoh traditional snack made with shredded jicama.
The format is the familiar pick-and-choose style. You select the pieces you want, then decide whether to have them with noodles in soup or dry ($4 onwards, min 3 pieces).
Noodle choices include yellow noodles, thick bee hoon, bee hoon and hor fun.
The items include chilli, okra, eggplant, bitter gourd, fried jicama, tau pok, tofu and fishball, and I picked a selection.
Overall, I enjoyed the deep-fried pieces slightly more.
The handmade mackerel paste had a firmer and more natural bite than the very smooth commercial type, with a clean fish sweetness and seemed to have a touch of pepper.
The Fried Sengkuang was the piece I found more interesting, an Ipoh-style snack made with freshly shredded sengkuang, or jicama, wrapped and fried fresh.
It had a crisp outer layer and a sweet-savoury filling inside, which made it feel different from the usual pieces I would normally pick.
I also tried the dry noodles, which came tossed with sauce, bean sprouts and spring onions. This part was more straightforward, and I wished there was a little more sauce to coat the bee hoon better.
There is also Assam Laksa Mee ($4.50, $5) which gives the stall another Malaysian angle.
It came with thick rice noodles, mackerel, cucumber, onion, mint, pineapple and a tangy broth, with prawn paste in the mix.
I thought it was okay, but I personally wanted the gravy to be thicker and punchier (maybe also because I was more used to the Penang style).
That said, I can understand why others may enjoy this version. It was not too heavy, and the spice level was manageable.
Still, I like seeing stalls like this appearing with family recipes and harder-to-find heritage food.
Heritage Yong Tau Foo 怡保客家酿豆腐（黄凳）
Chinatown Complex Food Centre #02-004, 335 Smith Street, Singapore 050335
Opening Hours: 11am – 2pm (Wed – Sun), Closed Mon, Tue
Other Related Entries
Xiu Ji Ikan Bilis Yong Tau Fu (Chinatown Complex Food Centre)
Yong Xiang Xing Dou Fu 永祥興豆腐 (People’s Park Food Centre)
Rong Xing Yong Tau Fu (Tanjong Pagar Food Centre)
Xi Xiang Feng Yong Tau Foo 喜相逢 (Ang Mo Kio)
Golden Mile Special Yong Tau Foo (Golden Mile Food Centre)
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