When I stumbled upon Bai Nian Niang Dou Foo 百年酿豆腐 in People's Park Food Centre over a year ago, I liked it very much. Ban Nian's style of yong tau foo is not the typical YTF we are used to in Singapore and Malaysia, but if we keep an open mind about it, it is really very nice. There is something about it that made it special, but I couldn't quite pin it down at the time.
Today, I finally got the answer.
Thanks to Pearl's help, I met up with Bai Nian's founders, Andy and Amy.
The special ingredient that made Bai Nian's style of yong tau foo so lovely is LOVE.
Yeah, it sounds like corny PR except that there is a true love story behind it.
When Amy fell ill and was hospitalised a few years ago, she told Andy that she had a craving for yong tau foo. The hospital meal was also not appetising.
The loving husband that Andy is, he went about preparing his YTF for Amy. And, Amy had a few specific requirements 😄
The yong tau foo pieces must be bite size (not big chunks like the usual YTF). There must be variety (cannot be boring). The YTF pieces must be tender (cannot be stiff and chewy). And, needless to say, it must be tasty yet healthy 😄
So, the Bai Nian yong tau foo we have today is Andy's labour of love created according to Amy's rather stringent specifications 😄 It met Amy's approval but it is quite unlike the yong tau foo we know.
Am I right that Andy is many lady's idea of a dream husband? 💓😊
In 2013, Andy decided on a career change after years in the timber industry and opened the first Bai Nian outlet in Albert Centre (near Bugis Junction). At Bai Nian, the couple sold the yong tau foo Andy created for Amy. The public quickly felt the love of Bai Nian's unique YTF and success came pretty quickly. Soon, Bai Nian opened a second outlet in People's Park which was met with equal success.
Recently, Bai Nian launched a food court and it is, needless to say, anchored by their yong tau foo stall (their third outlet).
Bai Nian's YTF ingredients like their pork and prawn balls are freshly made at the stall.
All the ingredients are bathed in the pot of hot broth just before serving.
I like Bai Nian's YTF soup. The soup has medium body. It is made by boiling dried anchovies and soy beans. Additional flavours come from cooking the ingredients like pork and prawn balls in the soup. So, the soup served has interesting layers of savoury sweetness. There is no MSG used in Bai Nian's yong tau foo - Amy said it must be tasty yet healthy, remember?
Tender prawn ball made of minced fresh tiger prawn meat. It has a subtle sweet taste.
The mildly savoury sweet minced pork ball had small bits of crunchy black fungus inside.
There were two types of fish rolls in the bowl with different soft crinkly wraps.
The fried tau kua was plain without fillings but it had a nice subtle soy bean taste.
Juicy bitter gourd with minced pork. The bitter gourd is soft and slightly mushy, the way Amy like it.
Bai Nian now serves a "dry version" which Pearl had. The sweet sauce is made by blending savoury fermented bean paste with sweet soy sauce. The rather sharp chili sauce is freshly made at the stall.
When at Bai Nian's Viva Business Park outlet, order also their fried chicken wings. It's one of the best fried chicken wings in Singapore. The golden brown skin is brittlely crisp and it has a nice savoury sweet flavour. The meat inside protected by the crispy batter outside is tender and moist with hot naturally sweet chicky juices. Don't miss this.
4-Star (out of 5). Not the usual yong tau foo but Bai Nian's YTF 百年酿豆腐 tastes really great, proving that healthy can also be tasty. Add a couple of Bai Nian's fried chicken wings and we have a quite filling, satisfying meal.
More Singapore food stories by Johor Kaki 👈 click
Restaurant name: 百年酿豆腐 Bai Nian Niang Dou Fu (Viva Business Park outlet)
Address: #01-25 (Viva Business Park), 750 Chai Chee Rd, Singapore 469000
GPS: 1°19'24.4"N 103°55'21.4"E 🌐 1.323456, 103.922616
Tel: 9692 6921
Hours: 7:30am - 9:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 11 Dec 2017
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