Hock Lam Street beef noodles founded in 1921 is the oldest brand of Teochew beef kway teow still in business in Singapore today. They have two outlets - one known as Hock Lam Street Popular Beef Kway Teow @ Old Airport Road Food Centre, and a second one Authentic Hock Lam Street Popular Beef Kway Teow @ North Canal Road (since 2004).
Francis Tan runs the hawker stall @ Old Airport Road Food Centre, and son Edwin Tan runs the shop @ North Canal Road. Francis sees a regular stream of old loyal customers while Edwin is steadily growing a following of younger Teochew beef kway teow lovers.
Francis's grandfather started selling beef noodles in Swatow, China in 1911. He came to Singapore in 1921 and began selling beef noodles here. Francis's grandfather started by peddling beef noodles with big two pots slung on a bamboo pole across his shoulders.
His beat was around Fort Canning and his main customers were staff and students of Anglo Chinese School. (Beef noodles have always been a slightly atas hawker dish.) Francis's grandfather would prepare his soup and beef at home in Hougang and walk all the way to Fort Canning to ply his trade. When his beef noodles were sold out, he would walk home to Hougang. Such was the amazing hardiness and fortitude of our forefathers.
Francis's father later opened 叙欢园 coffee shop at Hock Lam Street. The shop became known as Hock Lam Beef Noodles. Francis and his brother Anthony worked at their dad's coffee shop since they were pre-teens, both learning the craft hands on. Hock Lam Street was later demolished to make way for Funan Mall. (Funan is Mandarin for Hokkien Hock Lam.)
Francis then moved to Purvis Street in 1999 where he quickly established himself as the Teochew beef kway teow stalwart. Escalating rental forced Francis to move to Seah Street but he later suffered a heart attack which forced him to take a break. Three years ago (in 2016), Francis opened his hawker stall at Old Airport Road Food Centre.
The "menu" at Francis's Old Airport Road hawker stall.
The classical Hock Lam Street beef noodle comes in a soup. The mound of boiled noodles submerged in brown broth, topped with beef slices, tripe, tendon, liver, beef balls, salted vegetable, cilantro, bean sprouts etc.
Francis makes his beefy broth by boiling stock bones for many hours.
The beefy stock was savoury with complementary herbalness and fleeting signature aroma from a secret ingredient.
The beef tendons and tripe were boiled in the stock till spongy soft and well infused with savoury flavours.
The beef liver slices were done slightly pink. It had a soft grainy texture with beefy liver taste.
Francis also serves a "dry" version of beef kway teow.
Classical Teochew beef noodles comes only in soup form. In response to frequent customer requests, Francis introduced a "dry" version in his Purvis Street shop. To make the sauce, Francis thickens the beef soup with potato starch.
The gooey savoury stock thickened with starch.
In another departure from classical Teochew beef noodles, Francis added crushed toasted peanut to the dish.
The tender chunks of beef were slightly chewy and savoury with subtle beefiness. Francis uses beef from New Zealand which he said is more tender and less gamey.
If you like, the lime adds a bit of zest and the cincalok (fermented krill in brine) adds a sharper savoury salty layer.
And that's the thing. While Singapore is self evidently a melting pot of races, what is less obvious is it is also a place where different Chinese communities mell together. The starch thicken beef stock, crushed peanuts and cincalok are all elements of Hainanese style beef noodles which Francis included in his menu of beef noodles besides the classical Teochew. This is one of the things that make Nanyang hawker culture unique.
Information for you 👉 Whether you are craving for a classical Teochew beef noodle or a "dry" beef noodle, you can get it at Hock Lam Street Popular Beef Kway Teow by Francis @ Old Airport Road Food Centre, and Authentic Hock Lam Street Popular Beef Kway Teow by Edwin @ North Canal Road. Onward to 💯 years of Hock Lam beef noodles in Singapore 🇸🇬 in 2 year's time.
Restaurant name: Hock Lam Street Popular Beef Kway Teow 福南街著名牛肉粿条
Address: #01-22, Old Airport Road Food Centre & Shopping Mall, 51 Old Airport Road, Singapore 390051
GPS: 1°18'28.4"N 103°53'08.3"E 🌐 1.307896, 103.885644
Nearest MRT: Dakota (200 metres walk)
Hours: 11:00am - 8:45pm (Monday off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 8 May 2019
Facebook page of Edwin's Authentic Hock Lam Street Popular Beef Kway Teow @ 6 North Canal Rd (opposite OCBC Bank @ Chulia Street).
Another "Hock Lam Beef" place for u to try....
ReplyDeletehttps://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/trending/108-year-old-original-hock-lam-street-beef-kway-teow-to-close-11500044
Yes Thank you. This is Francis's brother Anthony and his niece Tina's shops.
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