First Class Fragrance Yi Liu Xiang Nasi Lemak 🐠 The Hottest Stall @ Hougang Hainanese Village Centre 一流香

If you go by how long are the queues, Yi Liu Xiang Nasi Lemak is the most popular stall at Hainanese Village Centre in Hougang. I love their simple but delicious package of coconut rice, fried fish fillet, fried ikan selar fish, fried whitebait and sambal chili - all that deliciousness for $3.

Stall name: Yi Liu Xiang 一流香 

Address: 105 Hougang Ave 1, stall #02-30 Hainanese Village Centre, Singapore 530105 (also known as Lorong Ah Soo Market & Food Centre)

Hours: 6:30am - 12:00 noon (Weds & Thurs off)

Yup.., this is the usual queue at Yi Liu Xiang Nasi Lemak. Don't worry..., they clear the queue fast and you should get your food in 10 - 15 minutes at most (unless someone ahead of you ordered 50 packets - not say never happen before hor 😂 ). 

The menu is as easy as A, B, C. All three sets are priced at $3. All have rice, fried whitebait, sambal chili, a piece of "fish fillet", and the choice of fried ikan selar or fried luncheon meat or fried fish cake. (No chicken wings, no eggs, no fried peanuts, no cucumber 🤷 They do have otak otak as a side though.)

The most popular is set A - with their signature fried selar fish. Look carefully at the photo of the signboard - can you see a ▼ hook on the picture of Set A?

The most dreaded thing for any Yi Liu Xiang fan is when they hang the NO 🐟 sign over Set A 😥

When I see this sign, I will not join the queue 😞 Just walk on by 🚶

If you don't wish to see this, you need to be here before 10am at the latest.

Today, I came here at 8am and so, Bingo!

First things first, the rice - the grains were average quality but I like their moist tender nutty texture. I also like that they do not clump together. The rice were fragrant with coconut milk sweetness but they were not greasy.

I asked for more sambal chili because if the coconut rice is the heart of nasi lemak, then sambal chili is its soul. More soul can only make a good thing, better.

The sambal chili tastes savoury spicy sweet with the lingering spicy heat and packs a kick that comes at the end. But, it was fleeting and not the numbing kind. (It doesn't have sourness which is quite common in Chinese nasi lemak.)

I like Yi Liu Xiang's fried whitebait. The little fish were crisp and just mildly savoury (unlike fried anchovies which can be hard like wires, sharp as nails and too salty).

All of Yi Liu Xiang's nasi lemak sets come with a slice of fried fish fillet. I have to admit that it is likeable even though it is supermarket type, factory made with fish surimi and not real fish. But, Yi Liu Xiang fried it very well, so that it is lightly crisp outside and soft moist inside. It has a nice mild savoury sweet flavour.

Last but not least, the signature fried ikan selar.

Is it worth getting out of bed early for?

Yi Liu Xiang use ikan selar fish which is relatively thick and meaty. Its light batter has a bit of turmeric(?) added which gave the fried fish a slight yellowish colour outside.

The yellowish golden outside was crisp while inside it was tender and moist which I prefer over the stiff and dry type found at most other nasi lemak stalls. It tasted mildly savoury with a subtle fresh fish sweetness.

In my opinion, Yi Liu Xiang nasi lemak is worth getting up early for 🌅 Make it doubly lagi worth it by trying the other top choices at Hainanese Village Centre 👈 click

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Written by Tony Boey on 23 Apr 2021