Ming Fa Fish Ball Noodle since 1946 • From Push Cart to Chain to Manufacturer in Three Generations 明发鱼圆面

Had fish ball noodles for lunch at the Ming Fa Teochew Fishball Noodles outlet at Kampung Admiralty hawker centre.

Ming Fa Teochew Fishball Noodles is a chain in Singapore which has a factory at Defu Industrial Park to produce its fishballs, etc., and many (13) outlets across the island to serve its popular noodle dishes.

Ming Fa's enviable success story is a long way from 1944 when Lim Chye Kang 林再甲 from Swatow (Shantou 汕头市) in Guangdong China landed in Singapore, at Cha Chun Tao 柴船头 (today's Clark Quay).

At that time, Singapore was still under Japanese Occupation (1942 - 1945). Lim Chye Kang came with nothing other than the proverbial shirt on his back, plus hope and faith that Singapore was a land of opportunities (even under Japanese rule - so we can only imagine how bad the situation was in wartime China).

Cha Chun Tao 柴船头 which literally means "timber boat jetty" was where boats from Indonesia unloaded their logs. The area around Cha Chun Tao and most of Singapore River was the Teochew enclave.

There were many food stalls and people gathered here to relax, some by listening to story tellers on Read Bridge. Soon after the Second World War end, Lim Chye Kang, the first generation of Ming Fa sold his first bowl of fishball noodles here in Cha Chun Tao from a push cart stall in 1946.

(Another stall here was Double Happy, one of the pioneers of Singapore bak kut teh.)

In 1950, Lim moved into the cluster of street hawkers in front of Thong Chai Hospital. Other famous heritage Singapore brands like Ah Orh Seafood and Ah Kow Bak Chor Mee are also alumni of Thong Chai Hospital.

Lim made his fishballs with ikan parang fish and yellowtail fish which he bought from Ellenborough Market (which was destroyed by fire in 1968).

Lim Chye Kang had twelve children and once they come of age, some opened their own stalls. By the mid 1950s, the Lim family already had four stalls in Thong Chai Hospital, Kreta Ayer at Smith Street, Hokkien Street, and Havelock Road area. Lim's family fishball business spread its wings from the second generation out of necessity (as one sole stall could not feed so many mouths of the Lim family).

Lim Chye Kang's elderest son Lim Gek Meng took over the founder's stall in 1975. Lim Chye Kang's stall was known as 林再发 (meaning to prosper again i.e. repeatedly or non stop).

When Lim Gek Meng moved into Chinatown Complex in the 1984, they registered the name Ming Fa 明发. The name Ming Fa combined the name 林再发 with the name of eldest son Lim Gek Meng, hence Ming Fa. 明发 also means "prosperity through day and night i.e. never stop".

By the 1980s, Gek Meng expanded Ming Fa into emerging air conditioned food courts starting with Marina Square, then into Northpoint in Yishun. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle is also a Marina Square alumni.

Gek Meng also started Ming Fa's first central production kitchen (Ming Fa Food Industries) in 1996. The main purpose was to ensure consistency in supply and food quality at Ming Fa's expanding chain of stalls. Gek Meng opened more branch outlets such as the Upper Thomson Road flagship in 2004.

When the third generation Jerome Lim came into the picture in 2012, Ming Fa already had 8 outlets.

Jerome modernised and expanded Ming Fa's fishball factory at Defu Industrial Park. The factory now go beyond supplying Ming Fa's own stalls. The factory makes fish balls, etc, frozen for consumers to cook at home and replicate the same flavours at Ming Fa's noodle stalls. Ming Fa's fishballs and other products can be purchased at supermarkets and also via their online retail portal.

As for traditional brick & mortar outlets, Ming Fa's tally stands at 13 today and counting. They have also expanded overseas to Indonesia.

The Kampung Admiralty hawker centre outlet is one of the newer stalls. Besides fishball noodles it has bak chor mee (minced pork noodle), pork rib noodle, miniwok noodle and laksa. The menu is pretty much the same as established by the second generation since the 1980s.

I had the basic fishball noodle and added a fishball soup. Total price S$7.80 which I felt is very reasonable in today's market.

The noodles (I opted for mee pok) was set in a pool of watery soy sauce, lard oil, house made chili sauce, vinegar, etc blend. Topped with three fishballs, lard cracklings (which I asked for), and a token stalk of green (lettuce).

The noodles were over done - soft with some slight residual crunch. Not well drained, so residual water pooled with the sauce diluting its savoury, sweet, tangy, spicy, lardy flavours. It's a pity as the sauce was complex and multi-layered i.e. delicious.

I was delighted that they were Fuzhou style fishballs. Tender crunchy fishball filled with juicy ground pork. Nice mix of savoury sweet flavours and soft tender textures.

Six good size fishballs in a bowl of soup.

Savoury clear soup with a splash of lard oil.

Factory made fishballs but with no flour / starch or preservatives added to the yellowtail fish meat

Nice soft tender crunch, moist inside, some savoury flavours with a fleeting fresh fish sweet aftertaste.

Though factory made, the fish balls had nice savoury sweet fish taste and good crunch to the bite. The sauce flavours were nice too and would be better if not diluted with residual water. Noodles, if done al dente and drained more would be better for me.

Ming Fa is one of the heritage Singapore hawker brands that is making a successful transition to the future. Impoverished founder arrived from China penniless, sold a hometown dish. Second generation expanded the brand. The third generation modernised the production, operations and management which permitted further growth, including overseas (in Jakarta). The brand managed to maintain its flavours and stay price competitive as it expands.