The children’s picture book story about the Hakkas from China say as such – that they are a group of nomads who fled persecution and/or hardship and fled the north. They could not quite settle down nor were they warmly received by other townsfolk and villagers as they trundled and ambled down south. It was the Guangdong folks who finally took them in with open arms when they arrived at the southern most tip in Guangdong and called them Hakka or “guest people”.

Naturally, this nomadic lifestyle dictated their culinary habits. They had to bring along on their sometimes arduous journey, foodstuff that could last and weather the elements. It won’t take a genius to figure that it would be a good idea to take along salted, fermented and dried makan. So among others, salted and fatty meats, fermented wines, lees, dried vegetables, tubers and tofu cakes came to mind. And from that, came mei chai rou (dried vegetable stew with fatty meat), suan pan zi (yam gnocchi), salt baked pork and chicken, fermented wine chicken, soon kueh (bamboo shoot dumplings) and of course the very popular (here at least) yong tau foo (stuffed tofu).

Fried Yong Tau Foo on a separate platter

Blessedly, their makan came even further down south across the South China Seas to our shores when the great Chinese migration to this part of the world happened moons ago. Today, at almost every food centre or coffeeshop, someone is touting yong tau foo, or what Singaporean Hakkas have made yong tau foo to be. In its original form, it is just that – stuffed tofu, made by pressing and spreading minced salted pork into the tofu and pan frying or boiling them. It did not even come with chili sauce, let alone a sweet fermented bean sauce. But a yong tau foo stall here is basically a pariah if they don’t lay out under warm halogen lights, a massive spread of ingredients. It is almost makan blasphemy to a die-hard Hakka that shitake mushroom, crab sticks, pig innards, cured squid, sesame seaweed chicken and even ngoh hiang (bean skin rolls) have found their way into our version here.

But, who cares. I do actually, a little bit. I don’t care that they even have stuffed enoki mushrooms and long beans or pork crackling, but I can’t fully accept that fish paste part. It is now the de-facto stuffing used in 90% of such stalls. So you can imagine how thrilled I am when I occasionally stumble across little authentic mom and pop Hakka yong tau foo stalls.

Mr. Jimmy Wong who quitted his "stressful" job to take over his parent's "even more stressful" stall

“But we have to blend in just a bit of fish paste in to the minced pork filling so that it sticks to the tofu when we boil or fry it.” concedes Mr Jimmy Wong, who quit his “stressful” sales job and inherited his parent’s “even more stressful” yong tau foo hawker job more than a decade ago. “You need a lot more effort to stuff minced meat into tofu. Too hard, it tears. Too soft, it falls off when cooking. Fish paste is so easy, spread on and it sticks.” Together with his wife, sister and semi retired folks, they hand make a few hundred pieces of fried and steamed tofu, red and green chilli, bitter gourd rings, fish , dried sponge tofu, fried fish cakes, minced pork balls, ngoh hiang rolls, etc. daily. Some are fried, some boiled and to please a handful of regulars, they also stuff some of the ingredients with fish paste. Their little stall looks like an efficient yong tau foo sweat shop.

I adore their fried tofu with the minced meat version- on its own, dry and with their home-made chilli sauce, the type you find in chicken rice stalls. The stuffing isn’t just surface cosmetics; it goes right into the heart of the tofu. Similar adoration for the bitter gourd stuffed with minced meat. Sama sama for anything and whatever they stuff with minced pork simply because I can taste fat and cartilage in the mince…ooooh. I also lurve it that they automatically serve the fried yong tau foo pieces on a separate platter, sauceless, dry and naked! The stinging chilli sauce is just there to get you all fired up.

Jimmy wanted me to add some information that will cool your desire “We can’t make more just because we need to cater to the response to publicity. We begin each day at 3am and can only make so many pieces. We sell out everyday, sometimes before 2pm.”

So start migrating down to Crawford Street early.

Lau Huang Hakka Niang Tou Fu

Address 861 North Bridge Road #01-108 North Bridge Road Food Centre (next to Blk 10)

Opening Hours 7am-3pm (or till sold out) Closed on Mondays and Thursdays