Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow: Traditional Teochew Recipe since 1911
My Beef Kway Teow list would be incomplete without the inclusion of this famous stall which has been around for almost a century. Hock Lam Street is famous not only for its traditional Teochew Beef Kway Teow recipe, lately it has also become well known for having the most agreeable looking Beef Kway Teow Stall vendor in Singapore (As far as I know).
When you venture into the stall, you are greeted by a young lady whom you think could be wearing a Sarong Kabaya. When starts speaking, you’d probably wonder why she’s not wearing a Citibank uniform instead. The fact of the matter is this fourth generation Beef Kway Teow vendor just happens to be an Australian Degree Holder to gave up her $10K bank job to take over the family business! So you can actually buy a bowl of Beef Kway Teow and talk about the BULL market at the same time!
Tina is adament that the receipe be preserved in its original Teochew form, so it comes with salted vegetables and plenty of ground nuts and WITHOUT the familiar Chinchaluk (shrimp sauce). The sliced beef was nice and very tender. Tina tells us that all the beef is still sliced by hand and no tenderizer is used. The stewed beef and tripe were both very good. The beef balls were nice but they no longer make it themselves. I felt the sauce could be more Shiok, but Teochew food tends to emphasize more on the freshness of the ingredients, so Teochew sauces tend to be a little more bland when compared to the other dialect groups, Definitely one of Singapore’s heritage hawkers and one cannot discuss Beef Kway Teow without including this famous Zhao Pai (Signboard). I am glad that Tina is ensuring that future generations will still get to savor their age-old recipe.
A History of Singapore through the Story of Hock Lam Beef Noodles
The story of Singapore's legendary Hock Lam beef noodles start 109 years ago, 3,000km away in Swatow 汕 头 in China's Guangdong province. In 1911 Tan Chee Kok started a Teochew beef noodle stall in his hometown, Swatow. Swatow townsfolk loved Tan Chee Kok's hearty, comforting savoury beefy slightly herbal soup with flat rice noodles and chunks of beef, tripe and tendons. Tan Chee Kok who came to Singapore (which was part of British Malaya). (My own grandfather too came to Singapore in the 1920s, from Toishan in Guangdong.) Once Tan Chee Kok arrived in Singapore, he started selling beef noodles, the only trade he knew - thus, bringing Swatow hometown flavours to Singapore. He didn't have a stall, but sold beef noodles from two large pots balanced on a bamboo pole slung across his shoulders. Tan Chee Kok lived in Simon Road, Hougang in Singapore's northeast and walked 10km down to the Fort Canning area near the former Anglo-Chinese School to sell his beef noodles. Tan Chee Kok was exactly like that hawker in the picture of ACS above, plying their trade on foot. The hardiness of Singapore's pioneer generation is amazing. In those days, and to a lesser extent today, beef noodle is a minor luxury. It costs a little more than staples like Teochew bak chor mee (minced meat noodle) or Cantonese wanton noodle etc.
In 1921, Tan Chee Kok's son Tan Jin Seah (Tan Chin Sia) joined his father in Singapore. Tan Jin Seah worked at his father's beef noodle stall in Swatow since he was 11 years old and was 21 when he arrived in Singapore. Together, Tan Chee Kok and son set up their street side stall at Hock Lam street, a stone's throw from Fort Canning. In those days, food stalls often have no name and would adopt the name of their location. Hence, Tan Chee Kok's stall became known as Hock Lam beef noodles. Tan Chee Kok and Tan Jin Seah's (Tan Chin Sia) beef noodle stall prospered and they soon owned a coffee shop 叙 欢 园 in the 1930s. Tan Chee Kok picked up the opium habit and left the business to Tan Jin Seah. Business gradually recovered after the Japanese occupation. At its peak, Tan Jin Seah's 叙 欢 园 coffee shop had 7 stalls serving beverages, Hainanese curry rice, Hainanese porridge, stuffed intestines 灌 肠, and Tan Chee Kok and son's Teochew beef noodle stall. There is no archive picture of 叙 欢 园 coffee shop but Tan Jin Seah's son Francis recalled that there was a char kway teow stall in front of their coffee shop. The char kway teow stall later moved to Hill Street Hawker Centre (now demolished). The son of the char kway teow boss today operates the Hill Street Fried Kway Teow stall in Chinatown Complex Food Centre. Hock Lam beef noodles remained here till the 1970s when the street was demolished to make way for the old Funan Centre which opened in 1985 (later demolished and replaced by Funan Mall).
Today, the name Hock Lam exists only in the name of Hock Lam beef noodles. Hock Lam street itself is gone - buried under where Funan Mall stands today. The Romanised name Hock Lam 福 南 has been pinyin-ised to Funan. Hock Lam beef noodles together with many other Hock Lam street hawker stalls moved to the carpark at Capitol Theatre where they remained for 7 years. Tan Chee Kok passed away in the 1970s, and Tan Jin Seah passed on in 1982 (at age 82). Tan Jin Seah had 7 sons and 3 daughters. Three of them, Francis Tan (youngest son), Anthony Tan (4th son), and eldest daughter Tan Sok Eng joined the trade as beef noodle hawkers. Daughter Tan Sok Eng and her husband set up Empress Place Beef Kway Teow in 1971 at Empress Place Food Centre by the Singapore River. Tan Sok Eng's son David Lim took over the baton and set up his beef noodle stall at Marine Parade hawker centre, then at Wisma Atria food court before settling at Siglap for 20 years. He shifted to Maxwell Food Centre in 2019. David now runs the Empress Place Teochew Beef Kway Teow stall with daughter Melissa Lim. (Update: This branch of Hock Lam beef noodles closed in Apr 2020, a casualty of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Business became unsustainable when social distancing measures were implemented to stem the spread of infections). David Lim's son John Paul Lim runs a beef stall known as Gubak Kia which serves beef dishes (though not traditional Teochew beef noodles). Tan Jin Seah's fourth son Anthony helped out at the Hock Lam street stall since he was 12 years old. He moved the stall into the Funan Centre food court when it opened in 1985. Anthony moved to Singapore Swimming Club in 1991, and then Purvis Street in 1998 (in a brief partnership with brother Francis) before settling down in Far East Square in 2000. In 2004, Anthony's daughter Tina joined the business and initiated a rapid expansion. During their heydays, Anthony and Tina ran six Hock Lam beef noodle outlets at Alexandra Retail Centre, Far East Square, Ion Orchard, Bukit Panjang Plaza, Upper Serangoon and MacPherson. They closed the entire business on 11 Jul 2019 citing manpower issues.
Remember Singapore: From Hock Lam’s Beef Noodles to Funan’s Computers
The older generation of Singaporeans would remember Hock Lam Street and its delicious beef noodles, fried kway teow and char siew rice. To the current generation, the name Funan is more associated with computers and information technology (IT). When the 30-year-old mall eventually closes for redevelopment in mid of next year, perhaps the next generation of younger Singaporeans will have a different set of memories of this iconic place.
The now-defunct Hock Lam Street was famously known for its street food and crowded lanes. Flanked by two rows of century-old pre-war shophouses, the street was located just opposite of the distinctively red-and-white-striped Central Fire Station. The sixties saw severe overcrowding and hygienic issues at Hock Lam Street. Tenants, sub-tenants and squatters, and very often in large families, squeezed into single rooms above the mouldy stores of the double-storey shophouses. It was also a common sight to see hundreds of laundry hanged out to dry on bamboo poles, above the busy street filled with street hawkers selling dishes, fruits and other goods. During the day, canopies were set up by the hawkers to shield against the strong sunlight. By the mid-seventies, hundreds of street hawkers plying their trades at the side streets and lanes at Chinatown and city were requested by the government to clear their mobile stalls and move into the newly built hawker centres. The roadside hawkers at Hock Lam Street, and the nearby Chin Nam Street, were not spared, even though they had been the favourite eating spots for those living and working at the vicinity.
The beef noodles and beef kway teow at Hock Lam Street were extremely popular. In Singapore, there are generally two versions of beef noodles; the Teochew and Hainanese versions. The Hainanese styled beef noodles are typically served dry with beef tendons and beef balls. Two pioneering Hainanese beef noodle hawkers Lee Suan Liang and Kian Teck Huan were credited in popularising the dish before the war. On the other hand, the Teochew beef noodles are generally soup-based, topped with slices of beef and innards. Tan Chin Sia was one of Singapore’s earliest beef noodle hawkers when he set up his stall at Hock Lam Street in 1921. By the mid-seventies, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) had unveiled the redevelopment plan for Hock Lam Street. Its shophouses, under the urban renewal scheme, began their demolition in 1977. The Hock Lam Street hawkers were relocated to a temporary hawker centre behind the Capitol Shopping Centre. Some of them were later given allocated stalls at the Food Paradise, an air-conditioned food court located on the 7th level of Funan Centre when it opened in 1985.
Hock Lam's legacy lives on at Empress Place Beef Kway Teow
The closure of the legendary Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow in July made headlines
The brand has been in the business for about a century, and that post was about a stall at Alexandra Retail Centre. The stall was founded by Mr Tan Chin Sia in 1911. His oldest daughter, the late Madam Tan Sok Eng, branched out with her husband to operate Empress Place Beef Kway Teow at the now defunct Empress Place Food Centre, and the apple did not fall far from the tree.
This one stuck to the old ways - it sold only the beef soup version - and I remember wolfing down a couple of bowls back in the late 70s, as my teenage bones needed that kind of nourishment then. I had the works, from beef balls to brisket, tendons to medium rare slices, and once, I was challenged to tear into "gu piang" (bull penis) slices.
I loved the dish too as my makan companion was Mr David Lim, the son of Madam Tan and my childhood football buddy, who is now in his early 60s and helming the stall - now at Maxwell Food Centre. I remember how stubborn he used to be. "I only sell the original Teochew soup version like my grandfather did, no starchy dry version," he said then, knowing the latter is a Hainanese version.
108-year-old beef noodle chain closed down on July 11, 2019
The first Hock Lam Beef noodle stall opened in 1911 and spent 60 years at the old Funan Centre site
Labour woes have claimed yet another food and beverage establishment, with Hock Lam Beef at Alexandra Retail Centre (ARC) closed on July 11, the date its lease at the mall ends. It is the last of the 108-year-old Hock Lam Beef chain's outlets, known for its signature kway teow with hand-cut beef - either coated in a thick gravy or served in a herbal broth made with a mix of 13 herbs and beef bones.
The brand's fourth-generation owner Tina Tan, 44, announced the closure on its Facebook page on Thursday, citing the "ever increasing manpower issue" as the sole reason. She wrote in the Facebook post: "I may be labelled as stubborn because of my insistence on using only handmade and hand-sliced methods to handle all my beef and side dishes, therefore, the labour-intensive problems hit us the most when the Government keeps revising the policy on hiring foreigners." Ms Tan later told The Sunday Times that she received an overwhelming response from the media and public after her shock announcement.
On whether she would consider other options to keep her business afloat, she said: "I did want to expand and look for investment in the past, and people had approached me for partnerships. But I did not think of another avenue when I made the Facebook post. I have not thought of selling the business. If there is someone who wants to invest, I would not say yes or no. In any relationship, you have to see how things go with the other party."
108-year-old Original Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow closed down on July 11, 2019
The 108-year-old family business ceased operations on July 11, 2019. The impending closure was announced on Facebook on May 2, 2019 by its fourth-generation owner Tina Tan, 44. The last outlet is at ARC at 460 Alexandra road, #02-24.
Tan wrote that manpower woes has been killing the business, pinning the blame on job applicants who think preparing food from scratch by hand is too low class, as well as on the government as it "keeps revising the policy on hiring foreigners". She also wrote that she had grown the business from a stall “located behind the old Capitol Building and old Funan Centre (7th floor)” to “6 full restaurant size outlets”, since taking over from her father 15 years ago.
But this appears to be the final stretch for the beef noodles business. The insistence on menial labour for the business to thrive is due to staying authentic to the process of making the food by hand and not utilising machine processes, even though it may be more efficient and cost effective. Tan also wrote: “I may be labelled as stubborn because of my insistence on using only handmade and hand sliced methods to handle all my beef and side dishes, therefore, the labor intensive problems hit us the most when the government keeps revising the policy on hiring foreigners.”
Teochew beef noodles
In the Teochew version, the noodles are served in soup. The broth is brewed with beef bones before kway teow is added with slices of beef and beef innards. Traditionally, the beef extract Bovril was added to the stock, and extras such as beef tongue, beef tripe or gu piang (bull’s penis) were offered as well. The dish was originally served with only kway teow and topped with salted vegetable and ground nuts. There is also a dry version where the kway teow is mixed with sesame oil, soy sauce and chilli; thick gravy is not usually added
One of the earliest beef noodle stalls in Singapore was Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow, which was started in 1911 by Tan Chin Sia. Its name was derived from its location at Hock Lam Street, near Capitol Cinema. Tan’s sons, Anthony and Francis, had set up rival stalls at Far East Square and Purvis Street respectively. Anthony claimed to have created the dry version of the noodles in the 1980s. Other family members are also known to have opened their own stalls serving this Teochew version of the dish.
The Hainanese-style beef noodles, called gu bak kway teow, is generally served dry with soup on the side. The noodles are drizzled with a thick gravy made of beef stock, black soya sauce and sweet potato starch. The soup is rich and flavoured with various herbs and spices, the result of long hours of brewing. Besides slices of beef, the dish is often served with beef tripe, beef tendons and beef balls. The accompanying chilli sauce is made with squeezed lime and grated lengkua (galangal root) and enhanced with cincaluk (pickled shrimp). One of the earliest Hainanese beef noodle stalls in Singapore was started by Lee Suan Liang in the 1940s, but Kian Teck Huan is known to have popularised this version of beef noodles through his Odeon Beef Noodles stall, which was set up after World War II. Although a similar dish can be found in Heng Hai in Hainan, China, this version of beef noodles is considered a Singaporean innovation.
Memories of Hock Lam Street · A Lost Forever Food Haven of Singapore
"Youngsters" among us will remember Hock Lam Street 福 南 街, a buzzing foodie haunt in downtown Singapore. It was Singapore's shopping street before Orchard Road was a thing. However, Hock Lam Street doesn't exist anymore, not even its name. Hock Lam Street ran parallel and between Coleman Street and High Street. At the northern end was the Central Fire Station on Hill Street and Adelphi Hotel was at the southern end on North Bridge Road. Adelphi Hotel closed in 1973 and was demolished in 1980 (it was replaced by The Adelphi shopping centre). During its heydays in the 1960s, Adelphi Hotel was the venue of many grand events and occasions. It was the place to be seen in - you know, in today's context, a place you have to post a selfie on social media.
In many vintage photographs of Hock Lam Street, the red and white Central Fire Station building stood proudly at the end of the street. The Central Fire Station is in this video of Hock Lam Street from the 1920s. Hock Lam Street was already very busy at that time. A rickshaw puller was having his fuel stop of rickshaw noodles. Thankfully, the beautiful Central Fire Station still serves proudly, well into the new Millennium. The most famous hawker stall at Hock Lam Street was arguably Hock Lam Street Beef Noodles. The brand is approaching its centennial and still going strong. Hock Lam Street once chock-a-block with street food hawkers was cleared in 1977, waiting for the wrecking ball and bulldozers. They're here (the wreckers). The beginning of the end of Hock Lam Street in 1977. Hock Lam Street and its shophouses were demolished, replaced by Funan Centre which opened in 1985. It was a gargantuan shopping centre specialising in electronics and computers.
Its name Funan 福 南 is the pinyinised Mandarin Chinese version of the original Hokkien Chinese name Hock Lam. The brick and concrete Funan Centre was itself demolished in 2016 and replaced by a monstrous size, glass and steel reincarnation in 2019. Hock Lam Street no longer exists, not even in name. The only place we can still see the words 福 南 街 Hock Lam Street is at the beef noodle restaurant at North Canal Road.
Odeon Beef Noodles – famous stall with over 70 years of legacy
Hwa Heng Beef Noodles, previously known as Odeon Beef Noodles, definitely stole the hearts of many Singaporeans. Their legacy dates back to 1948 and continues to live on, at Jalan Besar, Earnest Coffeeshop, serving up comforting bowls of beef noodles, just like in the 70s.
The iconic Hainanese Odeon Beef Noodles was previously located opposite the defunct Odeon Theatre, which closed down in 1984. After the closure, the sticky beef noodles was found at Scott’s Far East food court. Afterwards, that food court closed down as well, and the quest to find these hearty bowls of noodles began.
In more recent years, those who are familiar with Hwa Heng Beef Noodles would probably have chanced upon it at ION Orchard’s Food Opera, or at Bendemeer Food Centre. The 2nd generation owners of the stall had separated to open their own stores in vastly different environments— one located in a mall while the other in a hawker centre. Now, the Jalan Besar outlet is passed down to the 3rd generation owners, allowing the legacy of their family recipe to live on.
Taste Of The Good-Old Odeon Beef Kway Teow
Not sure if you are in the generation that would remember the good-old Odeon Beef Kway Teow opposite the old Odeon Theatre at North Bridge Road. The first time I tried this brand of Beef Noodles was at the now-defunct Scotts Picnic Food Court. In fact, it probably one of those Hainanese Beef Noodles I fondly remember till now. My mum would bring me that after shopping at CK Tang, and we would share a bowl of that gooey goodness. Wonderful memories.
While the original name with “Odeon Beef Kway Teow” cannot be used anymore, you can still find that nostalgic taste at Bendemeer Market & Food Centre near Boon Keng (not in Toa Payoh just in case.) However, the opening hours of “Toa Payoh · Hwa Heng Beef Noodles” is only from 10am to 2:30pm from Wednesdays to Saturdays. And I have been there a couple of Saturdays to try my luck, but the stall was never opened.
I must have been there about 6 to 7 times, and got fortunate one random weekday (like, finally). Even though I went slightly off-peak lunch hours, there was a long line that took about close to an hour to clear. On the menu are Beef Noodles ($5.00) in soup or dry versions; while you can pick combinations with beef balls, mixed beef with or without tendon, or tendon noodles. That bolt of nostalgia just hit me when I had my first mouthful of that smooth and sticky gravy over the strands of thick vermicelli.
ODEON BEEF NOODLES – Hwa Heng Beef Noodles
Some of you may be old enough to remember Odeon, which was the most iconic movie theatre in Singapore in the 70s and 80s, alongside Capitol theatre, which still exists today. So what you would do then in those days when I was a wee school boy is that you spritz yourself liberally with Jovan Musk, and then you hang out at Bras Basah road area, hoping to meet the blue pinafore brigade school girls from CHIJ (Covent of the Holy Infant Jesus).
While waiting for dusk to fall to catch a movie at iconic Odeon, one needs to eat a late lunch and there is nothing more compelling than burying your face into a bowl of black sticky beef noodles at a stall opposite to Odeon theatre. Welcome to Hwa Heng Beef Noodles. This stall was run by two brothers at a stall opposite the theatre. Later on in life, it was relocated and the two brothers set up a stall at the basement of Scott’s Far East food court where it continued to attract a loyal flock of die hard customers determined to savour it’s goodness, and relive their teenage dating nostalgia.
I lost track of this stall for the next 20 years after it relocated from its Scott’s location. I am given to understand that the older brother now runs a stall at the foodcourt in Food Republic Ion Orchard known as Scott’s Hwa Heng Beef Noodles. The younger brother, however, went the hawker centre route and had a stall know as Toa Payoh Hwa Heng Beef Noodles.
Beef Noodle since 1948
Famous Scotts Square Beef Noodle Stall Now At Jalan Besar
Hwa Heng Beef Noodle is something of a foodie legend. The stall has been operating since 1948, and with its origins as a street hawker stall selling Hainanese beef noodles next to the old Odeon Theatre. Three generations of the founding family have taken over the reins at Hwa Heng, but their signature recipes still remain the same.
Beef noodle fans will surely know of Hwa Heng Beef Noodle, a stall that spent over 30 years on Orchard Road, including a longstanding stall at Scotts Square’s Picnic Food Court, and ION Orchard’s Food Opera. They’ve since quietly made a comeback at Jalan Besar‘s Earnest Restaurant, a 24/7 kopitiam located next to the Jalan Besar Sports Centre.
At the Jalan Besar outlet, you can get your beef noodles either dry or with soup. A bowl starts at $6 for sliced beef, or with just beef balls. If you’d like both beef balls and slices, a bowl will set you back $9. If you’re ideal bowl comes with tendon, then be prepared to fork out $12. Beef stomach is also available as an add-on.
