When Singapore’s very own Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was seen queuing at Redhill Food Centre to buy fried chicken wings … we all went like “Seriously?”
It is not all the time that our Prime Minister would queue for 30 minutes just to buy fried chicken wings, not in a hawker stall, not without an entourage, not in the staggering Singapore heat.
Nobody knows exactly what his real reason for doing so was. Afterall, he could have sent his body guard to tabao for him.
PR stunt? Doing a David Cameron? He was bored? Wanted to feel what being ordinary would be like? A treat for Mdm Ho? Or maybe he read a food blog and was curious. Nah!
(Photo circulating around FaceBook)
Back to the fried chicken wing stall. It is one of my favourite supper haunts, with a usual 10-15 minutes wait at night. Darn, the queue is just going to get longer, at least for this period of time.
What is so special about this stall: The beehoon at this stall cost just 60 cent. 60c! Ridiculously cheap. Owned by a Mr Hu, the price hasn’t changed in decades – the owner wanted to keep the price low for the older citizens staying in the area.
He picked up cooking while managing a zhi char stall in the 80s, therefore his beehoon reeks of strong ‘wok hei’ and is tasty, not overly rubbery.
The name of the stall is one of a kind. There actually isn’t such a word in the Chinese dictionary – 3 fires with water waves below. The 3 fires of the word ‘yan’ 焱 came from the owner’s name 火榮，balanced with 3 blue water waves. It is all about ‘feng shui’ as he believes to cook well, both fire and water are needed.
Some of the side items are fish cake, fried egg, luncheon meat, ngoh hiang, sausage (between 50 cents and $1), but nothing can beat the popularity of his famed chicken wings ($1.20).
Deep fried in high heat, the chicken wings are indeed one of the best in Singapore, delightfully crispy and juice may squirt out as you take bites. Dip into the spicy-sweet chili sauce for a perfect combination.
There was once a customer in front of me who ordered 20 pieces (quite normal), and the owner took pains to arrange the wings properly in the packet – drumlette on side and mid-joint on the other, demonstrating how much pride he has in his work and food. (Of course he had to be ridiculed by the customer for wasting time! Sigh.)
At least PM Lee chose to queue at a good stall and not waste his calories on lousy food.
Dear PM Sir, if you are going to queue for food next time, bring me along. I can show you how to take better food pictures and instavideos.
Yan Fried Bee Hoon 焱
Redhill Lane Blk 85, Redhill Food Centre #01-09
Opening Hours: 3pm-10pm (Tues-Sun), Closed Monday
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