2 Chef’s Hougang Satay Bee Hoon: Special home recipe perfected through 3 generations

Any recipe tweaked and honed over several generations is worth trying. That is the first thing that crossed my mind when I came across the 2 Chef’s Hougang Satay Bee Hoon website. “Try our Satay Bee Hoon, a Special Home Recipe Perfected through 3 Generations,” it told me. How could I say no?

I found their website and scrolled through the pictures of their dishes. Images of rich, yellow-brown curry on square, spotless white plates of bee hoon noodles danced before my eyes. Why had I never tasted this before? I really wanted to try this dish out, generation or no generation.

Off to Hougang!

But not so fast. Getting there turned out not to be as simple as I’d thought. Search for 2 Chef’s Kitchen and Google will tell you that it’s located in Hougang Mall. However, the formal address says it’s located inside Kang Kar Mall, which is right next door. This usually won’t be a problem (they are a minute’s walk apart) but it can be on days when it’s raining, as it was when I went.

Let me share what I learned— it may save you some confusion and time when you decide to try 2 Chef’s Kitchen for yourself. This stall is inside a Kopitiam in the 1-storey older part of Hougang Mall. (You get a 10% discount with a Kopitiam card).

Now that the geography part is settled, let’s move on to the gastronomy.

What I tried at 2 Chef’s Hougang Satay Bee Hoon

I made straight for the stall’s signature dish and asked for the Satay Bee Hoon/Yellow Noodle (add cockles) (S$6.50) with bee hoon. You can also have Satay Bee Hoon/Yellow Noodle (no cockles) (S$5).

When the plate arrived in about 3 minutes, I was happy to see that it resembled the appetising plates on the website that had lured me here. In fact, there was a larger serving of the delicious-looking satay sauce. I was excited!

I scooped up a spoonful of it to take a closer look. In terms of consistency, the sauce was thinner than the typical satay sauce it so closely resembles. Less brown and more orange than it appeared in the online photos, it also seemed to be richer in spice than I would have assumed. My mouth was watering in anticipation.

Taking a little sip, I found that it did not have the sweetish flavour of satay sauce but was instead spicier. It wasn’t the kind of spiciness that plays havoc on your tongue but rather one that you feel as it goes down your throat. It was a rainy day and that was exactly what I needed.

I poked around for the ingredients and discovered that they are certainly very generous with them. There were several thin pork slices, cockles aplenty, cuttlefish and even many slices of tau pok.

There was also pork liver but I mention them last because I don’t like the taste. Hah!

The noodles were done just right. I think their slim, stringy shape pairs much better with the thin satay sauce than yellow noodles but I’ll have to try that version, too, sometime soon.

Final thoughts

I recommend that you eat your Satay Bee Hoon wearing a brown shirt— it’s a messy affair! All the slurpy goodness is packed into a mouth-watering dish made better by its unique take on the satay sauce.

You’ll hear no complaints from me about the portion size and ingredients, either. My S$6.50 version with cockles was more than I could handle on my own and I doubt very many people will be able to finish an entire plate.

The stall also sells Claypot Laksa/Yellow Noodle w Prawn (S$5.80) and Claypot Curry Chicken (S$5.50). My eyes also caught sight of a very economically-priced Claypot Chicken Laksa w Fish Cake (S$3). That last one’s definitely worth a closer look in the future.

The Vietnamese lady who was at the stall on the day was very pleasant and had a perpetual smile but spoke no English and a little Mandarin. If you are just there to eat, just point at what you want on the menu and the job’s done. If you want to find out more or have special requests, there may be some communication issues.

Regardless, I had a very nice meal with my first taste of satay bee hoon. A second taste is definitely on the cards!

Expected damage: S$3 – S$6.50 per pax

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