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I’m not a morning person by any means, but when I noticed Hong Yong Chao Zhou Yu Yuan Guo Tiao Mian 鸿荣潮洲鱼圆粿條麵‘s odd opening hours — 4.30am – 9.30am — it felt like a challenge I just had to conquer. What could be so good about fishball noodles, anyway?
It’s how I found myself up at 7am on a cooling, rainy Sunday morning (resisting every urge to crawl back under the covers), and making my way down to 112 BM Market & Food Centre with my early-riser mum.
By the time we arrived at 8.15am, there was an L-shaped queue formed behind this stall boasting a bright yellow signage and… red lanterns with LED lights? Very happening indeed.
While my mother stood in line, I trudged groggily towards the drinks stall beside it — Hong Yong Coffee Stall — to get my fix of kopi to wake me up. Only after speaking to the uncle, Mr Hia, mending the stall did I learn that it was run by the same family. Sorry, I wasn’t fully awake then.
Time skip to a good 40 minutes later when we finally reached the front of the line. Thank goodness it was a cold morning.
What I tried at Hong Yong Chao Zhou Yu Yuan Guo Tiao Mian
They’ve been around at this same stall for close to 60 years selling the same dish — Handmade Fishball Noodles (S$3/S$4).
I opted for the S$4 dry option, which comes with a heftier portion of noodles and 7 fishballs. I’m usually a mee pok or mee kia girlie, but just for today, I listened to the experts and went with their signature kway teow and yellow noodle combo.
We fed the noodles 2 spoonfuls of soup before giving them a good toss.
The chilli was what hit me first. It created a sinfully oily, garlicky, umami-packed layer that clung beautifully to each strand of noodles. While I didn’t find it too spicy for an early morning breakfast, there was a mild numbing sensation forming on my lips towards the end of my meal.
Okay, I get the hype around this noodle combination now. The kway teow is silky soft, yet not mushy, which complements the more QQ yellow noodles perfectly, helping to eradicate the alkaline-y taste you’d usually get from a bowl of pure yellow noodles. I also tasted a hint of fragrant pork lard oil coating it, which was truly delightful.
The noodles had such a perfectly satisfying mouthfeel and flavour to them that I simply couldn’t put my chopsticks down until my mum reminded me, “The fishballs are getting cold”.
Chao Yang Fishball Noodle: 20-year-old stall with homemade fish dumplings from S$3.50
Looks-wise, it was nothing extraordinary. Just 7 irregularly shaped fishballs swimming in a clear soup. But don’t underestimate them, as this is the star behind the crowds in the quiet, early mornings of Bukit Merah.
Hong Yong Chao Zhou Yu Yuan Guo Tiao Mian makes approximately 2000 fishballs by hand, daily. And they somehow sell out by 9.30am?! These alleged legendary fishballs are made from yellowtail fish meat blended into a paste, which Mr Hia then moulds into lumpy little orbs from 4am onwards.
I bit a fishball in half, and was momentarily confused. These aren’t your usual bouncy, QQ spheres. They’re tender and smooth with little resistance, best described as if fish paste went through a Pokémon evolution.
Each bite melted gently on the tongue, delivering a punch of umami that was balanced out by the subtle, natural sweetness of the fresh fish. Though small in size, these fishballs were big on flavour.
The soup did not at all taste like how it looked. For a soup this clear, it still carried a full-bodied flavour with its clean, briny depth that echoed the fishballs’ umami. After demolishing the fishballs, I lifted the bowl to my lips and finished it to the very last drop.
Final Thoughts
Though I can never function before 10am on the weekends, I mean it when I say that I’m willing to wake up at the crack of dawn for one of the best bowls of fishball noodles I’ve had again.
The noodles were cooked to silky perfection, and those fishballs? You can tell they’ve been doing this for decades, all right. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for handmade fishballs, knowing that each one carries the care and quiet labour of the person who shaped them.
Mr Hia shared with me that they are now open on weekends only due to the lack of manpower during the week. See you if I see you on any one of the coming weekends, then!
