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Not to beat a dead horse, but I found another hawker stall opened by an ex-Din Tai Fung chef. While that statement alone isn’t unique nowadays, the sauce that makes Yi Family Dynasty Fried Rice in Telok Blangah Crescent Market & Food Centre special is in its name.
Owner Joseph Khow started his culinary journey in 2010 with Din Tai Fung, developing and honing his skills. After leaving Din Tai Fung, he had a brief stint cooking for a now-closed oyster mee sua stall named Ah Zhong Mian Xian. Joseph soon realised that it was time to test himself, opening a hawker stall and forging a new path.
The menu is made up of many dishes that Joseph grew up with, including his mother’s beloved fried rice and grandfather’s ngoh hiang. It’s a truly heartwarming story that reminds us why hawkers are so important to our culture.
What I tried at Yi Family Dynasty Fried Rice
I first tried their Mommy Secret Recipe Fried Rice (S$7.90), the supposed highlight of Yi Family Dynasty Fried Rice. This is the most expensive plate of fried rice on the menu, with cheaper alternatives like Golden Egg Fried Rice (S$4.30) and Sambal Fried Rice (S$4.90) available if you don’t want to break your wallet.
This plate of fried rice is guaranteed to scare off any picky eaters with how many vegetables it contains. In fact, there’s no meat component at all! According to Joseph, this is because his mother’s old fried rice would only have 3 ingredients — leftover rice, cabbage, and soy sauce. Thus, he faithfully recreated it here.
Joseph’s recreation has cabbage, shredded carrots, oyster mushrooms, and lingzhi mushrooms. For such a simple dish, I was positively taken aback by how complex the flavour was. Subtle saltiness, wok hei, and a soulful element of nostalgia permeated throughout the dish. It felt as if I was transported back in time.
The tiny discs of long beans helped add crunch to each homely spoonful of fried rice, which made the dish a complete package. As crazy as it sounds, I thought the S$7.90 price tag was worth it.
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I also tried their Signature Ah Gong Fried Ngoh Hiang (S$9.90), another dish from Joseph’s past faithfully recreated, this time passed down from his grandfather.
This ngoh hiang sets itself apart from the rest by swapping the usual beancurd skin with a layer of crushed biscuits, which gave me the impression that the ngoh hiang was baked, not fried. This was further reinforced by the lack of oiliness.
The filling had a taste reminiscent of crab sticks, with bits of orange and green that were likely vegetables I could not taste. However, I did not really like the pinkish sauce that came with the ngoh hiang. It tasted like a mixture of mayonnaise and thousand island sauce, and the combination just didn’t hit as I thought it would.
Also, I found it pretty odd that a plate of 10 ngoh hiang is pricier than a plate of fried rice. Despite the minor misstep, I still think the ngoh hiang is worth trying.
Last but not least, their Ah Ma Shrimp Omelette (S$8.90). Again, I was pleased to see that the plate had nearly zero oiliness. The omelette was quite big, so big that it took up the entire plate. You could probably eat it by itself as a meal, but unfortunately, I did not bring a dining partner with me that day.
My main gripe with most Chinese omelettes is how oily and dry the outer edges or crust tend to be. Thankfully, this omelette avoids the criticism, as the outer edges were positively soft and clean.
I cannot sing enough praise for this omelette. It’s quite simple with minimal ingredients, and it nailed the silky and moist consistency Chinese omelettes aim for. Each bite melted in my mouth like butter. The only point of improvement I think I found was the prawns, as they didn’t really taste fresh.
Final thoughts
Yi Family Dynasty Fried Rice is truly a love letter to Joseph’s family and culinary journey. His love and passion for the craft are not only visible through how his dishes look, but also how they taste. If you’re craving a nostalgic trip back to your childhood, this is the place to go.
Expected damage: S$4.30 – S$7.90 per pax
Order Delivery: foodpanda
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