Beng Who Cooks: S$6 – S$9 DIY Healthy Protein Bowls With Sauces Like Salted Egg Yolk At Hong Lim Food Centre

It’s always a struggle: you want to eat healthy food, but protein bowls and health food is just so expensive, especially in the CBD area — well, Beng Who Cooks is here to help.

Located at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, this humble hawker stall sells affordable protein bowls.

Opened by Jason Chua and his partners Muhamad Ridhwan (Singaporean boxer) and Fairuz Mohamed (gym coach), the healthy food here at Beng Who Cooks is sure to fill you up.

Customers can fill in the order sheet to DIY a well-balanced meal, with a mix of carbs, proteins, side dishes and add-ons.

Depending on how hungry you are, you can get either the Hawker Bowl (S$6, one complex carb + one protein + two sides + one add-on + one sauce), or the more premium Towkay Bowl (S$9, one complex carb + two proteins + four sides + one add-on + one sauce).

I’m usually not the best at deciding what to eat, so I had to ask Jason for his recommendations. He came back to us with two Towkay Bowls, packed to the brim with delicious ingredients.

The first bowl came with Aromatic Rice, Basil Beef, Kung-fu Chicken, Sea Salt Crispy Broccoli, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Onsen Egg and Toasted Nuts.

For this bowl, we tried Beng’s Salted Egg Sauce, because we Singaporeans just love our salted egg-everything. You can also get an additional serving of sauce at S$0.50.

And for the second bowl, we went with the same carb base of Aromatic Rice, but paired with Kung-fu Chicken, Basil Beef, Buttery Corn, Disco Mushrooms, Sea Salt Crispy Broccoli, Onsen Egg and Toasted Nuts.

If you want more sides or add-ons, you can add on more servings (+S$1 for sides, +S$0.50 for add-ons). We tried this bowl with the Devil’s Fiery Sauce, which packed a punch.

Since both bowls had quite a few similar ingredients, I’ll highlight our favourite components.

I liked the fluffy Aromatic Rice, although if you’re on a low-carb diet, you might want to opt for the Romaine Lettuce instead.

Meat-lovers will be happy to try the Kung-fu Chicken, which was tender and juicy. This braised chicken also had just enough bite to bring a bit more texture to the mix.

For something that’s easier on the jaws, the minced Basil Beef was also packed with flavour. It’s a little spicy, so watch out for the heat.

I also loved the perfectly-cooked Onsen Egg. When I broke it apart, the gooey yolk flowed out in a glorious mess.

If you want a little more crunch in your protein bowl, get the fragrant Toasted Nuts because they definitely added another dimension to both combinations that we tried.

Believe it or not, the real highlights were the sauces! Beng’s Salted Egg Sauce is sure to satisfy those of you who’re into the salted egg craze. One serving of salted egg sauce was enough to drench the bowl with salted egg yolk goodness.

This might not be the healthiest of sauces, but hey, everything else was pretty clean so why not. The added creaminess may be too jelak for some, so pour a little over and have a taste first before going all out.

For me, I prefer something with a little more kick, which is why I opted for the Devil’s Fiery Sauce. And this sauce was definitely devilishly hot! The spice was sharp and biting, so if your spice tolerance is low, don’t push your luck by getting this.

Jason even got the kitchen to cook up a small portion of Paprika Dory for us to try. No wonder it sold out by the time we got there!

The dory was super soft, breaking apart easily in my mouth without much chewing. The well-seasoned fish also had a light peppery flavour and would make for a great alternative to everyone’s favourite chicken as the protein.

If you’re looking for no-frills and affordable protein bowls, make Beng Who Cooks your go-to lunch spot; nothing should stop you from pursuing a healthy diet. The meals come in takeaway bowls as well so you can just grab and go!

Expected damage: S$6 – S$9 per pax