While folks were on their way to work at 8am on a weekday, there I was, joining the 10 pax-long queue for a bowl of kway chap. Let me just say this first— I am not a morning person (and I don’t think I’ll ever be), but Feng Ji Kwap Chap is said to sell out by 11am, so I knew I had to be early in order to try its famed S$2.50 kwap chap sets.
Yes, you read me right. This hawker stall sells kway chap sets for as cheap as S$2.50. And I’m writing this while Singapore’s inflation rate just hit a 14-year high!
Feng Ji Kway Chap can be found in Jalan Batu Hawker Centre, a quiet but well-loved hawker centre in Mountbatten. As its name suggests, this hawker stall specialises in one thing: kway chap.
It opened in 2012 and is run by a husband-and-wife team, Mr Wong Seng Hong and his wife, Hong Choi Peng. The former does all the cooking while the latter assists with taking orders and serving customers.
Upon reaching the relatively small hawker centre, I didn’t even need to look for Feng Ji Kway Chap’s storefront; like a moth to a flame, I headed straight for the stall with the longest queue.
With 10 people waiting in line for a bowl of tasty kway chap, I was shocked to see that the queue was so lengthy that it stretched across the span of the hawker centre and even reached the opposite stall!
Despite the alarming queue, it moved deceivingly fast. By the time I knew it, almost 25 minutes had passed, and it was time to place my order.
Apart from selling various braised parts of the pig à la carte, such as Large Intestines (S$2.50 per piece) and Pig’s Stomach (S$1), Feng Ji Kway Chap is most well known for its S$2.50 kway chap sets, which are perfect for single diners looking for a fuss-free and affordable meal.
I struck up a conversation with the lady boss, intrigued by its low prices. “We’ve had these prices ever since we opened 10 years ago,” she shared.
Cheekily, I replied: “But what about inflation?”
With a chuckle, the lady boss replied: “管它啦!”, which can be translated as ‘Heck it!’.
What I tried at Feng Ji Kway Chap
Of course, I had to get Feng Ji Kwap Chap’s Kway Chap Set (S$2.50).
It came with a bowl of kway (flat rice noodles) swimming in a dark braised gravy, and a plate of innards and meat such as small intestines, tau pok, pork belly and braised eggs.
The first thing that I did was to take a sip of the lusciously dark soup.
As with most kway chap stalls, I had fully expected to be hit by its characteristic pungent aroma. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised and incredibly impressed by how savoury and fragrant the soup was.
I could taste a rich robustness to each sip, which was packed with aromatic notes from herbs and spices, as well as a deep umami from the soy sauce. In some odd sense, the full-bodied dark-coloured broth was almost sweet to me.
I loved that Feng Ji Kway Chap had topped off each bowl of kway with a good amount of coriander and garlic chips, which did a fantastic job at balancing out all the savoury nuances in the soup. More importantly, there was not a single hint of that iconic gamey “smelliness” that came with most kway chap stalls.
The kway soaked up all that gobsmackingly yummy sauce, such that each strand of flat, slippery noodle had been stained a beautiful light brown.
Thick and glossy, the individual pieces of flat rice noodles had been cooked just right. It held its own weight and didn’t tear when I picked them up with my chopsticks, and yet, when I slurped them up, it took such little jaw work to bite through.
To some extent, Feng Ji Kwap Chap’s kway reminded me of expertly thin sheets of chee cheong fun soaked in soy sauce. Absolutely delicious.
I moved onto the small serving of innards and meat.
For S$2.50, I was super happy with the amount that had been served. I counted six pieces of small intestines, one square piece of tau pok that had been cut into four quarters, four long stripsof pork belly, and one entire braised egg cut into quarters.
Once again, I was super amazed at how clean everything tasted. Seriously. There was no hint of smelliness from Feng Ji Kway Chap’s small intestines. Instead, it was springy, well braised, and oozed savoury and mildly sweet braised juices the minute I bit into it.
This was so positively addictive that I chowed down three to four pieces at one go.
I had high expectations for Feng Ji Kway Chap’s tau pok, because if it was anything like the thin flat sheets of rice noodles that had soaked up all that glorious gravy, this would’ve been spot on.
Unfortunately, the tau pok was firmer and drier than I had expected. If I was hard pressed to describe it using a metaphor, I’d liken it to a sponge once all the liquid had been wrung out. Don’t get me wrong— it was still relatively yummy, but it definitely wasn’t my favourite element out of the entire meal.
The pork belly, on the other hand, was one of my favourites. It tasted as if it had been roasted prior to being doused in braised liquid, as it was succulent and tender, with a nice meaty sweetness.
The last item on the plate was the braised egg.
I have a pet peeve when it comes to braised eggs (or hard-boiled eggs used in soupy dishes like lor bak and laksa). More often than not, the egg yolk doesn’t end up soaking the yummy soup or gravy enough and turns out as dry as the Sahara Desert.
Thankfully, Feng Ji Kway Chap’s braised egg ticked off all the boxes in my imaginary list. The yolk was so saturated with sauce that it became soft and mushy, which is just the way I liked it, and the salty braised liquid had seeped into the outer layer of the egg, making each bite a real delight.
While every single portion of Feng Ji Kway Chap’s Kway Chap Set was so delicious on its own that it hardly needed the help of the sambal belacan on the side, I decided to try it for good measure.
My only advice to you is to not underestimate the sambal belacan. Sharp and spicy, it hit the roof of my mouth almost immediately, and the hot spice sat at the tip of my tongue for the entire meal. Despite the initial pain, it added a well-needed kick of bright sourness to complement the dark, savoury roasted notes from the kway and innards.
Final thoughts
I am not a morning person, but I polished off my entire bowl of kway chap and considered it a morning well spent.
Not only was I floored at how every single element of the meal had been expertly cleaned and had none of that smelly pungent aroma, everything was so savoury and tasty that I’d gladly pay more than just S$2.50 to come back for a bowl of delectable kway chap again.
This simple yet undeniably delicious bowl of kway chap from Feng Ji Kway Chap was worth waking up at 7am for, and yes, I’d do it all over again.
Expected damage: S$2.50 – S$7 per pax
Price: $
Our Rating: 5 / 5
Feng Ji Kway Chap
4A Jalan Batu, Block 4A Jalan Batu Hawker Centre, #01-20, Singapore 432004
Feng Ji Kway Chap
4A Jalan Batu, Block 4A Jalan Batu Hawker Centre, #01-20, Singapore 432004