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I can’t believe we’ve never done a chee cheong fun version of our best-rated series! And that’s exactly how I ended up in Golden Mile Food Centre, ready to try everything from Xin Kee Hong Kong Cheong Fun.
Though Xin Kee Hong Kong Cheong Fun has only been on the CCF scene for 3 years, they boast a 4.7-star rating on Google with 152 reviews. The hawker works solo, taking orders while cooking sheets of chee cheong fun to-order. Watching the batter get spread out was super therapeutic.
I arrived before the lunch crowd and had my food within 5 minutes. Mad respect to him, because he was getting blasted by steamers while I had already melted on the way to the hawker centre.
What I tried at Xin Kee Hong Kong Cheong Fun
This normal-looking menu made me do a double take as I scanned through my options. Yes, I read it right. That does say peanut butter and sweet sauce. Am I going to try it out? Heck yeah.
You’ve got to applaud the plating of this Hong Kong Style Cheong Fun (S$3.50). 10 tightly wound rice rolls lay in a bath of creamy peanut butter, garnished with a drizzle of sweet sauce and sesame seeds.
Chunky peanut butter fans, the show’s over, please go home.
The heat from the freshly-cooked chee cheong fun helps to melt down the peanut butter sauce for a silky-smooth coating. Let me tell you — this tasted sublime. The peanut butter’s creaminess melded into the light folds of the rice sheets, leaving a luscious coating of salty-sweet goodness on your tongue.
Sesame oil was added to enhance the nutty umami. Each roll was packed with indulgence, overflowing with that golden sauce.
But eating the Hong Kong Style Cheong Fun alone does make one jelak. Which means it’s time to switch things up with the Youtiao Cheong Fun (S$4). Youtiao? In chee cheong fun?? Trust me, I was sceptical too.
How quickly I folded — like cooked cheong fun, if I may add — once I took a bite.
Golden Mile Special Yong Tau Foo: Unique yong tau foo ingredients & super long queues
A single layer of cheong fun enveloped the youtiao. Each piece of youtiao was toasted for maximum crispiness, and the sauce was served on the side to preserve that crunch. I dipped a slice into the soupy sauce.
The delicate mellowness of the cheong fun and the savoury soy-based sauce hit my tongue first. Then I bit down and heard the melodic crackle of the youtiao within. The sliced spring onions squeezed between the cheong fun and the youtiao burst with fragrance as I chewed.
If the peanut butter cheong fun was a dessert-like treat, this plate was a refreshing summer snack!
I was intrigued by the Beancurd Prawn Roll (S$4.80) advertised. This dish featured thin sheets of bean curd skin sandwiching whole shrimp and spring onion. It came with a mayonnaise sauce that tasted similar to Japanese bento sets sold in hawker centres.
All 6 pieces had at least 1 shrimp within, ensuring you get the best bite every time. The shrimp was fresh, crunchy and sweet. It paired nicely with the deep-fried bean curd skin and made me crave a cold beer to wash it down. In this heat, I can’t think of anything better.
I’m definitely getting this as a drinking snack sometime!
Final thoughts
While Xin Kee Hong Kong Cheong Fun’s prices have increased over the years, I still think it’s worth the price. The 2 rolls you get are thick, practically considered 4 if I were to compare them to the portions given elsewhere.
And the quality of the cheong fun you get? Divine. It’s smooth, silky, and thin with just enough bounce. I love the special flavours you can only get here, especially the ingenuity of the peanut butter combo!
Handmade and high-quality doesn’t even begin to describe this cheong fun. All I can say is, just try it for yourself. Don’t say bojio!
