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Zi Char is one of the hallmarks of our local hawker culture. These familiar yet delicious dishes are perfect for sharing when you are dining out with your family and friends. When I came to learn of Yuet Loy Cooked Food, I knew that I had to try it.
Yuet Loy Cooked Food is a well-known stall within the gigantic Chinatown Complex, serving authentic Cantonese zi char dishes. The stall, which has been run by an elderly couple for over 40 years, is fairly popular among zi char lovers, with many complimenting the dishes’ home-cooked taste and exceptional flavour.
The stall is located all the way at the back of the hawker centre, so it might be a little hard to spot it, especially since its signboard isn’t lit up. Take note that the waiting time may be a little longer than your average hawker stall, too.
What I tried at Yuet Loy Cooked Food
One of Yuet Loy Cooked Food’s most popular dishes is their Golden Coin Dou Fu (S$6.50/S$10.40/S$13), consisting of soft, round pieces of egg tofu served on top of bean sprouts. I opted for the smallest S$6.50 portion, which yielded 5 pieces of tofu.
I had expected the egg tofu to taste like any other egg tofu you’d find in the supermarket, but Yuet Loy Cooked Food’s version had a silkier, slightly mushier texture to it. The golden brown skin on its exterior was soft with a deep, fragrant aroma. The sauce that had been generously drizzled over the egg tofu was pretty salty, albeit a little one-dimensional. It elevated the flavours of the egg tofu nicely.
The Golden Coin Dou Fu was pretty tasty and comforting, though the price was a little steep for the small serving.
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Next up was the Beef Hor Fun (S$10/S$20/S$30)— I had opted for the S$10 portion and was treated to a single serving of hor fun, which was topped with a generous amount of sliced beef and green veggies.
Compared to other hor fun dishes, Yuet Loy Cooked Food does not hold back on the salt. The brown gravy that liberally coated every surface of the dish was salty and briny, in true old-school fashion. Personally, the intensity of the saltiness was a little much for me, though I’d imagine that salt lovers would thoroughly enjoy this.
The hor fun noodles were smooth and silky, while the beef slices were tender and not too chewy. As with the Golden Coin Dou Fu, the Beef Hor Fun had a tantalising home-cooked element to it that made it taste extra comforting, albeit nothing mind-blowing.
The last dish I got from Yuet Loy Cooked Food was the Sweet & Sour Pork (S$15/S$18/S$21). This was one of the most expensive items on the menu, and its smallest portion came in at a whopping S$15. Honestly, I did find it to be a little pricey, especially for a dish from a hawker stall.
I was expecting the pork to be crunchy, but it was unfortunately (to me, at least) soft. I am someone who always gravitates towards crisp and crunchy, so the lack of a satisfying crackle when I bit into the pork did disappoint me a little.
In terms of taste, I liked how the tangy sauce wasn’t too overwhelmingly sweet, yet was strong in flavour and delightfully bright. The cucumbers and tomatoes mixed into the dish were great complements to the tender pork chunks too, giving the dish as a wholesome added crunch and zest.
Final thoughts
Yuet Loy Cooked Food is a nice spot to check out for a homely feast at relatively affordable prices. While I felt that the dishes weren’t necessarily skewed towards my personal preferences, I can certainly see why so many have touted this humble little stall as one of their favourite zi char spots in the country.
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