922 Hakka Ampang Yong Tau Foo [客家安邦酿豆腐] @ Beng Cheng Restaurant, Upper Thomson Road [Near Nee Soon Camp]

The Wikipedia page on Yong Tau Foo touches on the Hakka version and i am surprised no culinary expert has offered their views on Ampang, another popular variant in Singapore and Malaysia.

Let humble me share with you a little bit on this soup-less alternative using my recent visit to 922 Hakka Yong Tau Fu along Upper Thomson road as a starting point.

In a nutshell, the ingredients (known as "liao" for many Singaporean Chinese) were simply placed on a plate and drenched with an oily, starchy, dark sauce.

That would have seemed relatively similar to the 'dry', no-soup order that some locals prefer with the exception of one thing; the distinctive Ampang sauce [tasted like a braised concoction of a mushroom, oyster mixture) is a far cry from the sweet sauce we are accustomed to.

For those who could not survive a meal of Yong Tau Foo without the sweet sauce, you can ask for it [the plastic saucer above was filled with both sweet and chilli sauces].

On the ingredients, the variety was a lot lesser than traditional Yong Tau Foo although still much better than the famous stall in People's Park which offers only around five ingredients.

Suffer before you enjoy [先苦后甜, translated as bitterness before sweetness]! That has always been my philosophy when it comes to food; therefore, the many stalks of kangkong were cleared right before i indulged in the stuff i love!

This deep fried beancurd skin was a great disappointment; far too salty and totally not worth the cholesterol count! The saving grace, if any, was the crunchy texture.

With the unique savory sauce, i have no problem finishing everything except for the bitter gourd; one plant that i simply could not force myself to eat beyond one bite.

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Location

922 Upper Thomson Road

[Near Nee Soon Camp]

Price

S$4.50 per set

[Comes with Rice]

Additional Information

I clarified with a service staff after my meal that it is possible to change the ingredients of the set (yipeee! no more bitter gourd). Just notify them when they are taking your order.