Bai Nian 百年 Yong Tau Foo. A Hot bowl of Loveliness You’ll Enjoy, Even on a Blistering Hot Day!
The weather is blistering hot!
With a meeting happening after lunch around Bugis, we thought it was a good idea to go for an early lunch at a Yong Tau Foo store that someone recommended to us.
With sweat trickling down my brow, soaking through my shirt, we finally arrived at Albert Centre, a bustling hawker centre at the Bugis area.
Albert Centre
This hawker centre is enormous! Rows and rows of food stalls serving delicious-looking food to a good crowd of people, it was a real sight to take in.
After a bit of a search, we found what we were looking for; it was a booth with just two simple words for its name, 百年. There was already a queue, often a good sign.
Bai Nian (百年) Yong Tau Foo
The stall looks well organised with bowls of ingredients laid out like a tiny assembly line. It seems to be branded as well, with a nicely designed signboard, even uniforms, an interesting sight to see in a hawker centre. We found out later that they have branches all over Singapore.
Simple decision.
The queue moved quickly, and soon it was my turn. I went for the smallest, most straightforward order to experience what it was like without the bells and whistles.
Hard at work…
Unlike the typical yong tau foo stalls, you don’t get to choose the items; it comes standard with beancurd, prawn paste, and minced pork paste. The only thing they asked was if I would like to have the meat-filled bitter gourd, which I gladly accepted.
Quick and fast.
They piled the fresh, beautiful looking ingredients onto the top of a bowl of bee hoon, scooped in a generous heap of spring onions before pouring a steaming hot serving of soup into the bowl.
All ingredients laid out for maximum efficiency.
Scoop scoop and pour!
A quick flurry of moves later, a spoon was in the bowl, with chopsticks, and a saucer of dip by the side. My tray of two steaming hot bowls of delightful looking Yong Tau Foo was ready — all in less than a minute!
All ready to tuck in!
Sweet sauce.
Fantastic, wonderful bowl!
I navigated back to our table, and we were soon tucking into our soupy meal. I started with the soup, and despite the hot weather, and me sweating buckets, I love it!
The flavours of the soup were just right, a balanced, refreshing feeling! I even felt “cooler” after drinking the soup, could be a placebo effect.
Ingredients wise, do not be fooled by how simple they look, especially when you see how hard the operators are working. There is this one person who’s continuously using a spoon to portion out the prawn and meat pastes.
𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦, they have absolute control over how well they can flavour them, which is just perfect! Pick them up from the soupy bowl, dip into the sauce, place it back into the spoon with a portion of bee hoon and soup, enjoy!
Speaking of the bee hoon…
The fluffy bee hoon really completes the delicate texture of the flavourful soup and ingredients.
Yes. Fluffy.
Yong Tau Foo
Despite being soaked in soup, the bee hoon is not soggy. It manages to retain the right amount of tension to give you a gentle texture along with the other accompaniments.
Another satisfying meal!
Again, this was one of those meals that we were thankful to have been recommended!
Bowl of goodness!
Despite the blistering hot weather, we thoroughly enjoyed the steaming hot bowl of soupy comfort, I believe it’s going to be even better on a cold day!
Definitely coming back for more!
百年酿豆腐 – Bai Nian Niang Dou Fu
📍Albert Centre Market & Food Centre, 270 Queen Street #01-106 Singapore,180270
Visit their Facebook Page for more details.
All photos cannot be reproduced without consent from foodinlocal.com.
