Mr Heng Check Kwang, 58, started cooking curry chicken noodles over 30 years ago with his brother at a now-defunct food centre opposite his current spot at Hong Lim Food Centre. He learnt the curry chicken recipe from a local Peranakan family, but instead of serving their thick curry with noodles as it is, he watered it down with the broth he used to boil the chickens in – and thus, a star was born.
But the curry isn’t the only thing to shout about here. The chunks of chicken delicately placed atop each bowl are tender and flavourful. The chickens are first boiled for 20 minutes before they’re dunked in an ice bath so that they retain their firm texture. Heng is exceptionally candid about revealing the tricks of the trade. “You must put the big chickens at the bottom of the pot where it’s hotter,” he explains, “that way you can get them to cook evenly.”
He’s also not afraid of anyone stealing his recipe. “If I cook and you cook, the result will be completely different,” he jokes. “Just because you know the recipe, it doesn’t mean the dish will turn out exactly the same. Cooking is strange that way.” That’s also the reason why he doesn’t plan on expanding his business, despite the long queues after being listed in the Michelin guide for the past three years.
“The tourists come with the red book in their hands because there’s a hotel around the corner,” he says. “I think that the Michelin guide is great because it reaffirms that our food is good – not just to locals but to foreigners. The Taiwanese really love our noodles but we get customers from Australia, India, Hong Kong and Shanghai too.”
If the personality of the chef, quality of products, mastery of flavour, value for money and consistency between visits are qualities the Michelin inspectors look for when dining then we think Ah Heng ticks all the right boxes. “I scoop in less oil when foreigners order so that the curry is less spicy and more manageable for them,” he shares. With that level of personalised service and attention to detail at $4.50 a bowl, it’s hard to complain. And proves that Michelin star or not, Singapore is full of hawker gems that deserve to be celebrated.
