Abacus seeds ($3) & Soon kueh ($1 per piece)!
Monday hawker — abacus seeds $3 + soon kueh $1 each. The Hakka old-school spread at honest hawker pricing.
Monday afternoon hawker snack — abacus seeds ($3) + soon kueh ($1 per piece). The Hakka old-school spread.
We ordered:
- Abacus seeds (suan pan zi / 算盘子) — $3
- Soon kueh — $1 per piece (we got a couple)
Total: roughly $5-6 for the spread.
Abacus seeds (算盘子) is the Hakka dish of yam-based dumplings shaped like Chinese abacus beads — small, round, with a distinctive concave centre that resembles the wooden beads of a traditional abacus. The dough is made from mashed yam (taro) mixed with tapioca starch and water, shaped by hand into the bead shape, then boiled and tossed with stir-fried mushroom, dried shrimp, minced pork, and chopped Chinese mushroom in a savoury sauce.
This dish is one of the quieter Hakka classics that doesn’t get the same attention as the more famous Hakka noodle stalls. The combination of the slightly chewy yam-tapioca dumplings with the savoury wok-tossed ingredients delivers a hearty, slightly sweet-savoury flavour profile that’s distinctly Hakka.
The “abacus bead” dumplings were the test. Properly shaped (each one with the visible concave centre — the giveaway of hand-shaped vs. machine-shaped), with the right chew (slightly bouncy from the tapioca, with the soft yam flavour coming through). Each bite was a small textural exercise.
Soon kueh at $1 per piece is the standard hawker pricing for the Teochew steamed dumpling. Filled with shredded bamboo shoots, dried shrimp, and mushroom, wrapped in a translucent rice-flour skin. Steamed first, then pan-fried briefly on the bottom for the slight crispy contrast.
Both dishes are Hakka-Teochew old-school formats that are quietly disappearing from the hawker scene. The aunties and uncles running these stalls don’t have the same generational succession as the more famous hawker categories.
Stalls that still do both abacus seeds and soon kueh at honest hawker pricing are worth supporting actively. Once these stalls close, the recipes get harder to find and the dishes risk dropping off the Singapore food map.
At roughly $5-6 for the spread, this is honest hawker pricing for hand-made Hakka dishes.
Phase 2 had restored the hawker centres to full operation, and the old-school Hakka stalls had been steady through the year. The pickup of the abacus seeds and soon kueh became one of the small monthly rituals — supporting the old-school stalls before they disappear.
Overall: 4.4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Excellent old-school Hakka spread — would re-order regularly.
