Lunch at Bugis, back at the fish dumpling stall. Fried fish dumpling hor fun + you tiao, $5 total ($4 + $1). 😋👍🏼

What was on the tray:

Plate of fried fish dumpling hor fun: the golden egg-skin fish dumplings stacked high over flat kway teow ribbons in the dark gravy, pickled green chilli rings and preserved vegetable on the side of the plate, bok choy tucked in
Bowl of you tiao chunks: fried dough cut into fat pieces, for dunking

Repeat-visit confirmation: this is the same fried fish dumpling plate from the week before, and it held up. The dumplings are the draw: fish paste folded in a thin egg skin, deep-fried until the skin bubbles and crisps. Where the first visit paired it with a sweet dessert, this round went savoury with the you tiao side.

The you tiao move is borrowed from fish soup and bak kut teh protocol: the fried dough chunks are for dunking into the gravy, where they soak like savoury sponges while their cores stay chewy. At $1 a bowl it converts leftover gravy (the best part of the plate) into a second course instead of waste. Arguably the highest-value dollar in the hawker centre.

The pickled green chilli on the plate is doing the same job the sambal did last time: cutting the dark gravy’s sweetness with vinegar heat. Between the chilli, the preserved vegetable’s salt-sour and the gravy’s sweet-savoury, the plate covers the whole Teochew flavour spectrum.

Why this stall earns the re-visit: fried-to-order dumplings (the skins arrive still crackling), a gravy that doesn’t over-sweeten, and the $4 base price for a dish that takes real prep work. Fish dumpling stalls are a dying Teochew niche; the good ones deserve the support.

At $5 all-in this was the cheaper of the two visits and arguably the better configuration.

Overall: 4.3 / 5. 😋👍🏼 The you tiao gravy-dunk was the standout discovery this round. The dumpling skins crackled, again. Will keep coming back.

Original IG post