Yong tau foo ($8)!
Bugis yong tau foo (YTF) dry bowl with crispy fried items, spinach greens, soft tofu, and a side soup. $8.
Another Bugis area lunch. Yong tau foo (YTF), $8. 😋👍🏼
What was in the bowl:
- Mixed YTF picks: crispy fried fish slabs (or fried beancurd skin), soft white tofu cubes, hard-boiled egg, chinese spinach greens
- The picks plated over a base of flat rice noodles (kway teow) with sweet sauce + chilli on the side
- Small bowl of clear soup on the side with scallion
- The same kind of dry-style YTF format from the previous Bugis visit
This was the second time picking up YTF at the same Bugis spot in a couple of weeks. Sticking with what works.
The ingredients that make the bowl:
- Crispy fried fish slabs: golden coated fish (looks like batter-fried fish), the protein anchor with the crunchy contrast
- Soft white tofu cubes: slippery, gentle, absorb the sauce
- Spinach / chinese spinach: cooked until just wilted, leaves the rib still firm
- Hard-boiled egg: standard YTF add-on
- Sweet sauce + chilli sauce: the dressing combo for dry-style
YTF as a dish is a build-your-own format: you walk up to the counter, point at the items in the metal trays, the auntie blanches them in stock and assembles your bowl. The freedom to pick (and the price-by-piece structure) is the whole appeal. Hits a different need from a fixed-menu dish.
At $8 for a balanced set + rice noodles + soup, this is fair value for the Bugis mall food-court tier. Not the cheapest, not the priciest, hits the lunchtime sweet spot.
Overall: 4.3 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Solid repeat lunch order. The crispy fried fish was the standout pick.
