Yong tau foo ($8)!
Tanjong Pagar dry yong tau foo: bee hoon tossed in sweet dark sauce with stuffed beancurd and fish-paste pieces, with a clear soup side of YTF and broccoli. $8.
Lunch at Tanjong Pagar: yong tau foo, $8. Standard Hakka YTF. πππΌ
What was on the tray:
- Dry bee hoon bowl: thin rice vermicelli tossed in the sweet dark sauce, the YTF pieces laid on top with greens
- Clear soup side: the YTF broth with stuffed beancurd, fish-paste items, broccoli and greens floating in it
Yong tau foo (ι Ώθ±θ ) is the Hakka stuffing tradition: βyongβ means to stuff, and the original dish was tofu and vegetables packed with a hand-chopped fish-and-pork paste. The Singapore pick-your-own version is the descendant, a fridge wall of stuffed items (tofu, beancurd puffs, chilli, bittergourd, okra) plus fishballs and fried bits, which you select and the stall blanches or fries to order.
The dry-with-soup format is the smart order: the items come tossed with bee hoon in the sweet dark sauce (sometimes with a sweet-and-spicy chilli on the side), while the soup arrives separately so the broth stays clear and the noodles do not go soggy. You get two textures from one bowl of ingredients, dressed noodles and clean soup.
The sauce is the dividing line between YTF stalls: the good ones make their own sweet sauce (hoisin-adjacent, thickened, faintly garlicky) rather than squeezing it from a bottle. Paired with the chilli, it is what makes the dry version worth ordering over the plain soup.
At $8 for a generous dry-and-soup YTF set in Tanjong Pagar, the pricing is fair given how many pieces stack up.
Overall: 4.1 / 5. πππΌ The sweet-sauce dry bee hoon was the standout half. Would re-order, more fried items next time.
