Chef Wei HK Cheong Fun Opens Two New Hawker Stalls, Drawing Queues On First Day

The original branch at Bedok has garnered some serious media attention since opening on July 6, with consistently strong queues daily. “We’re cooking non-stop from 7.30am to 8pm each day,” Chang Wei tells us in Mandarin. “The queue is still quite long now – about 40 minutes to one hour.”

By opening more stalls around the island, he hopes to cater to other customers that haven’t been able to try his handmade chee cheong fun. “We’ll see how these two stalls do first. If there are any good opportunities, we’ll open more stalls,” says the 36-year-old. “At most, ten to twelve stalls [across Singapore] by 2023 — but that’s my goal. I’ll need to see the situation also.”

The chef, who first stepped into a kitchen in Seremban at age 18, isn’t too worried about the recent spike in Covid-19 cases. He says business has been “quite good” despite kopitiams being limited to 2 diners per table. “We still sell around 700 to 800 plates a day (at the Bedok stall), so we’re not affected,” he says. “[If there is a lockdown], delivery is still good [for us]. Most of our customers say that the chee cheong fun is just as tasty after delivery.” He assures that the queues at his stall are manageable too: “we ensure safety at our stalls by asking customers to practise safe-distancing while queueing.”

“As everything is handmade fresh [to order], a central kitchen isn’t an option,” Chang Wei adds. “So we’ve been training our staff. If they’re inexperienced, they’ll start by watching me [while I cook], or cut the chee cheong fun [after it’s steamed]. I will go through [the cooking method] step by step.”

He figures that a week's training is enough for workers with F&B experience, and double that for newbie cooks, especially since “we sell 700 to 800 plates a day [at Bedok]. They will get enough practice before we send them to other branches.”

Some netizens have complained about inconsistent quality at the original Bedok outlet (such as holes in the CCF). The soft-spoken chef responds: “It’s quite hard to avoid [having holes in the chee cheong fun] as sometimes it sticks to the cloth. Sometimes, the staff are too busy and make the chee cheong fun a bit too thick.”

In order to maintain quality across his outlets, Chang Wei will divide his attention between the various joints. “I’ll move around each stall every few days to see if everything is in order [and check] whether the food is being cooked right,” he adds. “I’ll ask the cooks to make some for me to try [before starting each day]. If I’m not there, I’ll ask a manager to check for quality before we sell.”

Chang Wei is not planning to add any dishes for now, as he wants to focus on maintaining the standard of his existing four-item menu.

Our colleague particularly enjoyed the Mushroom Cheong Fun ($4), an original creation that sees a delicate, earthy stir-fry of shiitake and shimeiji mushrooms folded into the chef’s smooth, springy, translucent rice rolls.

Chef Wei HK Cheong Fun’s second branch is at #01-153, Blk 352 Clementi Ave 2, S120352. Open daily 7am – 8.30pm.

The third branch will open on 21 Sept at Blk 257 Bangkit Rd, S670257. Open daily 7am – 8.30pm.

The original outlet is at #01-633 Foodhub, Blk 209 New Upper Changi Rd, S460209. Open daily 7am – 8.30pm. More info via Facebook and Instagram.

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Photos: Alvin Teo/Chef Wei HK Cheong Fun