Hunchbacked Hawker, 65, Opens Stall Against Her Family’s Wishes; Sells Unusual Bak Chor Mee
When 8days.sg visited the hawker stall selling bak chor mee on the first level of Dunman Food Centre on a weekday morning, the shop looked unmanned. We peer in and a hunched-back auntie seated behind the shutters in the other half of the unit calls out to us: “What would you like?”
The auntie is lady boss Ang Choon Lan, 65, who has been running the hawker biz since 2019. Tucked at the back of the food centre, the unassuming stall, which is partially shuttered, can be easy to miss. It doesn’t help that it does not have a signboard, or even a name — or so we thought. Instead, its offerings are listed in Chinese on its glass display in red font: fishball noodles and bak chor mee.
Turns out, the stall is called Dunman Bak Chor Mee. “You will see it when you scan the QR code to pay me,” the sweet, bubbly auntie tells us. “I don’t earn much, so I didn’t put up a signboard. My stall is so big, it will cost me at least $1K.”
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
Opened hawker stall against her family’s wishes
Auntie has been working on and off as a hawker since 2000. She started out as a kitchen assistant at Fei Siong stalls and would take breaks every couple of years.
“It’s very tiring to keep working. I worked eight to 10 hours a day and still had to cook when I got home. So, every three years or so, I would quit and rest for two years, before returning to work again,” she explains.
She also tried starting her own hawker businesses, first a stall selling fish soup in Tuas, followed by bak chor mee, but both were short-lived. This is her third hawker venture.
“My husband doesn’t like me to work and would keep nagging at me to stop, so both the stalls only lasted for three months,” shares auntie.
“But I am very stubborn. I insist on working, so I divorced him a few years ago. Now I have the freedom to do as I please,” she says with a laugh.
Very sassy.
Hunchback caused by spinal TB
Auntie is a dose of positive vibes, and we can’t help but admire her tough, go-getter attitude. She doesn’t let anything hold her back, not even her hunchback condition, a result of spinal tuberculosis, an infectious disease which causes the vertebrae to collapse (different from the more commonly known pulmonary TB).
She contracted TB in 2015 and though she’s completely cured now, auntie says her movements are slowed and she’d feel tired if she stands for too long.
You will find a plastic chair lined with cushions inside her stall, where she retreats to rest when there are no customers. The cosy space also doubles up as her office to do her accounts.
She rents a room nearby
Auntie runs her stall single-handedly. She operates from 7am to 2.30pm, but you will find her doing prep work at her shop from 5am. She rents a room nearby for $400 a month so it's easier for her to get to work.
Unable to get a stall near her home in Taman Jurong despite many attempts, she decided to try her luck here.
“My son wanted to buy a flat in Bedok so I can stay, but I didn’t want ’cos I need to be at the stall at 5am. There is no public transport at that time, how am I going to get here? If you open shop too late, there will be no customers,” says auntie.
She has a son and daughter who are both not married.
A common gripe about Dunman Food Centre is its low footfall. According to auntie, the place gets a decent breakfast crowd but goes quiet after 2pm.
“So sian, it’s very hard to sustain the business,” she laments.
She currently rents her stall for around $3K and makes enough to cover her overheads and living expenses.
“That’s why everyone tells me to give up the business and retire, but I prefer to keep active. When I took a break for two years, all I did was sleep, which I find meaningless. I also found myself becoming blur and forgetful,” shares auntie, adding that she is running the business to pass time.
When we suggest subletting half her stall to lessen her burden, she declines.
“I don’t want to get into spats. Also, I prefer to have more space to move around,” she says.
Bak Chor Mee, $6
The dry bak chor mee is unlike anything we have eaten. Instead of the usual spicy-savoury-vinegary sauce, auntie’s version features a more umami brown, starchier gravy, consisting of dark soy sauce, vinegar, pork lard oil, chilli, mushroom braising sauce, and a “secret ingredient”, which we saw her cooking over a charcoal stove. She declines to share more about her special ingredient or recipe, only saying this is how her family, who are Teochews, cook it.
Portion-wise, it is not big, but you do get a bowl of well-cooked noodles topped with a good amount of tender seasoned pork slices (we counted eight), minced meat, stewed mushrooms, and a plump handmade wanton. It is amped up by chunks of crispy lard and smoky fried sole fish. We added two fishballs for an extra $1.
We are pretty impressed by the robust soup, made by simmering pork bones, fish bones, and “fishball water” aka water that the orbs are soaked in when they are made. The slightly murky soup is infused with pork flavour and seaweed gives it an additional layer of flavour.
Fishball Noodles, $4.50
After slurping up the bak chor mee, we decided to try the fishball noodles, which is equally enjoyable. Despite tapow-ing our dry meepok, the noodles, tossed in an umami, spicy mix of ketchup, hae bee-spiked chilli and fried garlic bits, are still springy. The fishballs are briny and bouncy, and the soup, dotted with bits of minced meat, is even more flavourful thanks to the addition of fried garlic.
Dunman Bak Chor Mee is at #01-03, Dunman Food Centre, 271 Onan Rd, S424768. Open daily except Mon, 7am to 2.30pm.
Photos: 8days.sg
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
Related Stories
Shopping
