Customers Wait Up To 1.5 Hours For Shiok M’sian-Style Pork Noodles At Ipoh-Born Hawker’s ‘Zhu Rou Fen’ Stall

Different from local bak chor mee

Though similar, zhu rou fen is not quite the same  as our local bak chor mee. While bak chor mee tends to feature finely-minced pork (bak chor in Hokkien), Ian’s version uses larger, bite-sized chunks of bak chor seasoned with soy sauce and dong cai (preserved Chinese cabbage).

For the dry version, Ian’s zhu rou fen is tossed in dark soy sauce, pork lard, chilli paste and notably, no vinegar – which he says is “the Malaysian way”. In fact, the chilli paste is already a compromise to cater for Singaporeans’ palate. “I didn’t plan to provide chilli at first because Malaysian dry noodles usually don’t have it. But a lot of customers asked for chilli, so we’ve added it,” he tells 8days.sg.

Prepare to wait for your noodles

Since opening in early March, the stall – which sells an average of 200 bowls daily – has been much-hyped on social media for its long queues. Ian, a former digital marketer, says that this hasn’t always been the case. “The first two weeks were quite quiet. I engaged a few TikTokers [to spread the word] and after the videos went out, we’ve been drawing a crowd,” he shares.

According to recent Google reviews, the average wait during peak hours is at least half an hour. The longest? “About one and a half hours,” the hawker says sheepishly. He explains: “Our food takes slightly longer to cook than your usual bak chor mee. Most [bak chor mee hawkers] use finer minced pork, which takes a shorter time to cook. Ours is chunkier, and we also cook the sliced pork and organs separately in the soup to give it more flavour."

Newbie at the helm

Another contributing factor to the wait, we reckon, is Ian’s relative inexperience as a hawker. Observing the millennial, we notice slight hesitancy in his actions, such as portioning the ingredients. However, with more time and practice, we believe that Ian will be able to streamline operations to reduce the waiting time.

Music teacher wife encouraged him to start hawker biz

Ian’s journey into the hawker scene was spurred by his Singaporean wife, Jasmine Mong, 35. Impressed by zhu rou fen during a meal at Ian’s brother’s restaurant in Nilai (a city in the Seremban district) last year, Jasmine suggested they bring the dish to Singapore. 

Despite never picturing himself in F&B, Ian – who recently left his marketing job after seven years – decided to give it a shot. He invested $50k to set up Legacy Pork Noodles after a month of training with his brother.

Last month, Jasmine left her job as a secondary school music teacher to join the business full-time. “After eight years of teaching, I began to feel like my life is quite stagnant. I wanted to try something new so I thought okay, my husband wants to [start this biz], so I will quit my job since he needs help,” she shares.

Now, the couple runs the stall together daily. Ian manages the kitchen with two assistants, while Jasmine helps with prep and customers’ orders.

Stall name inspired by hawker’s brother who taught him the recipe

The stall’s name, Legacy Pork Noodles, was inspired by Ian’s brother. “When I was training at his shop, we started chatting about his plans for the future. He said our family isn’t rich and our parents have nothing to pass down to us, so he hopes that he can leave a legacy through his recipes. In the future, if our kids don’t want to study, at least they have an option to carry on with our business,” he shares.

Ian’s parents in Malaysia aren’t aware of his hawker venture

“They don’t even know that I’ve quit my previous job! If I told my mother now, she would surely question [my decision]. I think I’ll only share the news when we open at least three outlets,” he says. Ian also hopes to include his brother in the business as they expand: “Maybe he can partner us when we open a standalone shop and offer a larger variety of food.”

Signature Pork Noodles with Organs (Soup), $6.50 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Made from pork bones, soybeans and ikan bilis, the hearty, full-bodied broth is definitely reminiscent of what we’ve had in Malaysia. Ian prepares every bowl of soup to order, taking care to cook each ingredient for different durations for maximum flavour. Our order comes with minced pork, sliced pork, supplier-sourced meatballs, plus organs like liver, kidney and intestine.

Bits of dong cai add a homely, piquant savouriness to the tender chunks of bak chor. The offal, laboriously cleaned in-house, is devoid of unpleasant odour, and cooked perfectly. Paired with smooth, skinny kway teow, this is a comforting bowl of goodness.

Minced Pork Noodles (Dry), $5.50 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Squeamish about organs? The stall offers a slightly cheaper option featuring just minced pork, meatballs and fried beancurd skin. For the dry-tossed noodles, we picked mee kia, which was slightly too overcooked and soft for our liking. 

The seasoning, however, is unmistakably Malaysian, with generous lashings of dark soy sauce and freshly-fried crispy lard. The ‘deviant’ hae bee chilli paste (“it’s not sambal,” asserts the hawker) from a supplier adds a pleasant spicy-savoury crunch. We also like the addition of stir-fried bak chor for the dry version. Shiok.

Pork Lard Rice, $1.50

Other than noodles, you can opt for a bowl of white rice topped with soy sauce and house-fried lard to accompany the pork soup. Ian introduced this off-menu item as a nod to his childhood (“it was my go-to meal every week”). Sinful but fragrant.

Bottom line 

So is Legacy Pork Noodles worth the hype? Given the robust broth, well-prepped toppings and the fact that zhu rou fen isn’t widely available here, we say a 30-min wait is reasonable. That said, time is a precious commodity, so we hope the waiting time can be reduced as the team gains more experience.

Both the soup and dry versions are pretty legit – we particularly enjoy the bolder flavours of the dry-tossed mee kia. Tip: Try to visit at 5.30pm (right after their break) on a weekday for a shorter waiting time.

The details

Legacy Pork Noodles is at 31 Tai Thong Cres, S347859. Open daily except Tue, 10am– 2pm & 5.30pm–8pm. More info via Facebook, Instagram & TikTok. 

Photos: Aik Chen

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