Fitness Trainer Takes Over Parents’ Popular Longtime Wanton Mee Stall In AMK

Meanwhile, Ah Sim’s old regulars have an uncanny ability to track down her wanton mee again. “We didn’t have to do any marketing. Word spreads quickly. You know lah, auntie tell auntie, then suddenly everyone knows,” Zack tells us with a laugh, adding that Pong Noodle Village has seen a healthy queue daily since opening two weeks ago.

Almost everything is sold out by the time we arrive just before noon. But thankfully, the Pongs have reserved some of their signatures for us: wanton mee with all the fixings like char siew, pork dumplings and braised chicken feet.

Zack, who previously worked as a fitness trainer for seven years, has been trained by his parents to take over their hawker ropes. Interestingly, Ah Sim herself had started working at Mei Ji Wanton Mee as a stall assistant before taking over the space from its previous owner who sold the same dishes.

“The owner decided to give up the business, so my mum and her brother (far left in pic) paid $4,500 as a takeover fee,” Zack shares. “The previous owner didn’t give them his recipes, so they had to start from scratch.” They were later joined by Seng Hock (centre in pic), and the trio hawked wanton mee for the next three decades till they closed their AMK stall in 2015.

The idea of being a hawker appealed to Zack as he observed that his peers in the trade were doing well. “I have a few childhood friends who started successful hawker businesses, so I thought it’d be worth trying,” he shares. “I wasn’t looking at it as becoming a hawker, more like becoming an entrepreneur.” Though he personally cooks at the stall now, he hopes to eventually hire more staff and expand the business.

But his parents were reluctant to see their son become a hawker, despite needing the extra help after Ah Sim fractured her arm. According to Zack, they did not want to subject him to the long working hours and rigours of the trade. After giving up their stall and retiring, Zack’s parents began feeling restless. “They kept complaining that they were bored at home, so they went out to find work as cleaners at Resorts World Sentosa and BreadTalk,” he says.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Zack and his two older siblings persuaded their parents to quit their cleaning jobs out of concern for their health. At the same time, his fitness training job also became “super duper unstable”. He recounts, “There was a definite drop in income as there were fewer customers at the gym, and even fewer people purchasing membership packages.”

During the Circuit Breaker period when gyms were closed, Zack finally managed to convince his parents to let him take up hawkering. “I’m not sure what changed their mind, maybe they saw that I was serious about [becoming a hawker],” he says. With their help, he began selling handmade dumplings and wantons from home, and eventually invested $20,000 to open a stall this year.

To stand out, Zack changed his parents’ original stall name to Pong Noodle Village, as he noticed that there were other wanton mee stalls called Mei Ji. Despite the foreign new name, Ah Sim tells us that her regulars flocked back as they spotted her at the stall, where she takes orders and relays them to Zack and Seng Hock in the kitchen. The younger hawker cooks the noodles, while his dad assembles the final plates. “Since the first day we reopened, a lot of old customers recognised us and started dropping by frequently. It’s thanks to them that we have queues,” Ah Sim says proudly in Mandarin.

She and her husband have also accepted their son’s decision to be a hawker, with Ah Sim giving her seal of approval for Zack’s cooking skills. “I asked my old customers, ‘How’s the food? Taste okay?’ And they agree it’s good, tastes the same as last time,” she says. Seng Hock adds, “I can see that my son has the passion to become a hawker. Hard work, endurance – that’s how we [hawkers] used to do it back then. If he has the endurance, he can do it.”

Pong Noodle Village sells Singapore-style wanton mee (which is lighter than its dark soy sauce-drenched Malaysian counterpart) with slices of char siew, braised chicken feet and house-made wantons and dumplings.

Zack tells us that they only operate from 6.30am till noon in a bid to keep the hours short for his elderly parents (though they’re usually sold out by 11am). He plans to hire stall assistants and extend the operating hours, though Ah Sim wants to help her son “as long as I can”. She cheekily jokes: “If I stay at home, I’ll be even more tired. I’d rather come here and ‘relax’ instead!”

For those who like lard in your wanton mee, this may come as a shock: Zack doesn’t use any lard at Pong Noodle Village. But this isn’t some modern attempt at making the dish healthier – his mum didn’t add any lard back in the day too.

Instead, expect eggy, satisfyingly springy mee kia luxuriating in a mix of oyster sauce, sesame oil and dark soy sauce blended with a splash of broth. Reasonably savoury, but we miss that distinctive richness and aroma that can only come from lard. The splash of house-made chilli – with umami hae bee and belacan, along with some light spices – helps to perk up the bowl.

For toppings, we recommend going for the wantons – stuffed with minced pork and “lots of sesame oil” – instead of the nondescript lean char siew. The slippery wantons pack better bite, even if we wish they had a stronger savoury edge compared to the superb HK-style wantons we’ve tasted. The soup they were swimming in – cooked with pork bones and soybeans – is lightly peppery with a hint of sweetness.

The dumplings here come stuffed with diced prawn, minced meat, water chestnuts and slivers of carrot, black fungus and spring onion. Compared to the wantons, there’s more variation in texture – springy bits of prawn and the crunchy water chestnuts against juicy, coarsely minced pork – but the veggies are a bit overpowering. Like the wantons, they’re served in a bowl of soup alongside the noodles so they don’t dry out.

Zack braises deep-fried chicken feet overnight in dark soy sauce, garlic and star anise. This results in wonderfully gelatinous chicken feet, but the spice is a tad too strong for our liking.

Pong Noodle Village delivers a comforting plate of wanton mee with yummy wantons. The stall does not use lard, which we sorely miss for its one-of-a-kind flavour, and the noodles doesn’t taste quite as traditional without it. But still, the stall’s incessant queue speaks for its popularity. Just go early before they’re sold out.

Pong Noodle Village is at #01-20 Teck Ghee Court Market & Food Centre, 341 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1, S560341. Tel: 9833-3604. Open daily except Mon, 6.30am – 1pm or sold out. More info via Facebook or Instagram.

Photos: Aik Chen, Pong Noodle Village

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