“Playboy” Car Dealer Who “Lived Like A King” Now Fishball Hawker After Being Cheated By Biz Partners
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
“Playboy” who lived the high life before becoming hawker
Boss Ringo, a former car dealer, is quite the colourful character. During a chat with 8days.sg, he shares his colourful past where he led a life of fast cars, fast women and lavish living: “I ran a few car dealerships and was very successful. I was a playboy. Even though I have a wife (Jenny), I had many girlfriends, and one of them bore me two sons. I lived like a king and spent money like it was going out of style.”
He adds: “Jenny and I are only husband and wife in name. We met at a disco [in the ‘80s] when she was just 16 and I married her so I could buy an HDB flat for my mum to live in. I told her many times to go find someone better, but she stuck by me all these years. She doesn’t mind my past and she lets me do as I please.”
Started from zero after being cheated by biz partners
After Ringo’s business partners cheated him of his businesses as well as some run-ins with the law including drink driving, he was left with nothing — not even his properties. When his girlfriend left him and their sons around 10 years ago, he decided to start from zero, working three jobs to raise his kids. “I rented a one-bedder from HDB, worked in a pau shop and as a lorry driver by day, and security guard by night for about a year,” shares Ringo.
Though he had no cooking experience, Ringo aspired to start his own fishball noodle biz after trying the handmade fishballs from popular hawker chain Ru Ji Kitchen. He approached the boss for a job in hopes of learning the ropes and was employed as a cashier at their outlet at Old Airport Road Food Centre.
Rummaged in dustbin of former workplace to uncover secret to fishball recipe
“They were very protective of their recipes and did not impart any skills to me. I learned by observing how they made their fishballs, chilli, and even rummaged through the dustbin for the ingredients packaging to find out what stuff they used. I also went around asking people how to make fishballs and came up with my own recipe. I did R&D for three months,” he says.
He left Ru Ji after six months following a fallout with the boss and borrowed $10K from a friend to start his first stall, Ringo Handmade Fishball Noodles, in 2015. A few months later, he borrowed another $30K to buy the stall when the landlord offered to sell it.
With the help from his friend and former staff Ah Hua, who also used to work at Ru Ji, Ringo’s fishball stall began to thrive and he was able to pay off his loan in 11 months. When the opportunity arose last year, he decided to buy his second stall to expand his business.
“Honestly, I believe I can grow this business further and make a lot of money. But I’m very tired now. If anyone wants to take over the business, I don’t mind selling it and retiring,” he says.
“Old friends who see me now ask me why I’m reduced to such a state, but I think it’s okay. I’ve lived a good life. From the day I lost everything and started making fishballs, I’ve never looked back.”
Begins his day at 2am
From fishballs to yong tau foo to soup and chilli, the ingredients are painstakingly made from scratch daily. Ringo begins his day at 2am, prepping for his two stalls. “The fishballs need to soak in water for three hours to take shape and achieve the desired texture. We use pure fish paste made with wolf herring meat and do not add flour or preservatives,” he says.
“When I first started my stall seven years ago, I only offered fishball noodles. I worked 18 hours a day ’cos I was a one-man operation. I dozed off while making fishballs and fishcake,” he laughs.
Ringo enjoys experimenting and coming up with new products. He began offering add-ons like fried wonton and meatballs – all handmade – two years ago.
The Teochew meatballs, made from an equal ratio of minced pork to fish paste, are mixed with a host of ingredients like onions, chilli, coriander, garlic, hae bee, sweet cai poh, lard and fried shallots. Each orb, slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, is irregularly shaped and speckled with ingredients. “These ingredients are cheap, so I don’t mind adding more stuff to elevate the taste of the meatballs,” he says.
The meatballs have since overtaken the fishballs in popularity, so he decided to offer more items featuring his meat paste, like fried meatballs, Hakka yong tau foo, stuffed tau kee, and ngoh hiang at his second stall. His Ipoh hor fun and laksa are also paired with yong tau foo items.
“I was afraid that customers would be bored of eating fishballs so I kept coming up with new items. A lot of people asked me why my fishballs, meatballs and yong yau foo are so yummy. I think it’s because I am creative. Once I’ve perfected the fishballs, it was easy for me to make different varieties like mushroom balls,” he says.
“I didn’t plan to offer Hakka yong tau foo. But I had leftover meat paste so I decided to make them. I didn’t expect them to be such a hit. Now the more I make, the more popular they get.” The brinjal and bittergourd are among his most popular items and he sells around 200 servings of Hakka YTF each day.
The menu
The stall offers eight varieties of noodle dishes, including fishball noodles, Teochew meatball noodles, wonton noodles, Ipoh hor fun and laksa yong tau foo. Prices start from $4 for fishball noodles to $6 for dry Hakka yong tau foo (eight pieces) with noodles. There are also sides like fried fishcake, fried meatballs, and ngoh hiang from $2, while raw fishballs and meatballs are available from $5 for 10 pieces.
Dry Hakka Yong Tau Foo With Noodles, $6 (8 DAYS Pick!)
For $6, you get eight pieces of Hakka yong tau foo, noodles topped with minced pork and a small bowl of soup on the side. There are around 10 varieties of YTF available each day. You can choose your own YTF but most leave it to the towkays. Each additional item costs 60 cents.
Our platter came with a stuffed bittergourd, chilli, brinjal, lady’s finger, fried fishball, two fried wantons and ngoh hiang, topped with minced meat. The items were refried before serving so they were hot and crispy, though this was not the case during our previous visit when Jenny was manning the stall. Ringo explains: “We take turns to run the two stalls. (Ringo runs the yong tau foo stall on Mondays and Wednesdays, while Jenny is in charge from Thursdays to Sundays.) So, it depends when you visit. I will refry the yong tau foo but not Jenny ’cos she doesn’t want to keep customers waiting.” We say pop by on Mondays and Wednesdays.
While we think the YTF is great on its own, the chilli sauce on the condiment tray is worth a try too. Don’t be alarmed by the black and white bits floating in the sauce. Those are yummy fried garlic and shallots from the yong tau foo gravy that has been added to supplier-bought chilli paste to enhance its taste. It’s spicy with a hint of sour plum. Quite interesting. The sweet sauce, on the other hand, is too cloying for our liking.
The light, clear soup is also a winner. Ringo tells us that it’s simply made with “fishball water”, which, you guessed it, is water mixed with leftover fish paste. “I don’t use soybeans, ikan billis or even seasoning. Just fishball water. I blanch the fishballs and meatballs in this soup too, that's why it is very flavourful,” he says.
Laksa Yong Tau Foo, $5
The basic bowl of laksa yong tau foo comes with six pieces of YTF and noodles. The gravy, cooked from scratch with homemade rempah and “meat paste water”, is savoury and very lemak, but lacks the complex flavours and fragrance of proper laksa. It tastes more like curry mee than laksa. Dotted with chilli padi slices, the laksa is spicier than most. For the YTF, we particularly enjoy the gravy-soaked tau pok and tofu, which are extremely satisfying to bite into.
Teochew Meatball Noodles, $5 for small; $6 for large (8 DAYS Pick!)
We got the large serving which comes with four fishballs, four meatballs, and fishcake slices in light soup, same as the one served with yong tau foo. The fishball is soft with a light spring to the bite, while the tender meatballs are very delicious — one of the best we’ve tried in Singapore. Studded generously with ingredients, we enjoyed uncovering bits of treasures like shallots and chai poh as we bit into them.
We were less enthusiastic about our mee pok. Dressed with a sauce that’s shallot and chilli forward, the noodles are al dente and springy, but nothing special.
Fried Meatballs, $4 for six pcs
After devouring the blanched meatballs, we were very excited to try the fried version, which we’re told has chopped mee kia mixed into the meat paste. Inspired by Hakka yong tau foo stalls that add beehoon in their meatballs, Ringo decided to experiment with mee kia instead.
“I didn’t have any beehoon on hand, so I substituted it with bits of mee kia and it turned out tasting really good. The noodles give the meatballs a nice texture,” he says.
Bottom line
Despite its fishball branding, the star dish here is the handmade Hakka yong tau foo. With its unique gravy, this is not quite your traditional Hakka-style version, but this is precisely why we like it. We couldn’t get enough of the moreish, umami flavours and happily lapped up anything slathered with it. The soft handmade meatballs and fishballs are a must-try too. Pop by on Mondays and Wednesdays, when chatty Ringo himself preps the food.
The details
Ah Hua Handmade Fishball Noodles is at #01-55, Redhill Food Centre, 85 Redhill Lane, S150085. Open daily except Tue, 6am -2.30pm.Photos: Kelvin Chia
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
Listen Now
Related Stories
Shopping
