Tasty Oyster Omelette By Hawker Who Works Daily Despite Kidney Dialysis Thrice Weekly

The kopitiam, Po Si Tan Eating House, sits in a residential estate that we’re told is mostly occupied by the elderly. “We don’t get a lot of foot traffic here. Most of them [the elderly residents] try not to go out much due to the pandemic. There are no offices in the area either,” shares Uncle Lim.

Half the stalls were closed during our visit on a Friday afternoon. “I think some are not coming back,” says Uncle Lim. “I’m not worried because I’m not doing this [running a stall] to earn a lot of money. I earn about $20 a day to make ends meet.” He declined to reveal the stall’s rental cost, but shares that he’s on good terms with the kopitiam owner. Uncle Lim is currently receiving fully subsidised government coverage for his dialysis treatments and medical bills due to his low-income financial situation.

Uncle Lim, who lives alone (his wife and three children are in Batam), tells us he picked the location as his flat is a stone’s throw away. “It’s convenient for me. When I feel too tired, especially on the day after dialysis, I can just close shop and quickly head home to rest. The dialysis centre that I go to is also in Toa Payoh, so it’s easy for me to travel between my stall, flat and the centre.”

Uncle Lim tells us he was diagnosed with kidney failure about eight years ago. “I fainted and was brought to the hospital in an ambulance. The doctor told me, ‘Uncle, there’s no cure for your condition already. You have to go for dialysis.’ I was hesitant to do so and I turned to traditional Chinese medicine first for three years. It didn’t help – I’ve been going for dialysis for the past five years now.”

The candid stall owner also shared how he went into debt because of skyrocketing medical bills. “Each dialysis session costs about $3k. I also paid around $300 for medication at every visit. In the end, I borrowed $30k from a loan shark to pay my medical bills.”

Uncle Lim, who hardly had any formal education, realised it was a mistake pretty quickly. “Everyone told me it was silly, but I didn’t know that there were subsidies available for people like me. Nobody told me. I panicked and thought I had no choice but to quickly find money to settle the bills.”

In the most dire phase of his health, Uncle Lim was wheelchair-bound for a few months due to frequent fainting spells. “I could only stand for about 20 seconds before blacking out. See, I can’t straighten this arm now as I fractured my elbow during a fall,” he says while trying – and failing – to straighten his right arm above his head.

Once he felt well enough to resume working, Uncle Lim went back to ad-hoc stints as an assistant for various hawker stalls – the most recent gig was at Super Mummy at Chinatown Complex, selling carrot cake.

Thanks to his hard work, Uncle Lim managed to fully repay his debt a few years ago. “Everything I earned went into paying the loan shark. It was difficult, but I’m glad it’s over now.”

Out of the four items sold at his stall, the jovial hawker considers carrot cake to be his specialty. “My shifu is the owner of Lagoon Famous Carrot Cake at East Coast Lagoon Food Village. I started working for him back in 2000,” he says with a proud beam. “It was very busy and a lot of celebrities frequented the stall, like Xiang Yun and Quan Yi Feng.”

In his younger days, Uncle Lim was an auto repair mechanic who was arrested for selling illegal car parts and let off with a fine. Vowing to turn over a new leaf, he turned to Mr Ang, owner of Lagoon Famous Carrot Cake – who he knew from growing up in the same Hougang kampong – for help.

“He taught me everything I know. Even the other dishes like fried Hokkien mee – I learned from my shifu. I had to leave his stall because I couldn’t handle the long hours anymore, but we still keep in touch,” shares Uncle Lim.

Even though he is running the stall on his own, Uncle Lim insists on frying each order one plate at a time. During our visit, we observed the hardworking hawker shuffling between taking orders, prepping ingredients and cooking. “This way, I can control the quality of every dish. It’s also the way my shifu taught me to cook.”

His conscientiousness comes at a cost – Uncle Lim frequently places his left hand on his back to ease his body aches while cooking. We asked if he considered focusing on one or two dishes instead to reduce his workload. His reply was quick and determined: “Not many people come to this kopitiam. By offering more options, I hope to attract more customers to my stall.”

About a month ago, Uncle Lim noticed a boom in his business – he’s been making about $200 on good days, like the weekends – ten times more than usual. He attributes it to kind-hearted customers who have been posting about his stall on Facebook. “I don’t know how to use Facebook. I only found out about it when a few of the new customers said they saw my stall from a post written by a customer named Andrew,” he says happily. “Please help me thank them for their support!”

Uncle Lim also marvels at the power of social media. “I think Andrew wrote about my fried oyster, so now many people are ordering it instead of carrot cake, which used to be more popular. I’m happy that they are enjoying my food.”

No wonder this is the new darling among netizens – Uncle Lim fries his egg and starch mixture over high heat, skilfully flipping it to ensure an even, golden-brown coating and of course, that scintillating kiss of wok hei.

The orh luak here is the drier version, with addictively crispy omelette edges interspersed with gummy, starchy bits. The medium-sized oysters (we counted 5 pieces on our plate) are plump, rich and creamy – we were pretty surprised to find out Uncle Lim uses frozen molluscs from China to create this dish – and pair well with the tangy chilli dip. Delish.

Roughly chopped radish cake is fried with a generous amount of egg and garlic, and finished with a sprinkling of cai poh (preserved radish). It’s been a while since we’ve tried the version from Lagoon Famous Carrot Cake, but Uncle Lim’s rendition appears to be similar – with a golden crust, neatly cut into large pieces.

The omelette mixture sits in the sizzling wok for long enough to develop a satisfying crispy surface, beautifully juxtaposed with the softness of the radish cake. Salty tinges of cai poh and sambal chilli help to make up for the slight blandness of the steamed kway, which skimps on the amount of grated radish – a common problem with most commercially-sourced carrot cake these days. Pleasant, but we prefer the oyster omelette.

If you like your fried Hokkien mee to be a bit dry, Uncle Lim’s version is sure to hit the spot. He takes the time to fry the yellow noodles and thin bee hoon until they develop an almost crispy char before deglazing with a homemade stock (made from prawns, pork bones, octopus and dried flounder) – a painstaking step that is often skipped by many hawkers.

The lack of gravy and sliced sotong does not affect the flavours of his Hokkien mee at all – the briny aroma of the stock imbues the noodles with a rich sweetness, mingling well with the sizzled scent of a hot wok and the sambal chilli that’s heavy on hae bee hiam and not too spicy.

Curiously, the wok hei does not feature as prominently here, compared to the fried Hokkien noodle. Still, we enjoyed the sweet, caramelised flavour of the dark sauce, which adds depth to the other ingredients like Chinese sausage, sliced fish cake, bean sprouts and cockles (which could be plumper, in our opinion). Overall, a solid plate of old-school char kway teow that’s not too greasy.

Generous portions of no-frills hawker staples at reasonable prices. We’re especially blown away by the yummy fried oyster and Hokkien noodles. Be patient when waiting for your food as Uncle Lim is a one-man-show – it'll be worth it after you take your first bite. We truly hope the humble hawker receives enough support to survive in this quiet kopitiam.

Po Si Tan Eating House, 194 Kim Keat Ave, S310194. Open 8am to 2pm on Mon, Wed & Fri; 8am to 8pm on Tues, Thu, Sat & Sun.

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Photos: Alvin Teo