Search

Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow: The difference between Teochew and Hainanese Beef Kway Teow

This stall has closed.

Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow turns 100 this year and I was there recently to film for a Channel News Asia episode of Truly Asia. I met with the dear uncle who is the grandson of the original founder of Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow and posed him a question that has been bugging me for a while. “How come Beef Kway Teow is called Beef Kway Teow when most of the time it is eaten with Chor Bee Hoon?” Well, it was another moment of revelation for me to realize that the original Teochew Style Beef Kway Teow was indeed a bowl of Kway Teow in a beef broth. Actually it is very much like the Vietnamese Pho. This was how Teochew Beef Kway Teow has been served all along until the uncle took over the stall in the 70s. By that time, the Hainanese version had become very popular, so lots of people were asking him for the dry version with the thick gravy and coarse Bee Hoon. So that was when he came up with the dry version. So, if the original Teochew Beef Kway Teow what you are after, you should order the Beef Kway Teow soup instead of the dry version with Chor Bee Hoon. And don’t ask for cincalok (fermented shrimp) in your chilli because the Teochews prefer to use grated blue ginger instead. If you want to eat chilli with cincalok, then you should really visit a Hainanese Beef Kway Teow stall like Hai Nan Xin Zhou Beef Noodles in Toa Payoh Lor 7. Notice that it is not even called Beef Kway Teow? Conclusion So, when you eat beef kway teow, what do you usually order? Dry or soup? Are you a Teochew Beef Kway Teow person or a Hainanese Beef Noodle person?

Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow
Address

22 China St, #01-01 Far East Square
Singapore
View Map

Opening hours:

Related Posts

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Don’t Miss A Post

iEat Telegram follow us

Knowledge Resource

Classic Recipes
Learn to make classic Singaporean dishes and desserts such as Pandan Chiffon Cake, Kueh Salat, Chendol, Char Siew, Sio Bak and many others!
Prawn Files
Learn about all the prawns in our local wet market!
Sushi Files
Resource about all the sushi fish! Otoro, Chutoro, Akami, Aji, Shirodane……..
Local Fish Files
Resource on local fish found in our wet markets