Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle explained

Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle
Head-Chef:Chan Hon Meng
Food-Type:Street food
Street-Address:Block 335 Smith St, #02-126, Chinatown Food Complex, Outram Planning Area
Postcode:050335
Country: Singapore
Coordinates:1.2826°N 103.843°W

Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle is a street food stall in Outram, Singapore. It is owned and run by Chan Hon Meng. In 2016, the stall became one of the first two street food locations in the world to be awarded a star in the Michelin Guide, although it lost its star in 2021. It has since become internationally franchised under the English name Hawker Chan.

Description

Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle is a street food stall, one of over 6,000 such stalls within Singapore. It is owned and run by Chan Hon Meng, and has a signature dish of soy sauce chicken served with rice. On average it sells around 150 lunch chicken dishes each day; as of 2016, these dishes were priced at S$2. It is staffed by Chan and his two assistants. The stall itself is fairly typical for those in Singaporean hawker centres, featuring a neon sign and rows of hanging cooked chickens.[1] Chan later opened a restaurant at 78 Smith Street named Hawker Chan Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle.[2]

Reception

The stall became one of the first two street food stalls in the world to be awarded a Michelin Star, alongside Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, gaining the recognition in the 2016 list for Singapore. This was the first time that Singapore had a Michelin Guide created for it.[3] However, Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle failed to retain its one Michelin star in the 2021 list.[4] The restaurant was later included in the Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Chan hoped that the award would result in more young people entering similar businesses, as he had concerns about stalls being run by elderly chefs with no successors to inherit them.[3] Following the announcement of the Michelin star, the queues at the food stall increased in length and a two-hour wait was not uncommon. Sales also increased, from the previous average of 150 dishes per lunchtime to around 180.[1] Chan said that he would not increase the prices of his dishes, saying "it’s not fair to raise them just because I won an award, in fact, my suppliers have increased prices four times in the last seven years and I’ve not changed my prices at all. I will continue trying to absorb the price increases until I really can’t do it."[5]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Han. Kirsten. Michelin star for Singapore noodle stall where lunch is half the price of a Big Mac. 8 August 2016. The Guardian. 4 August 2016.
  2. Web site: Hawker Chan Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle. guide.michelin.com. Michelin Guide. 23 May 2022.
  3. News: Kim. Soo. Singapore street food stalls get Michelin stars. 8 August 2016. The Daily Telegraph. 25 July 2016.
  4. News: Fine-dining restaurant Zen joins Les Amis, Odette to get 3 Michelin stars in S'pore. The Straits Times. 31 August 2021. Ah Yoke. Wong.
  5. Web site: Tay. Therese. Michelin star a double-edged sword for hawkers. Today. 8 August 2016. 8 August 2016.