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Old Chong Pang 老忠邦五香虾饼: 42-year-old prawn fritters stall uses grandpa's recipe with homemade liver rolls
As a food reviewer, when you come across something that resonates with your taste buds, it leaves a lasting impression and remains etched in your memory. Old Chong Pang 老忠邦五香虾饼 was one such encounter — a stall I stumbled upon by chance while working on my Chong Pang Market & Food Centre guide.
With the impeccable quality of its wu xiang xia bing, I found myself thinking about it constantly over the past 3 weeks. Alas, I journeyed back to Yishun to give the stall a well-deserved solo feature. Let's hope the quality remains consistent, though.
The signboard may have the words 'Established since 1986', but the business actually has an even longer history, running for over 42 years!
Owner, 40-year-old Zee took over the business from his dad who operated it at the now-defunct Old Chong Pang Market that got demolished in the 1980s. The recipes originated from Zee's grandfather.
The stall has a selection of over 16 items, featuring a mix of house-made components and store-bought ingredients. Zee shared that due to rising raw materials cost and labour-intensive processes, they've had to source a few of their offerings from external suppliers.
'We have been making our ingredients by hand all along, but due to the current situation, we have to make adjustments,' he added. Upon ordering, the ingredients are fried on the spot.
I chose a total of 9 ingredients, with 2 plates of bee hoon, which cost me S$21.80. In this day and age, is this considered expensive? Do let me know in the comments.
Let's first talk about an ingredient that not every prawn fritter stall offers — the Liver Roll (S$1.30). The only other time I've ever tried this was at my all-time favourite stall, China Street Fritters. Bold statement coming up: the version here, hands down, beats theirs flat.
The outer layer of the beancurd skin is extremely thin, perfectly fried, and crisp. It encased a flavourful, iron-rich liver filling that isn't dry, and possesses a multi-dimensional taste that's well balanced and tasty.
The Egg Chestnut Pancake (S$1.30) was fried to a rich golden brown. While some may perceive it as hard and dry, it was neither. I slowed my bite with purpose, and was rewarded with a silky-smooth, eggy masterpiece layered with delicate nuances of water chestnut.
The pale-yellow, spherical Prawn Cracker (S$1.70) intrigued the 3 of us. How could something be so crispy yet not oily? Though there wasn't any visible prawn on the cracker, each mouthful delivered a satisfying hit of umami.
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Now, let's talk about the pink Pork Sausage (S$6 for 2 pieces), AKA guan chang, an essential component that gives this dish its identity (in my humble opinion). While I've had better versions elsewhere, we felt this one was still slightly above average and decently tender.
Dunking it into the sour chilli gave it a zesty kick, with a slow-building spice that creeps in shortly after.
I also helped myself to a mysterious pink sauce that has captivated me since childhood. It's actually made from boiling water with pandan leaves, sugar, a touch of pink colouring and thickened with cornstarch (I finally Googled it!). The sauce was faintly sweet, but it wasn't as thick as I'd liked it to be.
The Bean Curd (S$1.20) here is light and fluffy, disintegrating with the slightest pressure from your teeth.
I also took a skewer of Balls (S$2.50) which came in a trio. They were sliced in half, deep-fried, and still managed to taste very good.
The Potato (S$1.30) was, admittedly, a random impulse pick. Typically found in Indian rojak, it felt both interesting and oddly out of place on this plate. That being said, the 'outcast' tasted exactly as it should — comforting and familiar.
The homemade Yam Roll (S$1.30) with slivers of shallots on its surface tasted a tad sweet, which also led us to initially believe that sweet potato was in the mix. Though the taste was alright, I couldn't help but feel that it didn't gel well with the other elements.
The Spring Roll (S$1.30) tasted like any other generic popiah you find at an economic bee hoon stall — nothing to shout about.
The Meatball (S$1.30) was also one of the better choices that I'd selected, with an unctuous meat filling and a crispy outer skin that hit the sweet spot.
The (S$1.20) was just a simple, humble plate of stir-fried rice vermicelli with some beansprouts.
Though the fine strands of bee hoon lacked any smoky wok hei — understandable, since they were pre-cooked and left sitting in a tub — they didn't clump together and still tasted pleasantly decent. The chilli really lifted it, giving it more punch and personality.
Solid wu xiang xia bing stalls in Singapore are few and far between — you could count them on two hands. From my knowledge, there are probably just 2 or 3 other establishments in Singapore that hit the mark.
I'm glad that I now have Old Chong Pang 老忠邦五香虾饼 to add to my recommendation list. If you do patronise, the highlights here are definitely the Liver Roll, Egg Chestnut Pancake, Prawn Cracker and Sotong Balls.
In fact, while I was doing my feature here, 2 or 3 people came up to our table to ask where we got this lovely dish. That says a lot!
Order delivery:
Expected damage: S$7 – S$11 per pax
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