Retrenched General Manager Sells Comforting Halal Prawn Mee & Sambal Stingray At Hawker Stall

After he was retrenched as a general manager from a famous local dim sum chain (he told us the brand off the record) in 2020, Nick Cheng struggled to find a similar job in the industry. “I had referrals from close friends and went for two to three rounds of interviews [for multiple job openings], but I was not hired. That’s when I thought of being resilient and becoming a hawker myself,” says the 40-year-old.

Last year, Nick enrolled in the National Environment Agency’s Hawkers’ Development Programme. “I approached Asri from Deanna’s Kitchen to be my mentor as he’s reputable in the halal prawn noodle scene. He agreed to take me in [as part of the programme’s apprenticeship] and I trained at his Toa Payoh outlet for two months.” He opened Yummy Raja at a hawker centre near Sengkang MRT last November. The halal-certified stall sells prawn mee and turmeric rice with various toppings like salted egg chicken and sambal stingray.

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Halal prawn mee cooked by a Chinese hawker

Even though he is not a Muslim, Nick says he chose to sell halal prawn mee so “more people can enjoy the dish”. Despite the success of his mentor’s business – Deanna’s Kitchen currently has three outlets serving halal prawn noodles – the hawker is reticent when speaking about his apprenticeship. “I make it clear that our stalls are not affiliated, we try not to associate [with Deanna’s Kitchen] too much as after all I only had two months of training there. Asri has been very kind to let me share about my experience at his stall.”

The earnest hawker cooks everything on the eight-item menu, while a friendly Muslim stall assistant takes orders from customers. “The physical demands of having to cook everything by myself has been challenging. Even though I’m familiar with F&B, I’ve never had to spend so much time in the kitchen. But I’m getting used to it.”

As a Chinese hawker helming a halal stall, Nick has attracted the curiosity of some Muslim customers. “It’s a good conversation starter as they will come over to see what I’m cooking.” He adds that none have expressed concern that a non-Muslim is preparing their food. “They’re reassured once they see our halal certification.”

Unique twist to the soup

Nick’s soup recipe is largely the same as what he picked up from Deanna’s Kitchen. He uses chicken bones to substitute the traditional pork bones for the halal prawn mee soup. Heaps of sauteed prawn heads, shells, anchovies and dried shrimps are also added to the concoction for a umami boost.

He adds a unique ingredient – stingray bones – to the soup before letting it simmer for at least four hours. “We sell sambal stingray with turmeric rice, so I thought of adding the unused stingray bones into the soup too.”

All sauces made from scratch

There are six turmeric rice sets on the menu, featuring house-made sauces like sambal, salted egg and garlic creme.

“A good friend of mine owns a barbecue seafood stall at Lau Pa Sat and he shared his recipe for sambal sauce [used for the sambal stingray set] and other barbecue pastes with me. He was also kind and generous enough to share important tips on how to cook barbecue seafood dishes,” he shares. “It is time-consuming to prepare all the sauces from scratch, but the flavours are worth it.”

Dedicated to hawker career despite corporate background

Despite a high-flying resume in the F&B industry – besides being general manager at a local dim sum chain, he used to also be a GM of the Select Group, which operates various concepts such as Peach Garden and Texas Chicken – Nick has fully embraced his new role as a hawker despite making less than half of his previous salary.

“Being a hawker is satisfying. Although the income is much less compared to what I was receiving, my customers here have been very kind and supportive. The other stall operators and management [of Kopitiam Square] are very friendly and accommodating as well. I feel a very strong sense of kampong spirit here, it's something that is hard to come by.”

His industry experience has come in handy too. “Things like sourcing for ingredients, finding halal suppliers and managing the business side of the stall are easier for me.” For now, Nick is focused on running the stall well as “proof of concept” before considering expansion. He sells about 100 bowls of prawn mee and 80 sets of turmeric rice daily. The stall also had a boost in business after being featured in a halal food blog last month.

Prawn Noodle, $5 (8 DAYS Pick!)

If you prefer your prawn noodle soup to be seriously thick and gao, then this isn’t the dish for you. While it doesn’t have the deeper mouthfeel and richer flavour of pork-based hae mee soup, what we like about Nick’s version is its clean, briny notes achieved from an ample use of sauteed prawn heads and shells (we did not pick up on any distinct flavour from the stingray bones).

Not too salty or overwhelming, it’s easy to finish this comforting soup paired with a chewy mix of yellow mee and thin bee hoon, three medium prawns, crunchy kangkong, sliced fish cake and fragrant fried shallot.

Prawn Noodle with Clam, $7

For an additional $2, you get an “upgraded” bowl with a handful of sweet, juicy clams and a slightly larger portion of noodles. We think the generous ingredients are worth the top-up if you like shellfish.

Sambal Stingray with Turmeric Rice, $8.90 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Not to be confused with similarly yellow-hued biryani or butter rice, Nick’s turmeric rice is made using Thai jasmine rice scented with turmeric, onion, garlic and “other spices” – a result of the hawker’s desire to create “a flavourful rice dish that isn’t too unhealthy”.

Though robustly flavoured, the fluffy grains are not heavy at all, and its gentle aroma is the perfect sidekick to the heady, hae-bee-spiked sambal. The stingray is perfectly cooked – moist and tender, the flesh flakes easily under our fork.

Salted Egg Chicken with Turmeric Rice, $6.50

We enjoyed the natural flavour of the fresh salted duck egg used in the sticky sauce, which leans more sweet than savoury. The chicken chunks get a quick refry for extra crispiness, and tangy coleslaw rounds off the satisfying combo.

Cereal Prawn with Turmeric Rice, $7.90

A healthier spin on cereal prawn – we appreciate that the crumbs here are not as greasy as zi char versions, but found the flavours a little too restrained (we prefer our cereal prawns to be punchier and more savoury). A pity, as the prawn and cereal bits added a lovely crunch to the pillowy rice.

Bottom line

A comforting, clean-tasting prawn mee soup that will appeal to those who prefer a lighter but pleasantly briny broth. The turmeric rice sets are pretty yummy too – we recommend the stingray option thanks to its flavourful hae bee-heavy sambal and well-cooked fish.

The details

Yummy Raja is at stall 56, Kopitiam Square, 10 Sengkang Square, S544829. Opens daily 8am-9pm. Facebook. Instagram.

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Photos: Kelvin Chia