Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken: 70-year-old ex-hotel chef whips up HK-style soy sauce chicken in Bukit Merah
Hidden in the quiet estate of Bukit Merah is Alexandra Village Food Centre. Though this hawker centre isn’t the most accessible (you’ll need to take a bus from Redhill or Commonwealth), you’ll still find long queues at various stalls, one of which is Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken.
This legendary hawker stall, which is listed in the Michelin Bib Gourmand, is run by Mr Fung Shu Sun and his wife.
Mr Fung, who’s better known as 油鸡佬 (aka “The Soy Sauce Chicken Man”) by his loyal customers, used to be a chef in Raffles Hotel specialising in roasted meat.
After the hotel underwent a rebranding in 2003 after SARS, Mr Fung was asked to change his speciality to Western cuisine. That’s when Mr Fung chose to quit, and he came out to be a hawker in his own right.
After dabbling in several types of roasted meat, such as roasted duck, roasted suckling pig, and char siew, Mr Fung eventually settled on 3 dishes when opening Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken: soya sauce chicken, wantons and dumplings, and noodles.
You know it’s going to be a good meal when you find out that Mr Fung’s soy sauce chicken recipe came directly from Hong Kong, and that he had learnt it when he was merely 12 years old!
What I tried at Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken
I ordered Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken’s titular Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle (S$5.50), and asked for the Dry version.
For its S$5.50 price tag, I was instantly impressed by how generous Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken was with the chicken pieces.
Easily taking up half my plate, these were 6 to 7 chunky pieces of soy sauce-marinated chicken that came with glistening pieces of fatty skin. Super worth the price!
The soy sauce chicken was easily the hero of this entire dish.
Each piece of chicken was marinated in savoury soy sauce, such that every single satisfying bite resulted in a burst of yummy juices. These are thick wedges of yummy chicken meat with a gelatinous, melt-in-your-mouth layer of fatty skin, making everything simply delightful.
I loved how I was given a variety of chicken parts— some were from the breast while others were from the thigh— so I had a good balance of texture from the chicken meat too.
Though the noodles looked a tad dry to begin with, a good toss solved that issue.
The one thing I really loved about Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken’s noodles was its texture. While the noodles were much thinner than your regular wanton mee, Mr Fung managed to cook it perfectly, as it had a bouncy suppleness to it while still having sufficient bite.
There was a strong alkaline-like taste which I didn’t completely fancy. Despite the noodles soaking up most of the soy sauce gravy, it was still quite light in flavour, and made me wish that I had been given more sauce.
Don’t underestimate the small dollop of chilli that’s served on the side. Smoky, rich and spicy, this gave the entire dish a well-needed punch of strong flavour and woke my taste buds up instantly. It was addictive and spicy, and I ended up mixing the chilli directly into the noodles.
What I enjoyed about Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken’s Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle (Dry) was that every component on the plate served its own purpose.
The chicken was the star of the show, with its tender meat, fatty skin and salty marinade, while the noodles were slippery and provided a nice bite. Meanwhile, the chilli provided that smoky heat, while the nondescript pieces of choy sum added colour and crunch.
I also decided to try Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken’s Shrimp Dumpling Soup (S$5.50), and was shocked to see that I had been given 6 large dumplings that were the size of my spoon!
Each dumpling was filled with a generous amount of minced meat, shrimp, strips of black fungus and crunchy water chestnut, making it immensely delicious.
These were probably the most substantial dumplings I’ve ever had in my life!
Meanwhile, the soup was savoury yet light. I could taste a distinct saltiness from ikan bilis and yellow beans, and I thoroughly appreciated how Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken managed to make this soup flavourful without being overly salty.
Final thoughts
This was definitely worth the trip to Bukit Merah. While I didn’t particularly enjoy the strong alkaline taste from the thin slippery noodles, I absolutely loved the juicy, thick pieces of soya sauce chicken. And considering this was the highlight of my entire meal, I was glad to have been given such generous portions, especially considering its S$5.50 price tag.
It’s sad to hear that Xiang Jiang Soya Sauce Chicken has no successor. Mr Fung’s son doesn’t want to take over the stall, and both Mr Fung and his wife are already old. Mr Fung told our video team that if either one of them were unable to continue working, they’d probably retire.
If you haven’t had a chance to taste Mr Fung’s yummy soy sauce chicken, it’s best to do so before the stall closes for good.
Expected damage: S$4.50 – S$9 per pax
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