Generous Thai Hawker Has Free-Of-Charge Veggie Station At Chicken Noodle Soup Stall
While many Thai dishes can be found in Singapore, Thai chicken noodle soup - featuring dark, herbal chicken-based broth and a braised chook leg - is a rare find. In fact, prior to this, we only knew of one place selling it: casual Thai eatery HuaiKhwang Chicken Broth Noodle at Sim Lim Square. They claim to be the first in town to offer it. Recently, however, 8days.sg stumbled upon PhrikThai KuaiTiaoKai, a new hawker stall at Chinatown Complex that specialises in this uncommon dish too. It’s cheaper ($5 vs $7.50) than the one at HuaiKhwang, since it’s served in a hawker centre.
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The stall opened on 4 January 2024, and is owned by Kornkanya Yuenyong (she goes by Bovy), 40, who hails from Bangkok. The Singaporean PR relocated here nine years ago to marry her local husband, whose job requires him to shuttle to and fro Singapore and Thailand. Prior to opening PhrikThai, Bovy worked as a manager at the SG outpost of Thai chicken rice joint Go Ang Chicken Rice, before quitting to pursue her long-time dream of becoming a business owner.
Bovy tells 8days.sg that Thai chicken noodle soup is her “favourite dish” and she “couldn’t find one in Singapore that tastes like how it does in Thailand” (often found in night markets), hence her decision to sell it. She says she has not heard of HuaiKhwang.
Bovy’s self-taught recipe is made with a chicken stock base, and features ingredients like “dark soy sauce, herbs, Chinese five-spice powder and Phrik Thai (white pepper)”.
Free-of-charge veggie and condiment station
Interestingly, Bovy’s stall has a free-flow help-yourself veggie and condiment station with sliced raw bitter gourd, raw bean sprouts, fresh coriander, chilli powder, chilli oil, chilli vinegar and sugar — all offered free of charge.
While raw bitter gourd as a noodle topping is rare in Singapore, Bovy says it’s meant to be added to the soup to ‘cook’ it a little.
She set up the neat counter in front of her stall because she “doesn’t want to put toppings on the noodles, as some people might like it while others might not, so they may go to waste”. So she prefers diners to help themselves to their preferred veg.
Hasn’t encountered greedy customers so far
Bovy says providing these veggies are “not expensive”, and she doesn’t plan to charge for them even in future. However, she does have limited stock available daily. “I’ll top up the containers until my stock in the stall finishes”, she says, explaining that once she has run out of stock for the day, she’ll only replenish the condiments the next day.
So far, the generous hawker says she hasn’t encountered any greedy customers. “Actually, all my customers are very nice, and when they take [the toppings], they can finish [what they take]”, she says. She jovially adds: “If they want to take more it’s fine, because to enjoy my noodles, you should add some veggies to make it nicer”.
Most of her patrons are Thai, and she explains that “there are also Singaporean customers, but not many, because they don’t know about Thai chicken noodle soup”.
The menu
PhrikThai’s mains include the Signature Noodles ($5 with braised chicken drumstick or $6.90 with additional chicken feet), Chicken Soup with Mixed Noodles ($12), Spicy Soup ($8) and Braised Chicken Rice ($6.90). For the noodles, customers can opt between rice vermicelli, thin noodles, egg noodles or instant noodles. Bovy also sells sides like Fried Chicken Sausage ($4.50), Chicken Wings ($5) and Fried Chicken Skin ($4.50).
8days.sg’s intern visited the stall and sampled the $5 Signature Noodles with a chicken drumstick and a side of Fried Chicken Sausage. He found the braised chook tender with fall-off-the-bone meat, while the broth was clean-tasting, bookended with a distinctive herbal taste. It also comes with a few slices of soft and juicy radish. Overall a solid bowl of noodles.
Meanwhile, the flavourful Fried Chicken Sausage had a spongy fish cake-like texture, and a strong peppery hit that was quite overwhelming. Still, our intern found it quite an appetising side dish.
PhrikThai KuaiTiaoKai is at #02-150 Chinatown Complex, 335 Smith St, S050335. Open Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm. Closed on Sun.
Photos: Dominic Toh
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