Ah Yu Fried Prawn Noodle: How a life-changing Hokkien mee plate turned Kid Chua into a hawker
- One unexpected bite of Hokkien mee changed everything for Kid Chua.
- Today, at Ah Yu Fried Prawn Noodle in East Coast Lagoon Food Village, he serves a semi-wet Hokkien mee built on deep prawn umami and old-school technique.
- From its gooey noodles to balanced wok hei, each plate reflects a year-long apprenticeship and respect for tradition.
Once in a while, you encounter a dish or drink for the first time and it feels almost life-changing — a complete revelation that makes you fall in love with it.
For me, that moment came as a child in the form of strawberry bubble tea. It was my first sip of something sweet, flavourful and unexpectedly delightful that instantly etched itself into memory. For most people, these experiences become nostalgic flavours you crave and moments you remember fondly.
For Kid Chua, that revelatory moment came when he tried an unassuming plate of Hokkien mee last year. But the moment didn’t stop at just being memory, and became a quest to find the best Hokkien mee in Singapore.
It nudged him — then running a struggling neighbourhood bistro — towards a year-long cooking apprenticeship. He closed his business and learned the dish from scratch under a mentor who was previously his regular customer.
“I was never a fan of Hokkien mee,” he admits. “I never knew the dish could be so tasty until I tasted my mentor’s version. The prawn aroma and umami was so strong!”
Today, the 41-year-old runs Ah Yu Fried Prawn Noodle at East Coast Lagoon Food Village, serving a semi-wet Hokkien mee built on deep prawn umami, careful preparation, and old-school discipline.
From banking to a neighbourhood bistro
Before stepping behind a wok, Kid spent close to a decade in banking. He started his career at OCBC, later working in mortgage sales, but found himself increasingly unfulfilled and realised finance was not his calling.
With no professional F&B background, Kid decided to start his own cafe during the Covid-19 pandemic — the now-defunct Star Brew by Laughing Cafe at Bedok North.
“I thought: ‘Why not just take a leap of faith, pick up the skills along the way and see how it goes?’” he recalls.
Cooking was entirely self-taught. Kid turned to Pinterest and online recipes, experimenting at home before translating them into cafe dishes such as pasta and pizza.
“Initially the food tasted really bad,” he says, bluntly. “My hands were shaking the first time I cooked for a customer. I don’t even know if the dish was edible!”
The cafe began modestly, serving coffee before gradually expanding its menu. As customers lingered, Kid added alcohol, secured a liquor licence, and transformed the cafe into a casual bistro. But success was fleeting and the long nights caught up with him.
“Running a late-night bistro, I would go back at 3 or 4am after drinking with customers,” he recalls. “I got run down and it took a toll on my health and relationships.”
Financial pressures mounted, too. During pandemic restrictions, neighbourhood traffic sustained the business. When travel resumed, customers disappeared.
“At one point customer traffic dropped by 70% and there were days where I had zero sales,” Kid says.
The customer who changed everything
It was during those quiet days that Kid struck up a friendship with a regular customer. That customer (who prefers to remain anonymous) happened to run a Hokkien mee stall nearby.
From time to time, he would bring packets of noodles for Kid to try, especially after tweaking the recipe. Before trying his customer’s noodles, Kid was initially indifferent. Hokkien mee had never been a dish he sought out. But that first taste stopped him short.
“In my opinion, a lot of Hokkien mees out there don’t have a strong prawn taste,” he says. “But you could tell from the first bite that his Hokkien mee has a strong emphasis on the quality of the prawn broth.”
Kid’s customer noticed the cafe’s struggles too, and encouraged Kid to cut his losses. Kid was so enlightened by his Hokkien mee experience that he shut down his bistro, and committed himself fully to learning Hokkien mee from the ground up.
A challenging apprenticeship
Kid began his apprenticeship in January 2024. With no prior hawker experience, the learning curve was steep.
The toughest challenge came before the wok even heated up. “I cut almost all my fingers when chopping ingredients,” Kid says, laughing. “I was never very good at cutting.”
But the real shock came when frying the Hokkien mee. He quickly learned that physical endurance was key.
“When frying the noodles, we have to mix a big portion of the bee hoon and noodles evenly,” he explains. “That part is tough as we use two wok ladles to pull up the heavy noodles.”
During our conversation, Kid directed us to try carrying the noodles in their packaging. Their weight was immediately apparent — a physical reminder of why tossing and mixing Hokkien mee repeatedly requires strength as much as technique.The weight of the noodles, slick with broth and oil, demands constant strength and control.
Alongside technique, food safety was drilled into him during his apprenticeship. At his stall today, supplies are delivered daily and handled carefully to ensure food safety. “My mentor emphasised that cleanliness is important and ingredients must always be fresh,” says Kid.
Preparing the dish
Kid opened Ah Yu Fried Prawn Noodle in October 2025. At his stall, preparation involves hard work too. Pork lard is fried every two days to extract oil. “The pork oil itself is very important in bringing out the taste and flavour of the dish,” Kid explains.
Prawn heads are fried separately before being added to the broth, which is key to releasing their aroma. The broth itself is built from pork bones, prawn heads, sugar, rock sugar, and garlic.
“The portion of each ingredient has to be standardised,” Kid notes. “The broth must taste consistent.”
The prawns are cooked and deshelled separately, then added during cooking. From start to finish, preparation takes about one and a half hours before Kid’s stall is ready for business.
Kid also tells us that his version of Hokkien mee is intentionally semi-wet. After frying the noodles, broth is added carefully to achieve what Kid describes as a “gooey coating over the noodle.”
The texture comes from pork bones and pork skin, which lend body and richness without drowning the dish.
We were excited to try the Hokkien mee, which comes in S$6, S$9 and S$12 portions. Customers may also add prawns or sotong at $2 each.
Our thoughts? Ah Yu’s Hokkien mee stands out for its depth of prawn umami, a flavour that arrives early and lingers. The noodles are evenly coated in a glossy, semi-wet sauce that clings without becoming soupy.
There was a good balance between pork richness, prawn sweetness, and wok hei. Each component is present, yet none overwhelms the others. It’s a bowl that reflects patience rather than shortcuts — built on good cooking technique.
Carrying on a legacy
And how does Kid feel about cooking this traditional dish with little experience?
“Of course stepping into this industry, when I’m relatively new, was scary,” Kid admits. “But with solid training from my apprenticeship, I became more confident and optimistic.”
Encouragingly, support came from the older generation. “Though I’m a younger hawker serving this dish, older customers are willing to try and they express their support,” Kid says.
What matters most is recognition from those who grew up eating Hokkien mee.
“It means a lot to me when older customers tell me my food has a traditional, authentic taste,” Kid says. “They tell me it’s a flavour they’ve been looking for. It’s very fulfilling to carry on the legacy of this dish.”
He believes social media has also renewed interest in hawker culture. “Nowadays you keep seeing posts or articles on the top 10 or top five Hokkien mee stalls in Singapore,” he says. “People are really interested in finding the best of each type of cuisine.”
For Kid, the journey to selling Hokkien mee wasn’t planned. “I didn’t really choose this dish,” he reflects. “It just happened.”
What began as a chance encounter — trying a simple plate of noodles — became a year-long apprenticeship and a hawker stall of his own. Through patience, physical labour, and a willingness to start again from the bottom, he has found himself carrying forward a dish deeply rooted in Singapore’s hawker culture.
For more ideas on what to eat, check out our list of must-eats at East Coast Lagoon Food Village and our favourite Hokkien mees around town!
Tue 3pm - 10pm
Wed 3pm - 10pm
Thu 3pm - 10pm
Fri 3pm - 10pm
Sat 12pm - 10pm
Sun 12pm - 9pm
- Siglap
Rebecca Wong is a experienced freelance writer whose work has been featured in The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia, to name a few. She gravitates towards topics like food, travel and human interest stories, and cannot resist a hearty plate of chicken rice or freshly kneaded pizza.
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