PUBLISHED ONJuly 15, 2025 5:35 AMBYYeo Shu HuiAs a child, veteran local actor Li Nanxing was woken up in the morning not by his alarm clock but the grinding sounds of mortar and pestle.
"That was my alarm clock. When I heard it, I knew that my mum was cooking something and was pounding chili, and it would be time for me to get up and help her," the 60-year-old recounted to AsiaOne yesterday (July 14) at the eatery Nan Yang Dao in Jurong Point.
He also recounted that every time he helped pound chili, the task would definitely last a few hours.
These nostalgic memories motivated Nanxing, affectionately called Ah Ge (big brother), to venture into selling dried scallop hae bee hiam — a familiar flavour in his childhood — since 2019.
"It's my grandma and mum's recipe. We are Peranakan and would have this chili paste every meal," he shared.
In celebration of the official opening of Nan Yang Dao in Jurong Point and Jem on July 25, Nanxing and the eatery collaborated on two dishes — Hae Bee Hiam XO Penang Char Kway Teow with Double Egg ($12.80) and Ah Ge Fried Bee Hoon with Tiger Prawns ($12.80) — both with the chili paste as a key ingredient.
The two dishes will be served exclusively at the two outlets, while stocks last.
Nanxing shared that he loves eating bee hoon and kway teow and would frequently have it for breakfast.
About the two collaborative dishes, he said: "The hae bee hiam can enhance the flavours and texture of the dishes and most importantly, at Nan Yang Dao, you will be able to taste the wok hei [in the dishes] and their head chef is skillful in controlling the heat which gives the stir-fried dishes a good flavour... the traditional taste."
He also hopes that those who have eaten the two dishes will think about coming back for more and even introducing them to their friends.
"Customers are like this, there are a lot of good food everywhere and once they have eaten something good, they would share it with their friends. For me, I really like dishes with a traditional taste, like mum's home-cooked food. Once I have eaten something like that, I would want to share it with somebody and introduce them to it," Nanxing said.
AsiaOne was at the food tasting session yesterday, where we tried a variety of dishes, including Ah Ge's collaborations. The fried bee hoon and char kway teow — with just the right amount of wok hei — had a generous amount of ingredients including fish cake, eggs, vegetables and Chinese sausage, and tasted well with Nanxing's dried scallop hae bee hiam paste.
Nanxing also specially went into the kitchen and collaborated with the chef to fry a plate of char kway teow.
Nanxing, who debuted in local showbiz in 1986, will be celebrating his four decades in showbiz soon. He is currently filming Mediacorp's first dystopian-thriller series The Leftovers.
When asked to reflect on his years in the entertainment scene, he told us: "I'm very happy that I was able to do this for 40 years. To many actors, 40 years is neither a long nor short time. In Western countries, there could be actors who only understood what acting is after 40 years. There are also actors who acted for 60, 80 years and even continue when they are over 100 years old.
"As an actor who is able to continue acting after 40 years, I have learned in many aspects, such as conducting myself and dealing with people, and I grew up on this stage."
To celebrate the occasion with his supporters, he will be meeting them in Shanghai on Nov 29, as part of SA Tours' eight-day Jiangnan Gourmet Autumn Tour, which will be led by actress-host Vivian Lai.
Nanxing also told us that he has arranged for a series of activities with them, including cruising along Huangpu River to enjoy the night view together, cooking dishes using his dried scallop hae bee hiam paste and bak kut teh spices, and will be bringing artistes from his management company LNX Global to perform for them.
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