Hawker food brunch: Food blogger brings Wolfgang Puck and team around Hong Lim Food Centre

If you're strapped for time but want to savour Singapore's hawker delights, you can take a cue from food blogger Veronica Phua.

She brought celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck and his son, Byron Puck, to Hong Lim Food Centre for a local brunch before the duo had to fly back to America in the evening.

It's believed that Wolfgang was in town for the Singapore Grand Prix and the launch of a new menu at his Michelin-starred restaurant, Cut by Wolfgang Puck.

Veronica documented their culinary journey through Hong Lim Food Centre in an Instagram post, guiding the world-renowned chef and his team through the bustling hawker centre. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by A PASSIONATE FOODIE (@veronicaphua)

Since time was of the essence, she suggested Hong Lim Food Centre as it's centrally located with quite a handful of stalls open in the morning.

Their foodie journey started with a stroll around the food centre as they engaged with the hawkers and got a behind-the-scenes peek at how they prepare their signature local dishes.

In particular, Wolfgang was fascinated by the meticulous preparation of the curry puff dough at the Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff stall.

He even took out his mobile phone to capture the cooking process of curry chicken noodles at the popular Ah Heng Curry Chicken Noodles and the sizzling char kway teow from renowned Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee.

Beyond the aforementioned dishes, their tables were stacked with bowls of laksa, bak chor mee (both dry and soup versions), dumpling soup, and ngoh hiang (prawn and pork roll).

They also tried three plates of char kway teow, each with varying levels of spiciness: non-spicy, mildly spicy, and one with heaps of chilli.

Surprisingly enough, the spiciest version won the hearts (and stomachs) of everyone at the table. Wolfgang and his son even took things up a notch by adding freshly-cut chilli padi to it.

After the feast, they headed to the ground level of the hawker centre for a quintessential Singaporean experience: kopi and kaya toast.

The culinary expedition came to an end with a final stop at a fresh fruit stall located across the hawker centre.

Given that it was Byron's inaugural visit to Singapore, he was treated to his first taste of the iconic "King of Fruits" - the notorious durian.

For the full experience, he ate the pungent fruit by the roadside while doing the Asian squat. Surprisingly enough, he liked the Mao Shan Wang durian and even mentioned that "it did not taste like how it smelled".

He also enjoyed the in season mangosteens, as he alternated between bites of the "King" and "Queen" of fruits.

Wolfgang's visit to Chinatown Complex Hawker Centre

This is not the first time Wolfgang had a taste of Singaporean hawker food.

Last October, he also visited Chinatown Complex Hawker Centre with Veronica.

Apart from trying local gems like claypot turtle soup, satay, chicken curry, and nasi padang dishes, he even tried his hands at making fresh yong tau foo and frying up carrot cake.

ALSO READ: This hawker stall has MasterChef star Marion Grasby queueing up for a bowl of lor mee

venkat.gunasellan@asiaone.com

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