For many Singaporeans, char kway teow is their ultimate comfort food — if not for those pesky beansprouts it often comes with.
So despised is the vegetable that some would go to great lengths to pick them out one by one from their food.
Would you be willing to pay S$0.50 more, though, for the hawker to cook a plate of char kway teow without beansprouts just for you? A stall in Bukit Panjang is levying just such a charge.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The owner has said the extra charge is because this takes more time and effort.
The stall in question is located in Fajar Shopping Centre, reported Shin Min Daily News.
Source: Google Maps
According to Foodies, it’s a stall named 吴记四炒 (Wu Ji Si Chao) selling fried dishes like char kway teow, fried Hokkien prawn noodles and fried carrot cake inside the Wu Fu kopitiam.
Source: Google Maps
The stall displays a sign detailing extra charges for various requests. They will charge from S$0.50 to S$2 for adding ingredients like seafood, egg or beansprouts.
More interestingly, they will also charge S$0.50 if a customer wants fewer ingredients, e.g. no beansprouts, just kway teow or just noodles.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The stall owner, a 50-year-old named only as Ms Wu (transliterated from Mandarin), confirmed the charges to Shin Min.
She said they put up the sign when they opened about two months ago, but added that they charge the extra S$0.50 not to earn more money.
Rather, it’s to make their lives easier as fried kway teow or fried noodles are usually served with beansprouts, she explained.
They can fry about four or five portions in one wok, and they have three woks in the stall.
Photo for illustration purposes only. Source: Eatbook
Thus, if a customer makes a special request like no beansprouts, they would have to fry a fresh batch just for him.
This takes up more time and energy, she maintained.
Ms Wu said she’s been frying for 20 years and encountered a customer who made unusual requests at her previous stall.
That person wanted three packets of char kway teow, but one with just kway teow only, another with noodles only and the third with bee hoon only.
Because of that order, they had to fire up the wok three times.
If this happens during peak mealtime hours, other customers would also have to wait longer.
Ms Wu indicated that most diners were understanding after she explained things to them, saying,
Some customers… don’t want to pay extra, so they pick out the beansprouts themselves. But some customers don’t mind paying more for char kway teow without beansprouts.
There are also some who decide not to patronise their stall as they can’t accept the extra charge, and she respects their decisions.
Photo for illustration purposes only. Source: Eatbook
Most diners Shin Min spoke to also seemed not to mind.
A 32-year-old clerk said that although she doesn’t eat beansprouts, she wouldn’t pay S$0.50 just for char kway teow without it.
She would rather pick out the beansprouts herself, she added.
A 70-year-old retiree named only as Mr Zhang (transliterated from Mandarin) said the extra charge is stated clearly on the sign.
Customers who don’t accept the extra charge can choose not to eat from the stall, he pointed out.
Also read: VivoCity Kopitiam Stall Charges S$0.50 To Add Milk In Fish Soup, Says Costs Have Increased
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and Google Maps.
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