History

History of Hock Lian Huat Ngoh Hiong Cracker (Wu Xiang Xia Bing)

In 1928, Mr Tan Gim Teh (pet name “Gim”) left China for Singapore to pursue his Nanyang dream. He brought along his traditional recipe -Ngoh Hiong, which he first learnt from ZhangZhou (a state in Hokkien province) and later furthered his “chef skill” in Xia Meng(also a state in Hokkien province).

In Singapore, Mr Tan started off as a mobile hawker (the traditional satay man stall, with a wooden pole over the shoulder and stalls at both ends of pole), patrolling the streets of Singapore selling just 3 items, namely Ngoh Hiong , Sausage (also known as Guang Chang) and Pork Liver Roll (Zu Gang) together with sweet potato soup as desert. It was than a popular snack item found alongside the Chinese Wayang(Da Xi) performances.

Not long after, hawkers started approaching Mr Tan for supply. Since than, he switched to become a manufacturer supplying the products to hawkers. The shop was than known as “Chen Jin Ji” (or Tan Kim Kee in Hokkien), situated at Ophir Road, which used to be rows of pre-war shop houses.

In 1964, his youngest son, Tan Ah Lay (pet name Fatty Lay) took over the business with his wife Lee Sai Yong then who were just married. They both been through thick and thin as Tan Ah Lay concentrated on product and Lee Sai Yong assumed the important role of management. They further developed the range of products by incorporating more fried items and fish based products. Among all, the fried cracker (of which he learnt from a teochew master) has proven to be so successful that a typical Ngoh Hiang stall could not be found without it (hence the reference of “Wu Xiang Xia Pin”stall rather than just “Wu Xiang” stall). Since then, Ah Lay renamed the shop after his 3 sons “Hock Lian Huat”.

Hock Lian Huat is currently managed by the 2nd son and is supplying to more than 100 hawker stalls at coffee shops, hawker centers, foodcourt with a total range of 33 products.

Today, Hock Lian Huat is the oldest running pioneer and leading manufacturer/supplier of Ngoh Hiang in Singapore.

Ingredients of Ngoh Hiong (5 spice):

Star Anise, Cinnamon, Cloves, Szechuan Peppercorns, Fennel Seeds.