The 69-year-old hawker behind popular stall You Zha Kueh opens shop only thrice weekly, but he tells 8days.sg he’s exhausted and wants to retire: “People think I only work three days a week, but I spend my off days preparing for the next business day.”
At a time when many of us have not even gone to bed, hawker Lee Teck Lee is up getting ready for his day.
The sprightly 69-year-old rises at 1am so he can be at his popular you tiao stall, simply named You Zha Kueh, at Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre by 2am to prepare dough fritters. He has been making traditional Chinese fried snacks such as you tiao, ‘butterfly’ bun and hum chim peng (Chinese ‘doughnut’) from scratch by hand at his stall for 42 years. His wife joins him later at around 2.30am to prepare fillings for fritters.
While they used to open shop at midnight daily, they now run their stall from 4.30am to around 11.30am on just three days: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
“No choice. I’m getting on in years and my body aches if I work too long hours,” Lee told 8days.sg.
“Two years ago, I underwent surgery on my small intestines ’cos I overexerted myself while working. It may not look like much, but I exert a lot of strength when kneading and pulling dough.”
HE’S A SELF-TAUGHT YOU TIAO SPECIALIST
Prior to opening You Zha Kueh, Lee worked as a cement truck driver. He wanted to start an F&B business as “there is daily cash flow” and chose to sell you tiao because he enjoys the deep-fried snack.
He’s a self-taught you tiao maker, having learnt the craft by observing hawkers at work and R&D-ing his own vegetarian recipes. He also went to Taiwan to observe masters there.
“They did not teach me, but I found out their secret just by watching them,” he said with a smile.
USE COCONUT OIL ONLY
According to Lee, the you tiao in Taiwan is lighter and airier, while local ones are denser. To achieve the same airy texture, a combination of flour is used for the dough.
“Most you tiao stalls in Singapore only use one type of flour, but I use three,” he revealed.
The oil also makes a difference. Despite its higher cost, he only uses refined coconut oil as it doesn’t oxidise easily. He also changes it every two hours to ensure his fritters taste fresh.
HIS STALL HAS ONE OF THE LONGEST QUEUES AT THE FOOD CENTRE
This is why his fried snacks are so popular. You Zha Kueh consistently boasts one of the longest queues at the bustling hawker centre and according to Lee, customers start streaming in as soon as he opens shop at 4.30am. Most of his customers are regulars and he gets a mix of elderly and young residents.
When 8days.sg visited the stall at 6am on a weekday, there was already a short line of around five people. It gets longer as time passes and by 11am, all the other varieties of snacks were sold out, leaving only you tiao.
A regular customer told us that the line gets crazier on Saturdays, stretching out of the food centre.
PRICES KEPT LOW TO CATER TO ELDERLY CUSTOMERS
Despite the long queue, it moves very quickly. For maximum efficiency, Lee solely focuses on making pastries, while his wife handles the frying. They have one staff member who attends to customers. All the fried snacks are priced at S$1, while charcoal and pandan-flavoured you tiao are S$1.50.
“We have to work fast if not customers will complain. Also, our snacks are priced at only S$1, we need high volume sales in order to make money,” he explained.
Lee estimates he sells more than 500 you tiao daily, and that’s just the original flavour, excluding charcoal and pandan variants, which are only offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays respectively.
“I want to raise the prices of my fritters to $1.50, but since I can still manage to get by, never mind. You have to consider that this is an elderly neighbourhood and the price increase might be too much for some customers,” he said.
WANTS TO SELL THE BUSINESS AND RETIRE
Despite the popularity of his stall, the gruelling work is taking a toll on uncle Lee and he hopes to retire and pass his business to the next generation. His three daughters, whose ages range from 38 to 44, work corporate jobs and have no interest in taking over.
“If someone is interested in taking over business, I don’t mind selling it. The work is too tiring, and I really don’t want to do it anymore. People think I only work three days a week, but I spend my off days preparing for the next business day,” shared Lee.
As everything is made from scratch, he prepares the fillings for his snacks and dough a day before to give it time to rest overnight.
“I have mentored new hawkers, but they could not take the long working hours. I always tell youngsters if you want to learn this trade, you need to give up your [social life]. If not, you will not be able to learn anything. Just getting the hang of making the dough and you tiao, you will need five years,” he said.
YOU TIAO, S$1
This is possibly the lightest and airiest you tiao we’ve tried. It’s crisp on the outside, pleasantly chewy within and boasts a hint of savouriness. Great when dipped in kopi. As it is not greasy, we didn’t feel jelak (sick of eating a rich-tasting food) after having one too many.
The constant demand for you tiao means you are almost always guaranteed fresh and toasty fritters when you visit the stall. Only available from 6am.
PANDAN YOU TIAO, S$1.50
To attract younger customers, Lee introduced new flavours of you tiao in 2022 and pandan was added to the menu in February this year.
We were relieved it didn’t possess a bright Hulk green shade like pandan cake. Fresh pandan extract is added to the dough to give it its greenish tinge and subtle perfume of pandan. The you tiao is slightly sweet and its texture is just as excellent as the OG one, though we would’ve liked a punchier pandan flavour. Only available on Thursdays.
The charcoal you tiao (S$1.50), which is only sold on Tuesdays, is not bad too. It boasts a nutty flavour thanks to the coating of toasted sesame seeds.
BUTTERFLY FRITTER, S$1
This classic treat checks all the boxes – it has a crispy exterior and a mildly sweet, pillowy interior, covered in a crunchy and fragrant crust of sesame seeds.
HUM CHIM PENG WITH SALTED GREEN BEAN FILLING, S$1
There are four variants of hum chim peng: Plain (seasoned with five-spice powder), red bean, salted green bean and glutinous rice. Our favourite is the one with salted green bean filling, which is soft, fluffy, chewy, and nicely savoury. The filling could’ve been more generous, but we can’t complain at these prices.
GLUTINOUS RICE HUM CHIM PENG, S$1
The stodgy-sounding glutinous rice hum chim peng is surprisingly light. Instead of a filling, a layer of smooth glutinous rice sits atop the fritter. We enjoy the lightly salted glutinous rice, which reminds us of kueh salat. Nice.
PEANUT SESAME BALL, S$1
We regret not getting a few more of these yummy peanut-filled sesame balls before they were sold out at 7am. Freshly fried, the warm mochi-like ball is deliciously chewy and crisp. It is stuffed with finely crushed and chunkier roasted peanuts for a crunchy mouthfeel and mixed with just the right amount of sugar. Also available with sweet lotus paste filling (S$1).
You Zha Kueh is at 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market, #01-43 Blk 216 Bedok North St 1, Singapore 460216. Open Tue, Thur & Sat, 4.30am to 11.30am.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
