A Singapore street food hawker made a noodle bowl so good, it got a Michelin star
In Singapore, you can now get a Michelin-star meal for just two dollars.
When the prestigious French company unveiled its first-ever Singapore Michelin Guide last month, two of its stars went to street food vendors — known locally as 'hawkers.'
It's the first time a street food stall has ever received a Michelin star, long considered the 'holy grail' of restaurant awards.
The stars aren't easy to come by. To date, no Canadian restaurant has ever received one.
People are now lining up for hours to get a taste of the food at the Michelin-approved food stalls. But they shouldn't expect table service or serviettes, let alone a wine list.
Suddenly, you can buy one-Michelin-star food for under 2 bucks. I mean, that's huge.- Leslie Tay, Singapore food blogger
Not your typical fine dining
It's a radical departure from the typical fine-dining experience long associated with the Michelin brand. But Singapore food blogger Leslie Tay is thrilled to see hawker stalls honoured in the Michelin guide.
"We've always assumed that Michelin star food [has] got to be in the posh restaurants, it's got to cost a lot of money. And suddenly, you can buy one-Michelin-star food for under 2 bucks. I mean, that's huge. It's huge."
Tay has been covering the country's thriving street food scene for years as the author of the popular food blog "iEat, iShoot, iPost."
And he says it's about time hawkers got the accolades they deserve.
"These street food hawkers are very much part of our Singaporean culture. It's stuff that we eat every day. And so it's a way for us to suddenly burst onto the world scene. And everybody's asking us, 'What is this?'"
"We've got a lot of good food and a lot of good hawkers, and I think the Michelin inspectors have a lot to do for next year's edition if they want to discover them all."
A Michelin-star meal
The two hawker stalls that earned stars in this year's guide were Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle and the well-known Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, which earned its star with a menu of minced-meat and noodles.
Tay had covered both restaurants while working on his own guide to Singaporean hawker cuisine.
They might have heard of a Michelin star, but they never in their wildest dreams ever [thought] they would win one.- Leslie Tay, Singapore food blogger
"I wasn't very surprised with Hill Street [getting a star], because they're one of the very famous — what we call legends in the hawker scene," he says.
"If we talk about pork noodles, there are several hundred stalls in Singapore - at least, if not thousands. And they are probably number one or number two in most peoples' books."
The other stall, however, is a different story.
"This Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken was a surprise, because [it] isn't considered a classic Singapore dish," he explains.
Neither hawker stall's chef speaks English, and they have likely never set foot in a traditional French restaurant, according to Tay.
"They might have heard of a Michelin star, but they never in their wildest dreams ever [thought] they would win one," he says.
But now that they've got their stars, the hawker chefs certainly understand the gravity of their accomplishment.
"Looking at the three-hour queue that's now outside the Hong Kong chicken [stall], I would say so, yes," says Tay.