Recently, a certain hum chim peng (deep fried dough fritters) stall has caught the attention of netizens in Singapore.
Located at Maxwell Food Centre, what’s unique about this humble fried dough fritter stall is that you get to fry your own dough fritters.
You then coat it with sugar and bag it using the paperbags provided. Crisp on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside, these traditional snacks prove that old truly is gold.
An unusual idea, especially for a hawker stall, this novelty factor actually has a rather sweet backstory.
How It All Began
While this may seem like a new concept and a new stall, what with all the hype surrounding it all of a sudden, the stall has actually been around for a long time.
Now managed by 54-year-old Li Shu Hui, the stall used to be run by her father, Li Zao, back in the day. Now in his late 80s, Li Zao retired from the business 7 years ago. Back then, the customers would see how busy he was at the stall, and would volunteer to help fry their own orders.
Soon, because of the kindness and empathy of Singaporeans, fry-it-yourself hum chim pengs were born.
Fry Your Own Hum Chim Pengs
Today, the tradition of frying your own hum chim pengs is already almost 30 years old.
Smaller in size than what you might find elsewhere, Hum Jin Pang’s dough fritters come in two varieties – Five Spice Salt and Sweet Red Bean. At six pieces for $1, these fritters are incredibly cheap; you’d be hard pressed to find prices likes these anywhere these days.
Want to have a go at frying your own hum chim pengs? Make a trip to Maxwell Food Centre sometime for lunch, and fall in love with this simple snack all over again!
Hum Jin Pang
Address: Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur St., Singapore 069184
Opening Hours: Daily, 2.30pm – 8pm
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