It is no secret that the Cantonese have a great love affair with soups. No Cantonese dining table is replete without a tureen of clear, piping hot soup encapsulating the warmth of home and the nourishment of food made with love.
For Hilda Xie, it was this very love for Cantonese soups that led her and her husband to open Hong Kong Yummy Soup at Alexandra Village Food Centre in 2014 when they moved to Singapore from Hong Kong. “Soup is something we have to have every day, just like having a drink with your meal,” she says. “We liked the idea of bringing something nutritious to Singapore.”
For Hilda Xie, it was this very love for Cantonese soups that led her and her husband to open Hong Kong Yummy Soup at Alexandra Village Food Centre in 2014 when they moved to Singapore from Hong Kong. “Soup is something we have to have every day, just like having a drink with your meal,” she says. “We liked the idea of bringing something nutritious to Singapore.”
The signature ba wang cai soup (Pic: MICHELIN Guide Digital)
This year, Hong Kong Yummy Soup was awarded a Bib Gourmand distinction in the MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2018, an accolade that recognises establishments offering quality cuisines at a maximum price of S$45.
The menu is concise: just six types of soups are offered at the stall daily. The bestsellers are the variations of soup boiled from pork spare ribs with lotus root, winter melon or mushrooms, and Xie’s signature broth is the night-blooming cereus spareribs soup or ba wang hua soup.
She recalls how her mother would make this “cooling” soup when the weather was hot or when the children have had too much meat. “When we first started, not many people were familiar with this soup, but many have grown to like it a lot.”
The menu is concise: just six types of soups are offered at the stall daily. The bestsellers are the variations of soup boiled from pork spare ribs with lotus root, winter melon or mushrooms, and Xie’s signature broth is the night-blooming cereus spareribs soup or ba wang hua soup.
She recalls how her mother would make this “cooling” soup when the weather was hot or when the children have had too much meat. “When we first started, not many people were familiar with this soup, but many have grown to like it a lot.”
The stall is in Alexandra Village Food Centre (Pic: MICHELIN Guide Digital)
At the stall, the couple makes every soup from scratch with no MSG, with each ingredient carefully chosen for its nutritive and health benefits. While night-blooming cereus is consumed for its “cooling” and detoxification properties, cordyceps flower is good for rebuilding strength for people with weak constitutions or those recovering from an illness. “If we’re talking about soups that are good for ladies or if they want something good for their skin, then I’d recommend the Brazilian mushroom soup with snow fungus,” Xie says.
The hawker life is decidedly challenging. The couple are on their feet for more than 10 hours a day, foregoing both sleep and precious time with their son. But what keeps them going is the satisfaction of seeing the health of their customers improve after drinking their soups. “I once had a customer tell me he was not sleeping well at night and I recommended our cordyceps flower soup. The next day, he returned and told me he was very happy because he finally had a good night’s sleep,” says Xie. “The happiness of my customers is contagious and is what encourages me.”
Watch the video here:
The hawker life is decidedly challenging. The couple are on their feet for more than 10 hours a day, foregoing both sleep and precious time with their son. But what keeps them going is the satisfaction of seeing the health of their customers improve after drinking their soups. “I once had a customer tell me he was not sleeping well at night and I recommended our cordyceps flower soup. The next day, he returned and told me he was very happy because he finally had a good night’s sleep,” says Xie. “The happiness of my customers is contagious and is what encourages me.”
Watch the video here:
The MICHELIN Guide Bib Gourmand Series: A Taste of Home
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