Flyboy Yong Tau Foo: Retired helicopter pilot serves traditional YTF & homemade abacus seeds

Singapore’s hawker culture has a diverse and rich history, with its roots in the early 20th century. Keith, owner of Flyboy Yong Tau Foo, has noticed the influx of foreign food stalls in local hawker centres. He hopes to help preserve our traditional heritage through his stall in NEWest Mall. 

A former helicopter pilot for nearly 30 years who flew Apaches, Keith was headed to the virtually default ex-pilot career pathway to commercial airlines. However, he wanted to do something different, and his passion for yong tau foo became his calling instead.

Yong tau foo produced is on a commercialised scale at hawker centres and Keith believes the dishes lack authenticity.

With the food heritage scene in Singapore is slowly fading, Keith says Flyboy Yong Tau Foo will help preserve this rich history. 

What I had at Flyboy Yong Tau Foo

Flyboy Yong Tau Foo specialises in set menu items. My dining partner and I ordered their Signature Traditional Hand Made Yong Tau Foo (S$10.90++). Diners can choose between the traditional pork and fish filling, or upgrade to their salted fish filling for an additional S$1, which we did so for one of our sets. 

With our sets containing 9 ingredients including beancurd skin, fishball and tau kwa, I was very interested in tasting the different fillings. For those that don’t like what they see on their sets, fret not, as they have a variety of add-ons, too. 

As I dug through my set, I noticed something bizarre. Each set had a dark gravy at the bottom, which Keith says you can’t get at your traditional yong tau foo hawker stall. Strongly flavoured and packed with umami, each piece of ingredient soaked up the broth very nicely. 

Keith mentioned that this broth was the traditional way of having yong tau foo. It was simply a soybean base broth fried with garlic. 

I must say, I initially couldn’t taste much of the difference between the salted fish filling and the traditional one. However, some pieces such as the meatball had a more prominent taste. 

With each set, diners can upgrade their steamed rice to Bee Hoon Soup (S$1.50) or the signature Braised Pork Fried Bee Hoon (S$2), which Keith recommended to us.

What initially looked bland in flavour, the braised pork fried bee hoon was anything but. The bee hoon was very well cooked, with the bits of braised pork giving a nice burst of savouriness to the dish. 

I poured over their homemade chilli sauce that was tangy and incredibly fragrant from the coriander. Keith added that they used the soup from the yong tau foo set to cook the bee hoon, giving it a subtle sweet note. 

Keith surprised us by prepping one of their signature dishes only available on Fridays & Weekends, which was their Handmade Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds (S$9.80++/S$18.80++). This truly encapsulates the rich heritage food culture of Singapore as it is made his late grandma’s recipe. 

The abacus seeds were steamed balls of yam and tapioca flour, which gave them a very nice doughy and fluffy texture. Containing mushrooms, dried shrimps and fried cuttlefish strips, these elements provided a very nice umami burst, which I had hoped would contain a bit more. 

To end off the meal, we also savoured 2 of their side dishes of Flyboy Yong Tau Foo’s Fried Shrimp Wontons (S$3.90++ for 3pcs) and Ngoh Hiang (S$3.90++ for 4 pcs). The fried shrimp wontons served with a dollop of mayonnaise were incredibly fragrant when I bit in. Crispy and light, the homemade shrimp paste added a very delectable bite to my meal. 

The ngoh hiang contained a homemade filling of shrimp, minced pork, water chestnut and spring onion, truly capturing the authentic flavours of Singapore. The crispy exterior complemented the chewy interior. This was a great way to end my journey through the Singaporean heritage food scene. 

Final thoughts 

Having experienced a true taste of Singapore’s heritage food scene, I admire Keith’s efforts in upholding our traditional food culture which is incredibly rare. 

With the majority of their dishes being homemade, they certainly display an immense amount of passion and love for every dish. 

So for those looking to indulge in an experience you can’t find in your hawker centres, head down to Flyboy Yong Tau Foo and get a taste of Singapore’s rich heritage!

Expected Damage: S$9 – S$15 per pax

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