The Dead Cockroach: 42 - Economical Fried Bee Hoon That Truly Lives Up To Its Name @ ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre

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Fried bee hoon, also known as economical bee hoon, is a popular breakfast option for many that gives you the flexibility to add different ingredients to your meal. Unfortunately, due to rising costs, the word 'economical' may have lost its meaning along the way.

Simply add one or two ala carte items to your bee hoon and watch the cost of your breakfast soar past the $3 mark.

The term 'economical bee hoon' is loosely used to describe such fried bee hoon which is ironically getting increasingly uneconomical these days.

However, I have discovered a stall at ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre that truly lives up to the economical bee hoon name!

This stall have no name except for the number 42 in a very large font on its signboard, in reference to its unit number (#01-42) alongside with the menu of what they sell such as nasi lemak, fried bee hoon, peanut porridge and chee cheong fun.

How much do you think is this plate of fried bee hoon with a fried egg and ngor hiang that I ordered? Oh, might as well order a bowl of peanut porridge too while we are at it.

Some of the answers I got range from $3.50 to $5.50.

But what if I told you that everything you see in the photo costs only $2.10? (peanut porridge $1, everything else for $1.10)

I am not kidding. I thought I have heard wrongly when the auntie told me the price. This very same combo (bee hoon+egg+ngor hiang) at my place costs $3.50. Just bee hoon kosong alone is already $1.20.

The portion is decent as well. I witnessed how the auntie scooped the fried bee hoon into a bowl before transferring the measured amount onto the brown wax paper so everyone is getting the same portion.

And you know what? Because this stall also sell chee cheong fun, they have a tub of sweet sauce at the front for you to help yourself to. This reminded me so much of the fried bee hoon that Mum used to buy when I was still a child.

All these years, I have been trying to look for fried bee hoon stalls that serve sweet sauce to no avail until I stumbled upon this stall!

Nowadays, they only have pickled green chili and sambal chili but never sweet sauce. Or at least I did not come across any that does hence I am really happy to have found this one.

If you were expecting to receive a bowl of watered-down peanut porridge just because it costs only a dollar, you are wrong. In fact, they did not scrimp or cut corners. The rice grains were cooked to a velvety smooth consistency with quite a fair bit of peanuts at the bottom of the bowl.

The porridge is adequately flavored without having to add any more seasonings.

I believe it is due to the ageing population in the area that the stall is trying to sell food at a affordable price to the residents nearby.

It is through little acts of kindness like this of watching out for one another that fills my heart with so much love in this uncertain times.