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Andre Ong and Hazel Wong, both 22 years old, are currently the young hawkers behind Youfu Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle at Golden Mile Food Centre.

Supported by his wife

Born from an intense love for cooking, the stall was first opened by Ong in 2020 — both he and his father would fry the noodles, adjusting and tweaking their recipe along the way following customer feedback.

Ong told us in a 2020 interview:

"Initially, our Hokkien mee was very wet, and not many customers liked it. Then the noodle was also a bit tougher like al dente, then old people cannot chew. So we adjust and improvise."

Ong was recently joined by his wife after she decided to quit her office job and work at the stall full-time.

The pair, who recently tied the knot in October 2021, were actually primary school classmates.

Interestingly, despite knowing each other since then, they only got together sometime in 2020. They were "just friends" before that, Ong told Mothership.

"One day, she just told me that she want [sic] to quit her full-time office job," Ong said.

When asked why she wanted to work at the stall full-time, she told him that she hoped to spend more time with him and build up a "base" together.

Previously, Wong's involvement with the stall was purely on a part-time basis, where she would help to manage the stall's social media pages.

Two shifts a day

Life as a hawker is no walk in the park, though. Previously, this is what Ong shared about a typical day in his life:

"I wake up at 6, and reach here at 7am. And I’m here all the way until 7pm. But after that we need to prepare stock for the next day, like we will prep some things for tomorrow, like the pork or minced garlic, in advance. I live in Serangoon North, it’s a one-hour plus bus ride, so I reach home at 10+pm.

We (my dad and I) both work six days a week, only Monday is an off day."

Now, the cooking is done by Ong and his father, while his wife supports by helping with the preparation work and serving the customers.

They also have two shifts: Ong and his wife are at the stall from 6am to 4pm, and his father takes the night shift with his mother, from 4pm to 8:30pm.

How does he feel knowing that his wife has chosen to go through all that effort just to sell Hokkien mee alongside him?

"Yeah, of course, feel heart pain," he said.

YouFu Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle

505 Beach Road, #01-57

Open daily except Mondays, 10am to 8:30pm

Top photo from YouFu Fried Hokkien Mee/FB, Andre Ong.

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