Carrot Sticks and Coffee, Hougang 105 Hainanese Village Centre

Tucked inside a corner of the Hougang 105 Hainanese Village Centre is Dong Jin Yuan Dian Xin (unit no. #02-04), a stall which specializes in Fried Carrot Sticks. This is probably the Chinese version of french fries. The stall owner cuts up steamed radish into bite size sticks and deep fries them in his traditional wire mesh basket. For just $2, you get get 16 of these wonderfully golden brown deep fried carrot sticks. Really affordable and delicious afternoon snack!

The turnover rate here is quite high, and queues only form when the stall runs out of carrot sticks and the uncle is still in the midst of frying a new batch. When I visited on a Saturday afternoon, there was a small queue in front of me but quickly dissipated once a new batch of freshly fried carrot sticks arrived. It so happened that the uncle was frying his last batch of carrot sticks, so I was fortunate enough to get hold of a bag of 16 sticks before they sold out!

Each fried carrot stick is fried to a nice perfect golden brown.

The texture is amazing. Each stick is coated with a nice crispy deep fried layer, but the insides are still soft and chewy, just like your normal carrot cake. Each stick also has a light fried flavour and you definitely will not stop at one. It's best to eat it on the spot while it's warm- if the carrot sticks are left out for too long, it becomes a little cold and soggy, definitely not as enjoyable.

The carrot sticks go extremely well with coffee, and I recommend getting a nice cup of Kopi from Da Zhong Cafe (#02-20) located just behind the Carrot sticks stall.

For 70 cents, you get a medium cup of coffee that offers Ya kun quality coffee, for almost half the price of a cup at Ya Kun! The coffee here really very similar to that of Ya Kun and it also shares a similar characteristic strong aroma and flavour intensity. Coffee lovers would be happy to know that for just another mere 10 cents, (80 cents) you can get a large cup of coffee (served in a glass cup found at coffee shops). Coffee is really affordable here, even coffee shops outside charge an average of a dollar for coffee. They are also very generous with the amount of sugar and condensed milk poured into each cup, so for people who prefer their coffee to be less sweet, remember to order Kopi siew dai!

Hainanese Village hawker centre is located at Block 105 Hougang Avenue 1.

Dong Jin Yuan Dian Xin opens 7am-11pm (Tue, Thu & Fri), 7am-2pm (Sat, Sun & Public Holidays) or while stocks last. Closed on Mon and Wed.