Maxwell Food Centre is not the largest hawker centre in Singapore but it is one of the most famous and busy because of the popular food stalls here and its central location in Chinatown. But, the 92 year road to glory was not a straightforward one for Maxwell Food Centre - there were quite a few twists and turns, blind corners and even some drama along the way.
Map of Singapore dated 1836Few people today know that Maxwell Food Centre site was one of Singapore's earliest Chinese burial grounds (in the 1800s). It was ringed by South Bridge Road to its north, Maxwell Road to its west and Mount Erskine Road to the east. To its south were nutmeg and clove plantations at the foothills of Mount Wallich, Mount Erskine and Scotts Hill (today's Ann Siang Hill). If you ever wondered where are Mount Wallich and Mount Erskine now, these two hills no longer exist. In 1907, the graves were exhumed, Mount Wallich and Mount Erskine were flattened, and their soil taken for the Teluk Ayer reclamation project. Singapore's Central Business District is built on reclaimed land from its first reclamation project. (Source: Singapore Infopedia)
The original entrance at Maxwell Market built in 1929When the graves were exhumed, the land was earmarked for a marketplace. In 1925, the track to its west was upgraded and named Maxwell Road (in honour of John Argyle Maxwell, a Scottish merchant who lived in Singapore at the time). So, when the marketplace was completed in 1928, it was named Maxwell Market.
Image credit: National Archives of SingaporeBut, Maxwell Market didn't take off to a roaring start. The street hawkers plying around Tanjong Pagar, Teluk Ayer and Kreta Ayer preferred to stay outside the market to avoid paying rent. During the 1930s, Maxwell Market became a "multi purpose" community event hall of sorts where Teochew operas were staged during the Hungry Ghosts Festival. When the Japanese came (1942 - 1945), they reduced rental at Maxwell Market to entice street hawkers to set up stalls inside. Food were sold at controlled prices during the Japanese occupation. When the British returned, Maxwell Centre continued to be a place for affordable meals. Maxwell Centre housed the first "Family Restaurant" set up by the Social Welfare Department in 1946 to sell 8 cent meals to the needy. But, for the next decades Maxwell Market remained half empty occupied as street hawkers continued to shunt it to avoid paying rent. In 1972, when Lau Pa Sat closed for renovation, the government moved its 73 market stalls to Maxwell Market, turning it into a wet market.
Maxwell Market in 1986. Image credit: National Archives of SingaporeWhen renovations at Lau Pa Sat were completed, the wet market stalls returned home and Maxwell Market went back to a state of limbo (which it remained until 1986).
China Street in the 1930s. Image credit: National Archives of SingaporeIn 1986, the government moved 70 street hawkers operating in the side and back lanes around China Street into Maxwell Market. This was the last phase of the government programme launched in 1968 to resettle all street hawkers into purpose built hawker centres.
Image credit: National Archives of SingaporeMaxwell Market closed for a year of remodelling and reopened in 1987 as Maxwell Food Centre - a full fledge hawker centre with all food stalls and no wet market stalls, making it the last hawker centre in Singapore's first hawker centre building programme. 
Image credit: National Archives of SingaporeOne of the stalls that moved here in 1986 was China Street Hum Jin Pang. Hand kneaded, rolled and pressed dough fried into delectable crispy golden brown fritters like yau char kwai (fried crullers), ham chim peng (salty fried bread), char chin tui (fried sesame seed crusted balls filled with crushed peanuts or red bean paste) etc. China Street Hum Jin Pang is in the second generation now, run by Ms Li Shu Hui who is in her 50s. Since her father's time, customers volunteered to help out fry their own fritters. It's a China Street tradition still preserved to this day in Maxwell Food Centre. Come join the fry-it-yourself fun - China Street Hum Jin Pang stall #01-28 opens at 3pm daily. China Street Fritters stall #01-64 founded in the 1930s, moved into Maxwell Food Centre together with their China Street compatriots in 1986. Today, the jovial Ng brothers run the popular stall. They still use their father's methods i.e. everything, the fried 5-spice seasoned meat roll, pork sausage, pork liver sausage, egg slice etc are all handmade at the stall. Robust savoury flavours in crispy, greasy bites add up to a comforting, hearty meal when eaten with stir fried bee hoon (rice vermicelli), fried tofu and century egg.
Photo credit: National Archives of SingaporeAnother stall that moved to Maxwell Food Centre in 1986 was Mdm Pang's Fuzhou oyster cake which she found in 1962 at Tras Street.
Today, Mdm Pang's daughter Ms Voon still serves Fuzhou oyster cakes at Maxwell Food Centre stall #01-05. This stall is one of the last handful of hawkers in Singapore still selling this traditional snack from Fuzhou, China.
Ms Voon's Fuzhou oyster cake has a thin slightly crisp browned crust filled with minced pork, small prawns, small oysters and chopped parsley. It tastes mildly savoury sweet from the moist fillings with a bit of crunch and nuttiness from the couple of peanuts studded on the crust. 
Here's how Anthony Bourdain described Fuzhou oyster cake when K. F. Seetoh, founder of Makansutra took him on a dazzling makan (eating) tour of Maxwell Food Centre. (Page 233, The Nasty Bits, New York Times Bestseller in 2006.)
China Street Cook Food Rickshaw Noodles also moved here in 1986 from China Square. Founded in 1943, it was one of five stalls serving affordable rickshaw noodles (kan chia mee in Hokkien) to rickshaw pullers plying around the city at that time. Today, this stall is one of only two left in Singapore serving this humble dish.
The stall #01-87 is now run by Mdm Soh whose mother Mdm Teo Aw Teow started the back lane business. Rickshaw noodles are probably in its last legs now. It is a very simple dish - just limp generic yellow noodles in a vegetable (chye sim) soup with some dried shrimps giving it a bit of savoury umami boost. Mdm Soh still snips the noodles like her mother did, so that rickshaw pullers can just slurp up the soupy noodles and be on their way. No need for spoons or chopsticks. (Perhaps Katong laksa got the idea from rickshaw noodles, I am not sure.)
Image Credit: National Archives of SingaporeHand pulled rickshaws were the main means of public transport in the city until they were replaced by trishaws and electric trams. During its heydays in the early 1900s, there were over 22,000 rickshaw pullers in Singapore. Rickshaw pullers were very poor and rickshaw noodles provided cheap fuel to power their aching muscles. Rickshaws were mainly phased out by the 1940s, but rickshaw noodles persisted as a form of low cost meal. Mdm Soh's business is sustained as there is still demand for economic meals and a taste of nostalgia but probably not for much longer. 
In 1986, two chicken rice stalls set up at Maxwell Food Centre. One of them was Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (the other was Heng Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice). Ms Foo Kui Lan and husband's chicken rice stall was doing well, steadily building up its following with their succulent poached chicken and aromatic rice. Then, Anthony Bourdain discovered Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice in 2006, twenty years after it opened at Maxwell Food Centre. Anthony Bourdain featured Tian Tian chicken rice in the fourth season (2008) of his wildly popular No Reservations travel and food show. Then, everything changed. Immediately, throngs of tourists descended on Tian Tian everyday to have what Anthony Bourdain pronounced "exceptionally fragrant and flavoursome". Five years later in 2013, Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice was selected for a cook-off with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay (organised by Singtel). Katong 328 Laksa and Jumbo Chili Crab were also involved in the cook off which, by the way, Tian Tian and Katong 328 Laksa won against Gordon Ramsay.
So, everyday without fail, there is a long line of tourists and locals waiting for their taste of Tian Tian Hainanese chicken rice. Tian Tian's star continues to shine clinching Bib Gourmand honours in the Singapore Michelin Guide every year since its inaugural edition in 2016.
To me, Tian Tian's savoury brown sauce slathered over the chicken is the highlight of the dish. The chicken meat can be smoother and can have more chicken flavour. The rice can feature fuller grains. But, this is the undisputed most famous chicken rice stall in the Singapore, if not the world. Wait. So, what happened to Heng Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice - the other original Maxwell Food Centre chicken rice stall?
Heng Heng is doing well, thank you very much, says a contented looking Mr Koh.
Still flying low profile under the media radar, Heng Heng have their own following, though not quite the cult status of Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice.
I like Heng Heng's chicken better because the meat is more tender and has more flavour. The rice is aromatic but some grains are chipped, and overall it's too wet for my liking.
Then, did you spot this gentleman in Anthony Bourdain's show working inside Tian Tian chicken rice stall? Rewind the video, if you didn't 😄 He is Ah Tai, who was Tian Tian's head chef for over 20 years but left in 2013 to set up his own stall after he was fired following a dispute with Ms Foo's daughter.
Many people prefer Ah Tai's chicken rice. It tastes more like Tian Tian's chicken rice before they became famous. The chicken is succulent, tender, juicy, smooth. The brown sauce isn't like Tian Tian's - milder savoury sweet and more sloshy. The rice is fuller, more nutty, nicely aromatic. Usually, there's no need to queue as business is nowhere nearly as busy as at Tian Tian.
Of course, not every stall at Maxwell Food Centre was there from the beginning and stayed till now. During the last 33 years, some came and went, but left their mark on the Maxwell Food Centre story. One of them was Empress Place Teochew Beef Kway Teow.
Empress Place Teochew Beef Kway Teow was ran by Melissa - she is the great great granddaughter of Tan Chee Kok who founded the legendary Hock Lam beef noodles. In the 1920s, Tan Chee Kok came to Singapore from Swatow (China) where he was a popular Teochew beef noodle hawker. After Tan Chee Kok's beef noodle stall got a firm foothold at Hock Lam Street in Singapore, he sent for his son Tan Chin Sia to join him. Tan Chee Kok & Tan Chin Sia's stall was known as Hock Lam Street Beef Noodles. In 1971, one of Tan Chin Sia's daughters, Tan Sok Eng opened her own beef noodle stall at Empress Place hawker centre beside the Singapore River. One of Tan Sok Eng's sons, David, took over the Empress Place stall when she retired. In 2019, David together with his daughter Melissa set up stall at Maxwell Food Centre, continuing the century old legacy of Hock Lam / Empress Place beef noodles. Unfortunately, Empress Place Teochew Beef Kway Teow was forced to close in Apr 2020, as measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections made the business unsustainable.
See you soon at Maxwell Food Centre 😄 Say hello when you bump into me lah 👋 References:Roots (by National Heritage Board)Singapore Infopedia (by National Library Board)Ah Tai Chicken RiceTian Tian Chicken RiceHeng Heng Chicken RiceFuzhou Oyster CakeRickshaw NoodlesHock Lam Beef Noodles Date: 11 May 2020
Reviewed by amfy
on
مايو 14, 2020
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