Yong Kee Seafood at Jalan Besar has been earning raves for its chao-ta “burnt” bee hoon. The vermicelli comes practically fused together like a pancake, totally browned on one side. This could be one of the most crispiest versions around.

It’s not as common as hor fun or fried rice, but chao-ta bee hoon is a cze char (street restaurant) dish that has been around for at least a decade. Its origins lie in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and it is also known as “San Lou Mi Fen”, or Sam Lau Bee hoon, meaning “third-storey vermicelli”. The humorous spin behind it is that a master chef once threw off the third floor of his restaurant a semi-burnt bee hoon dish made by his assistant, simply because it looked ugly. But the reject was actually very tasty.

At most places, chao-ta bee hoon will come as a dry and dull-looking mess of brownish vermicelli, fried very simply with some vegetables, eggs and meat slices or mince. But once you dig in, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that the noodles have been imbued with incredible flavour from a superb stock. Obviously it would not be nice if it was all hardened crunch. Underneath there’s still soft, moist and flavoursome bee hoon. Enjoy it while it’s all piping hot.

Yong Kee is also famous for their prawn roll (S$6 for 6 pieces). These are indeed excellent. Each bite gives you a deliciously delicate crunch that surrenders the juicy filling within. Even if you don’t go for the chao-ta bee hoon, you have to try these.

Their sweet and sour pork (S$8 for small portion) also has shades of chao-ta aspects. The pieces are well-browned and soak up the sauce perfectly.

With so much crispy fried stuff, you’ll need something soupy to balance the heatiness. Their spinach soup in superior stock (S$8) comes loaded with tiny anchovies and sliced garlic. It’s robustly umami.

Yong Kee Seafood has been operating for nearly 12 years now, with cooks from Malaysia. They say they have been dishing out chao-ta bee hoon since the beginning, and that it’s always been popular, although it’s not a dish I see on every table. I do spy very good-looking plates of hor fun, so it definitely looks like they are skilled at other noodles too. Business is really good, and you do have to wait about 20 minutes or so for the dishes to arrive.

The little cze char stall is located within the Shing Boon Hwa coffeeshop at 43 Jalan Besar. They open from 5.30pm to the wee hours of the morning, and are closed first Wednesday of each month.