If you ask your parents or grandparents, chances are they’ve heard of Genuine Shanghai Zhu Chang Fen before. This chee cheong fun hawker stall first opened in 1975 at Wallich Street, and at its height had outlets at Bugis and Marina Square, on top of the one at Chinatown Complex━until the owner retired and the stalls shuttered.
Well, Genuine Shanghai Zhu Chang Fen is back. Now located on the first level of Amoy Street Food Centre, the owner commented that this decision was influenced by his nephew, who showed interest in learning and honing the craft of making chee cheong fun.
The menu has mostly remained the same throughout all these years, except for the inflation-related price increases. Now, each plate of CCF sits comfortably at $3.80, regardless of the number of ingredients.
This means that even the Mushroom and Minced Pork and Dried Shrimp, the CCF with the most ingredients, is priced at $3.80.
Other CCFs available here include a Chicken ($3.80) and a Char Siew ($3.80).
The tender shreds of chicken in the former provide a textural contrast to the rice rolls by adding a meaty chewiness to each bite.
The pieces of char siew wrapped in the silky rice rolls of the latter added a touch of sweetness that brightened up the flavours.
Besides chee cheong fun, Yam Cake ($2.60) is also offered here, which you can choose to top up with any of their fillings at $3.20.
Continuing the legacy is no easy feat, and it’s heartening to see the younger generation taking the initiative to keep the hawker culture alive. We can only hope that this endeavour isn’t short-lived, and that we’ll have the pleasure of enjoying Genuine Shanghai Zhu Chang Fen’s chee cheong fun for years to come.
If you’re looking for more chee cheong fun places to visit, check out our Wan Fen Chee Cheong Fun review for Wagyu and lor bak CCF in East Coast, or visit Fei Chang Hao at Kallang for HK-style ribboned CCF by an ex-Tim Ho Wan chef.
Address: 7 Maxwell Road, #01-03, Amoy Street Food Centre, Singapore 069111
Opening hours: 7am to 2pm
Genuine Shanghai Zhu Chang Fen is not a halal-certified eatery.
Photos taken by Zu Yi Kong.
This was an independent visit by Eatbook.sg.