While most university students focus predominantly on their studies, 22-year-old Lee Fang Yu somehow manages to run three noodle stalls while pursuing her degree in Business Administration at NUS, with a double specialisation in Finance and Entrepreneurship. All while interning at investment bank UBS. Talk about overachieving.
Fang Yu opened her first 24-hour Ah Gong KKM stall in Bras Basah a month ago, and she is already expanding rapidly — her second stall opened in Tampines and third at Punggol in November. The newer outlets open till 9pm.
She serves ke kou mian (mandarin for “mouthwatering noodles”), essentially jazzed up instant noodles. The dish was first popularised by Uncle KKM (aka Hai Xian Zhu Zhou), a popular stall at Bukit Panjang that opens for supper.
“A lot of people ask — why would anyone come out and eat a bowl of instant noodles?” Fang Yu muses. But her KKM isn’t your standard dorm room fare.
While it starts with Koka instant noodles (hence the dish’s abbreviation of KKM) as the base, the magic lies in the pork bone broth that’s similar to ban mian soup. This can be had as is, or spiked with a potent spice blend to become a deep red. Each bowl comes loaded with veggies, minced and sliced pork, an egg, fried shallots and garlic, elevating it beyond your typical instant mee. Plus add-ons like clams if you so wish. “We offer a more nutritious version of instant noodles,” Fang Yu tells 8days.sg.
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Why become a hawker?
“I’m aware that the hawker business is super tedious,” Fang Yu laughs, “but I didn’t want to pass up on this idea just because of the long hours!” Her motivation came from watching friends struggle to find decent supper spots after nights out. So her flagship Bras Basah stall is open 24 hours daily. “They always complain about having to travel to all corners of Singapore for supper places that are open 24/7,” she explains. Plus, her sister at SMU often wondered aloud, “Should we go home and eat? Do you think our grandfather is still awake to cook for us?”
While her KKM has drawn comparisons to the famous Bukit Panjang supper spot, Fang Yu admits she’s never tried it herself. “I live super far,” she laughs. “But people tell me it tastes very similar, which is crazy!”
Instant noodle seasoning factory owner grandpa’s recipe for noodles
What started as pandemic bonding sessions with her 81-year-old grandfather has turned into a full-fledged business. Fang Yu’s journey into cooking began earlier — she has been cooking since secondary school, preferring to experiment with Western dishes like pasta. It was her ah gong, a former factory owner in China producing spice packet mixes for a “famous instant noodle brand” (which she declined to share) in Singapore, who introduced her to the joys of cooking Chinese food.
“He started cooking ke kou mian for me when I began staying back late in school to study, especially during upper secondary,” Fang Yu recalls. “I didn’t want to commit to dinner plans at home and then come back at midnight, feeling guilty if I didn’t eat. So he’d whip up instant noodles with whatever ingredients we had in the fridge – vegetables, meat, it was always a surprise mix. The soup base came from my great-grandmother’s recipes, but he made it his own by incorporating instant noodles for convenience.”
Her grandfather helped Fang Yu perfect her KKM recipe, including its signature chilli blend for the spicy soup version, which he adapted from his spice-mixing expertise. No wonder her biz is named after him.
Invested about $90K into biz, insists it’s all her own cash
Fang Yu sank in about $90K on all three stalls. She says that’s money she’d been saving since JC through various part-time jobs — from working “crazy overtime” at vaccination centres during the pandemic to retail gigs at Lululemon. Once she entered uni, more lucrative banking internships at OCBC and UBS paid her a salary of a few thousand each month. She says she even parked some money in stocks, which she started learning how to dabble in online four years ago. “I started with meme stocks, and had to learn the hard way by getting burned at the start,” Fang Yu laughed. Did she get any seed funding from her businessman dad or ex-factory owner grandpa? “No,” insists Fang Yu.
When asked why she jumped into the hawker biz at such a young age, Fang Yu’s replies: “It’s a good time for me to go all out in my career as an entrepreneur before I graduate.”
Why the rush to expand?
When asked about her expansion pace, Fang Yu explains: “I graduate next May, and then I’d be torn between continuing at UBS as a full-timer — every finance student hopes for that sweet intern-to-full-time conversion — or focusing on this business,” she explains. “If I wait till after graduation, it becomes a huge gamble. Do I turn down a banking job for a stall that might not work out?”
But when her Bras Basah outlet turned into an unexpected hit, breaking even within a month, she wanted to strike while the iron was hot. “I thought, you know what? This actually has potential. I’d rather try it now and see how multiple outlets go, so I can decide whether to stick with corporate life or fully focus on this.”
Sleeps three hours daily
“I sleep about three hours a day,” Fang Yu admits with a laugh. Her typical day is a marathon – she’s up at 8am for her banking job by 9am, where she handles time-sensitive foreign exchange operations at UBS. During lunch breaks, she hops on a three-stop bus ride to check on her Bras Basah stall. Nights? She’s at her various stalls manning the cashier till late, especially during club closing times when hungry party-goers flood in.
Thank goodness for online classes — she squeezes those in during work-from-home days, with just two days of actual university classes per week.
To keep things running when she’s stuck handling foreign exchange operations or attending online classes, Fang Yu has assembled a team of staff aged 20-30 to manage different shifts. “It’s really based on trust,” she says about managing her team. “I need honest people I can trust since I can’t be there all the time.”
To ensure consistency, Fang Yu personally trains her new staff to cook. “I hire people through connections, like asking other workers in the coffeeshops if they have anyone to recommend. It’s really hard to find good people, as not many would choose to stand in a hawker stall for long hours,” she explains. She adds that she also offers “ample salary” for these candidates.
Parents ok if she drops banking for the hawker life
Luckily for Fang Yu, she’s got quite the support system. She says her dad is a veteran in the F&B scene, which might explain the lack of the usual “focus on your studies” drama. However, she declines to share what company her dad runs. While she insists her parents didn’t invest in her stalls, they’re her biggest cheerleaders. “They are happy and supportive as long as I pursue my passion,” she says about potentially picking the hawker life over banking. Meanwhile, her grandfather still actively helps her perfect those recipes.
“Honestly, I rarely go out with my friends,” Fang Yu confesses. Sometimes, her friends drop by her stall after work.
Her boyfriend of two years has adapted to her gruelling schedule by making weekends their “rot” time – basically her only chance to rest. “We no longer go out on dates or go on trips with my friends. I don’t have time for that at this point in my life,” she says with a resigned smile.
“I don’t want to sound too ambitious, but I’d like to open at least 10 outlets. That would be my dream,” she shares. Franchising isn’t on the immediate horizon as this recipe holds too much sentimental value for her. “Maybe after hitting 30 outlets,” she muses, “but that’s far away.”
The menu
The noodles start from $4.80 a bowl. There are two choices of soups (spicy or original) and four topping options ranging from prawn, pork to pacific clam.
Spicy Prawn Ke Kou Mian, $6.50 for small (8 Days Pick!)
This sultry red offering looks a lot like tom yum or mala tang. It’s a robust, savoury soup that’s slightly sweet with just the right amount of spice – grandpa’s chilli blend really elevates its flavours. The texture of the instant noodles are nicely springy and goes well with the addictive soup. An egg scrambled into the dish, along with a couple of fleshy prawns, minced pork, fresh liver, bok choy, fragrant fried garlic and shallots make this a hearty, satisfying bowl.
Pork Ke Kou Mian, $4.80 for small
We sample the original soup version too. It isn’t as punchy as the spicy rendition, but still comforting. Those who prefer something cleaner might appreciate this — it’s akin to a lighter ban mian broth, but paired with instant noodles.
Ah Gong KKM has three outlets, including #01-79 Bras Basah Complex, 231 Bain St, S180231. Open Daily 24/7. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Tasha Ting/Glyn Seah/Ah Gong KKM
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