The Roadside Michelin Meal

Liao Fan Hong Kong Chicken and Noodles is a simple, squarish metal stall in the popular hawker center of Singapore. Whole marinated chickens hang from hooks above piping hot iron cast pans. A bright red poster stuck to one of the sides proclaims “Singapore Best Foods 2017, Enjoy!” with five gold stars underneath. Behind the stall stands Chan Hon Meng, a 52 year old man, the sole owner and chef of the world’s cheapest Michelin Star restaurant.

When people hear the words “Michelin star”, they think of glitzy French streets lined with fancy restaurants. Golden chandeliers sparkle overhead as polite, well-dressed waiters serve tiny platters of food with names nobody can pronounce and pour vintage champagne into crystal glasses with an expert twist of their wrist. At the end of the meal, customers go home with a hollow feeling in their stomachs and their wallets. Liao Fan Hong Kong Chicken shatters these preconceptions by serving up a world-class meal at just two Singaporean dollars per serving.

At fifteen, Chan Hon Meng moved to Singapore from his village in Malaysia, hoping to trade a rural life of farming and raising animals for new, more exciting career opportunities. He trained with a chef in a small Chinese restaurant, learned the technique for Hong Kong style chicken, and finally opened his own stall selling braised chicken and noodles in 2009.

Liao Fan’s chicken is simple on the surface, but Chan spent years experimenting with sauces and roasting techniques until he was satisfied with his recipe. He marinates the chicken in “soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and a secret, special spice blend” before roasting, braising, and serving it with a side of plain noodles or rice. What started as an unremarkable stall nestled among the rows of hawkers in Chinatown is now a must-visit location for thousands of Singaporean locals and tourists. A long line of hungry customers begins snaking its way along the pavement outside the stall hours before it opens.

A Brief History of the Michelin Star

The Michelin star selection process is shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows who’s responsible for nominating restaurants for the award or by what exact criteria they’re chosen. For a chef, a Michelin star is undeniable proof of skill, quality, and success. But how and when did this elusive reward first start?

The first Michelin star comes not from an elite food critic, but from a Paris tire company. In the early 1900s, shortly after the Industrial revolution, brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin devised a plan to popularize cars and create a demand for the tires they manufactured. At the time, there were fewer than 3,000 cars in all of France. The Michelin brothers printed brochures with valuable information like how to change a tire, where to fill petrol, and how to navigate the city using maps. Printed alongside was a guide to popular restaurants in Paris where one could drive to enjoy a delicious meal at the end of a long trip. Whenever a customer stopped by the shop, the brothers offered them a brochure, free of cost.

Within a decade, the Michelin Guide became a household name. Customers visited the tire shop regularly just to pick up the latest brochure. One day, Andre Michelin passed by a rival tire shop to see his beloved brochures propped up on a workbench to attract customers. The brothers decided to launch a brand new Michelin Guide: they redesigned the brochure, added paid advertisement space, and sold them for seven francs each.

Originally, restaurants could earn one star to show that they were considered “fine dining establishments”. The three-star system used today was devised a few years later, in 1936.

★ : High-quality cooking; worth a stop

★★ : Excellent cooking, worth a detour

★★★ : Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

Today, the Michelin Guide is a prestigious publication independent from the tire company and represents the global restaurant hall of fame. It contains ratings for over 30,000 establishments in over 30 territories across three continents. The typical Michelin star restaurant has a customer wait-list that spans weeks and sometimes even months, with meals that cost more than 250 USD per person. People visit these restaurants as a special occasion. For many, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Their cuisine is reserved for the rich and famous, making it even more impressive for a roadside hawker to receive a star.

Chan Hon Meng’s Michelin Star

Michelin stars are awarded by restaurant inspectors, an anonymous group of Michelin employees. They don’t look at the interior decoration, quality of dishware, or the prices; their only goal is to judge the restaurant’s food. Each restaurant is visited by multiple inspectors to eliminate bias and ensure consistency in the quality of cooking.

When a restaurant inspector contacted Chan with congratulations for earning a Michelin star and an invitation to the Michelin Guide Singapore Gala, he couldn’t believe it.

“When I first became a chef, there were chefs who told me [that] the highest honor you could attain is to be in the Michelin Guide,” Chan said in an interview for the Michelin Guide Asia YouTube channel. “At the time, I didn’t imagine that [they] would come here; I thought it was just something found abroad.”

Chan was recognized in Michelin’s first guide to Singaporean dining. The guide has been circulating for over a century, yet it has only recently ventured outside of Western countries.

For Chan Hon Meng, the Michelin star was more than international recognition of his braised chicken restaurant; it gave him an opportunity to “represent every hawker in Singapore and bring [their] cuisine to the world”.

The Future of Michelin Dining

Liao Fan Hong Kong Chicken and Noodles opened the doors for more Asian hawker stalls to earn global recognition. In 2018, the Michelin Guide created the “Bib Gourmand” award, which is the equivalent of Michelin stars for street food. Notable recipients include Rolina Singapore Traditional Hainanese Curry Puffs, Tai Wah Pork Noodle, and Chai Chuan Tou Yang Rou Tang.

Chan Hon Meng spearheaded the Michelin star’s evolution from a symbol of wealth and elitism to a mark of quality and showed the world that one can enjoy a gourmet meal at the side of the road for less than two dollars.

References

Yagoda M. “Singapore Hawker Stands with Michelin Stars,” August 2018. https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/singapore-hawker-stands-michelin-stars-where

Pomranz, Mike. “This Is the Story of the World's First Michelin-Starred Street Food Stall,” August 2, 2016. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/story-world-s-first-michelin-starred-street-food-stall

Larson, Sarah. “A Brief History of the Michelin Star Rating.” Escoffier. Escoffier, October 9, 2020. https://www.escoffier.edu/blog/world-food-drink/a-brief-history-of-the-michelin-guide/

“What The MICHELIN Guide's Symbols Mean.” MICHELIN Guide. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://guide.michelin.com/th/en/to-the-stars-and-beyond-th

“Michelin Guide Inspectors.” MICHELIN Guide. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://guide.michelin.com/th/en/michelin-guide-inspectors

International Culinary Center. “What Are Michelin Stars?” Institute of Culinary Education, April 9, 2016. https://www.ice.edu/blog/michelin-stars

Great Big Story. “A Michelin-Starred Meal for $1.50” Great Big Story, Nov 3 2017, YouTube Video, 3:01. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90IJanuV_0M

MICHELIN Guide Asia. “The MICHELIN Guide Insider Series: The Story of Chan Hon Meng | 米其林指南飲食故事系列: 陈翰铭的故事” MICHELIN Guide Asia, Jul 31 2016, YouTube Video, 4:50. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1dBTqm90A4

Miller, Jason. “Astonishing Tales of Content Marketing: The Michelin Guide.” LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog, April 5, 2016. https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/blog/best-practices--content-marketing/2016/astonishing-tales-of-content-marketing--the-michelin-guide

Chiasson, Vanessa. “Eating At The World's Cheapest Michelin Starred Restaurant.” TravelAwaits. TravelAwaits, November 11, 2020. https://www.travelawaits.com/2476403/singapore-Liao-Fan-Hong-Kong/