First Hakka Chain Resturant – Hakka Yu, In Singapore And Tour Of Char Yong (Dabu) Association


Hakka Yu, with more than 80 outlets in China, is set to open its first outlet in Singapore at Jewel Changi Airport on December 28, 2024.

To celebrate the first overseas opening of Hakka Yu, we are honored to be invited to visit the Char Yong (Dabu) Association to learn more about Hakka culture and their culinary heritage.

Char Yong (Dabu) Association

Hakka Yu, with more than 80 outlets in China, is set to open its first outlet in Singapore at Jewel Changi Airport on December 28, 2024.Hakka Yu, with more than 80 outlets in China, is set to open its first outlet in Singapore at Jewel Changi Airport on December 28, 2024.
The building of Char Yong (Dabu) Association.

In Singapore, the majority of Chinese ethnic groups are Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, with Hakka being one of them. Associations like the Char Yong (Dabu) Association actively work to preserve Hakka heritage and foster a sense of belonging.

The tour took about an hour, with detailed introduction on how Hakka people moved to Nanyang.

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Entrance of the gallery

Below is the map of Dabu. Dabu is a county in Meizhou City, in the east of Guangdong Province, China. A center of Hakka community and culture.

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Map of Dabu

Hakka traditional lion dance

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The widely known Hakka dishes are 算盘子 (Abacus Seeds) and 擂茶 (Thunder Tea Rice), but there is more to it! Below are some of the Hakka dishes they introduce in the Hakka gallery.

They actually have a new building coming up soon, below is the model of the new building.

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If you are interested in the Hakka tour or if you are of Hakka descent, you can contact them for more information.

Char Yong (Dabu) Association – Hakka Museum
29 Lor 22 Geylang, Singapore 398686

Hakka Yu Food Tasting

After the tour, we went for their open food tasting.

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Hakka Yu founder giving opening speech.
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Their top three popular dishes.
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Bayberry welcome drink. Its so nice! Little sourish, sweet and refreshing.
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Hakka Pork Soup. Very nice and no weird porky smell even though the ingredients is only pork meat, pork heart and pork liver.
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Salt-Baked Chicken. This is really good.
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Hakka Stuffed Tofu
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How the inside looks like. Really a lot flavourful compared to normal YTF
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Hakka “Ai Cao” dumpling. Inside is sesame and peanut. Not a very sweet kind of dessert.
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The new Hakka Yu Restaurant at Jewel Changi.

Interesting facts: Our founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew was Hakka.

The Hakka Yu Resturant will be opening in Jewel Changi on the 28 Decemeber 2024!

Update on Hakka Yu Opening

We attended the opening of Hakka Yu on December 28, and it was an eye-opening experience. We had the chance to watch a Hakka Qilin dance, which is similar to the Chinese lion dance but distinctly different. While the Chinese lion dance uses controlled movements of the eyes, ears, and head to convey expressions, the Hakka Qilin dance relies heavily on body movements and imagination to bring the qilin to life.

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Hakka Yu has over 80 outlets across China, and Singapore is its first international location outside of China. One of their award-winning, must-try dishes is the Salt Baked Chicken. However, timing is key if you want to savor this dish! It’s freshly baked daily, with only two time slots available. Make sure to visit at the right time to avoid disappointment.

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