only eat this once in a blue moon, very unhealthy
Practically all our hawker food are unhealthy.
The main reason why it is nice is because it is very sweet. Th secret, apart from the sambal chilli, is the sugar. They stock or zhup or gravy is basically prawn shell, pork bone and these days, it taste the same eveywhere because they take from the same supplier who makes them in a central kitchen or factory (Same for chicken rice btw..all from the same supplier, all tastes the same).
In the old days, there was wok hey because they fried it over charcoal in a wok which had been seasoned. And they didn't rush when frying, so you had to wait but it was worth the wait. And it was also not merely about lard, which of course was necessary to make the noodles smooth, and we also adapated to like the taste of this oil.
These days, there's no wok hey. Those who claim to have wok hey are actually using a powder that's invented by jhk, that has the wok hey taste, that's all.
So, today even a zoomer can start a stall selling hkm, just fry ah fry ah, no wok hei, and then add the zhup that is delivered to him by the supplier.
Other dishes which can do this (take from factory) are chicken rice and ngoh hiang.
One dish you can't take from central kitchen is char kway teow. The ah hias of old had died, and this dish will become extinct. Even if somebody tries to sell it, he just can't do it the same way..
cai png is another that you can't take from a central kitchen. You need a lot of skill, to know the recipe, and how to cook those various dishes. This is why unlike hkm which someone said was being fried by a Chinese, cai png has to be cooked by the tau chiu himself.