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The owner of a street food business in Singapore has spoken of his amazement at having the world's first Michelin-starred hawker stall.

Malaysian-born Chan Hon Meng, who is also the chef at Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle in Singapore, said he was dumbfounded when he got a call from the famous restaurant reviewers inviting him to an awards ceremony.

And he was even more shocked when he was handed a prestigious one star award for his work.

Chan, who has been working in kitchens for 35 years and trained in Hong Kong, said: "When I received the invitation I was uncertain."

(Image: Getty) (Image: Getty)

"I asked them, 'Are you joking? Why would Michelin come to my stall?'" he continued.

"I said, 'I've never heard of Michelin inspectors visiting a street stall, can even a hawker be nominated?'

"He said, 'We only judge based on the food, not on the venue.'"

Incredibly, the 51-year-old, who works 17 hours a day, was then honoured with a one Michelin star award.

On receiving the award he told Reuters: “Never knew hawker food can go global. Hopefully the next generation will also pick this up."

(Image: Facebook/Michelin Guide Singapore) (Image: Getty)

And in the Michelin Singapore video he added: "About 30 years ago when I first became a chef there were chefs who told me the highest honour you could attain is to be in the Michelin guide.

"At that time, we didn't imagine that the Michelin Guide would come here [to Singapore]. We thought it was just something found abroad.

"For us chefs we long for the day we are recognised internationally."

(Image: Facebook/Michelin Guide Singapore) (Image: Getty)

Chan sells 180 chickens a day and serves Hong Kong -style soya sauce chicken noodles, regularly seeing queues of 100 people lining up to buy a portion of the meal.

The hawker feast, priced at just over £1 per portion, is now the cheapest Michelin-starred meal in the world.