Visiting One Kueh at a Time gives me hope for our hawker heritage. Especially with the recent closing of Ah Lo Steamed Cake, it was really disheartening. There has been so much talks on preserving the hawker heritage, but who is exactly doing it? Well, the ones that are doing it are probably slogging their life away, just like Nick Soon, owner of One Kueh at a Time. Before heading to there, I felt like I have already known Nick for a long time after reading so much newspaper articles about his stall and his craft.

Everyone who has been following him online for sometime would know that his man has quit his job as an insurance agent to open a hawker stall, and he painstakingly makes Teochew kuehs filled with your choice of glutinous rice, chives, or sweet bean paste — all by hand. Now, this is a rare gem because how many still does this?

The recipes are from his old parents who have been making kuehs and sharing with friends and relatives, but have never set up their own stall. Honestly, his selection is not huge because he does everything within his small little shop in Jalan Besar. But sometimes, you just need that few dishes to shine and I am glad that Nick is sticking to what he does best now. Now on weekdays, he sells soon kueh and koo chye kueh, while on weekends, his parents will come and help him, hence they will have png kueh and orh ku kueh as well.

While I stand at the stall front filming and chatting with Nick, I see how he meticulously handle each thin dough skin, wraps ONE KUEH AT A TIME with the fillings and place them in the steamer, just like the good old times. Each pocket of kueh is wrap with so generous amount of fillings that it looks like it is going to burst anytime soon. But well, I am not complaining. It is full of ingredients!

I was served with a piping hot soon kueh and koo chye kueh each. The skin. Oh mine, so translucent that it is literally shining under the sunlight. I am particularly in love with their soon kueh, made with juicy turnips, black fungus and dried shrimps. It has enough bite and texture. The koo chye kueh was wrapped with tasty (but a little bitter) chives and bits of scrambled egg. All of their kuehs are selling at $1 each except the Koo Chye (Chives) version- at $1.20. If you are ordering in bulk, better call him up early to reserve.

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Meet 73-year-old Uncle Soon, the hawker behind Havelock Road Blk 50 Hokkien Prawn Mee. “I started helping my mother make fishballs since I was 16 years old and have been frying Hokkien Mee for 48 years,” he recalled in Teochew.

I visited his stall at ABC Brickworks Food Centre last week after hearing amazing stories about him through Tiger Beer’s recent street food movement. When everyone else hopes to retire at 55 years old to travel around the world, he is still at his shop frying Hokkien Mee everyday without fail. “I wake up at 4am every day and start working at 5am.” He cooks the stock, peels the prawns, prepares the sotong with the help of his wife and works till 10.30pm. “We are not educated, and there is nothing much we can do besides being hawkers.”

At about 1.30pm, the couple switches off the lights, dishes their lunch on the table and shared it with me. “Just a simple home-style lunch. If you don’t mind, please tuck in together.” So we sat down on the same table, chatting and eating. There were still streams of customers coming for their Hokkien Mee. Aunty Soon has to constantly tell them, “No more, we are having our lunch now.”

“He is getting old and needs rest. So we close from 2pm to 4pm to let him sleep, while I work,” explains Aunty Soon. “It’s better to be working rather than idling at home,” Uncle Soon added.

What does Singapore street food mean to you?

For many of us, we spend a large part of our lives eating and drinking in hawker centres – succumbing to the delicious aroma of chicken rice, joining the crazy queues at famous char kway teow stalls, or even travelling from the east to the west just for a bowl of bak kut teh. Hawker food defines Singapore and we should give our street food the recognition it deserves.

“Our unique street food is part of our Singaporeaness. When my favourite street food is gone, it’s like losing someone important whom we will never see again, except in our longing memories.” — Tony, blogs at johorkaki.blogspot.com

As I look at my plate of Hokkien Prawn Mee by Uncle Soon, I began to appreciate the heart and sweat that goes behind it. No, it may not be the best Hokkien Mee in Singapore. But what we are looking for is the passion beyond the taste and flavour. Have you ever wondered how much work goes into a plate of your favorite bowl of noodles?

The dying street food culture

Sadly, many first-generation hawkers are nearing retirement or some have passed away. On one hand, MissTamChiak.com constantly shares about good ol’ hawker dishes that everyone loves. On the other hand, sometimes we have to announce the closure of places, which have given us so many fond memories since young.

As society becomes more educated, who would want to take over the hawker stall that their parents have set up? There really seems to be a lack of continuity. Moreover, taking over the business is not as easy as it is. The difficulty lies in maintaining it and making the food as good, or if not, better than their predecessors. That is tough.

It is also evident that there is a shift towards new flavours and posh restaurants, with our local street food sometimes taking a back seat. A 2014 article in The Straits Times cited a study that found that Singaporean household spending at restaurants, pubs, and cafes had increased more than 250% over the last decade, while spending at hawker stands had increased only about 130% in the same time period.

“Local street food is like our nation’s roots and heritage. If street food is gone, it’s like losing a part of Singapore’s history.” — Derrick, blogs at sgfoodonfoot.com

If you would like to understand the life of a hawker, watch Uncle Soon’s story in this amazing video produced as part of Tiger Beer’s recently launched street food movement that aims to invigorate pride in our street food culture. At this moment, there is no one to take over the business but Uncle Soon will continue dishing out plates of Hokkien Prawn Mee until he is unable to do so. “My kids have their own jobs, I won’t want them to work as hawkers.”

As I waved goodbye to the old couple after my lunch, Aunty Soon waved and said, “Come back often, we don’t know when we are going to retire.”

Food for thought:

• What is your view on our street food culture?
• What if your favourite street food is no longer available?

Share your thoughts with us by using the hashtag #uncagestreetfood. If you are a huge fan of Singapore’s hawker culture and heritage, do use the hashtag #uncagestreetfood whenever you dine in a hawker centre or coffeeshop. Let’s all keep our street food heritage alive!

For more information on Tiger Beer’s new street food movement to celebrate and preserve our nation’s unique food heritage, visit http://www.tigerbeer.com.sg

The post What does Singapore street food mean to you? appeared first on Miss Tam Chiak.

Just beside Top 1 Home Made Noodle, Penang Home Made Beef Ball is a newly opened stall in Beauty World Food Centre. The owner is from Penang and his family owners Restoran Kham Khee – the famous beef steamboat place in Penang. He decided to venture out to open his humble stall using the family’s recipes.

There are 5 different dishes for you to choose from, and each dish costs $5. That’s easy. The Beef Balls Noodle Soup ($5) has two beef balls, beef slices and beef tendon. The beef slices are not overly cooked and still has that little pink. The soup looks like it is super tasty, but well sadly, it tasted like Vietnamese Pho.

Braised Brisket Noodle ($5) had springy noodles with braised beef brisket covered in luscious brown sauce. It would be better if alkaline flavour from the noodles could be lessen. The meat itself still maintains some bite, it’s soft but not exactly melt-in-the-mouth. The star here is definitely the home made beef balls, which is firm and bouncy.

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Face To Face, a popular Sarawak noodle brand from Malaysia, has opened its first overseas franchise set-up in Singapore.

Over a 100 years ago, the founder’s great-grandfather picked up the rare skill of making Jook Sing noodles, one of the rarest forms of noodle-making in existence. Starting from a small store in the corner of an old coffee shop, it slowly garnered a strong and loyal following who came back continuously for the irresistible flavours and springy noodles. Today, Face To Face has over 30 outlets all across Malaysia and they have just opened their first overseas franchise set-up in Singapore.

Located in City Square level 2, customers can be sure to find the same familiar flavours of the signatures Face to Face noodles as they would in Malaysia, only now in a slightly larger portion with added toppings.

Nothing can be more comforting than a bowl of House Specialty Pan Mee ($8.90). The thick and flat noodles has a good bite with a bowl of cloudy soup that’s not too oily or salty. Slurping the pan mee is profoundly therapeutic. They also have hot and spicy pan mee served with minced meat, anchovies, onsen egg and house special dry chilli ($8.90).

Here comes the star – a bowl of wriggly, al dente egg noodles served with minced pork, char siew, fried wonton and marinated spring onions. The Sarawak Noodles ($8.90) are tossed in their delectable pork sauce. Their noodles are handmade daily without any preservatives. We love it for the excellent texture and smoothness, but as to whether it is authentic or not, we are not the best people to judge.

Besides the signature Sarawak Noodles and Pan Mee, new creations that cater to Singaporean’s demanding taste buds are also introduced here – Curry Chicken Pan Mee, and Genki Herbal Chicken Soup Pan Mee.

A bowl of Genki Herbal Chicken Soup Pan Mee ($12.90, limited portions available) is a satisfying meal that really hits the spot on a cold rainy day when you are craving something warm, fragrant and flavourful. Packed with the goodness of Chinese herbs, chicken and enoki mushrooms, each bowl is served with tender chicken chunks and a generous serving of the silken soft noodles. A powerful pick-me-up indeed!

Complete your meal with a value set priced at $9.90 (with drink) or $10.90 (with drink and a snack). Snack choices include deep-fried fish cake, bacon cheese ball and fried wonton. Hakka yong tau foo ($7.50 for five items) is also available.

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Chef Pang Kok Keong, chef-owner of Antoinette, has launched a total of 6 new croissant flavouts that will grab the hearts of foodies and hawker fans alike.

Antoinette’s croissant is made with traditional French techniques of laminating high quality French butter and dough in a temperature controlled environment at 12 degrees Celsius, to create the crispy and flaky crust and layering Antoinette’s croissants are famous for. Delightful and baked fresh daily, these filled croissants are perfect for tea time or as a snack on the go.

The 6 flavours include (in no order of preference):

Drawing from his French culinary background and Singaporean roots, Chef Pang has created Chili Crab Croissant ($7.50), a wonderful savoury treat that gives this uniquely Singaporean favourite, the chilicrab and “mantou” combination, a new twist. The Chili Crab Croissant combines Antoinette’s well-loved croissant with a chilli crab filing of real crabmeat, specially concocted “rempah”, as well as a house-made tomato sauce to create the comforting sweet and spicy flavours loved by Singaporeans.

The Salted Caramel Croissant ($6) combines Antoinette’s flaky, buttery croissant perfumed with Madagascan vanilla pod and highlighted with fleur de sel from Guérande. Caramel is cooked to a rich amber with that inimitable note of burnt sugar”à point”. French cream & butter is added to create a rich & luxurious taste sensation. The croissant reveals a flowing lava of salted caramel when sliced open or bitten in to.

Inspired by his Singaporean heritage, Chef Pang puts together the Charcoal Kaya Croissant ($6) as a tribute to the traditional breakfast favourite of kaya toast. The Charcoal Kaya Croissant oozes Antoinette’s popular Queen’s Kaya- a house-made kaya recipe created to celebrate the SG50 jubilee in 2015. The Queen’s Kaya is based on the classic French crème patissiere, made with coconut cream and pure pandan juice with no artificial colours or flavouring. It is an irresistible treat that has been well-received by diners, and Chef Pang finds the La Crossainterie series befitting of this royal treat.

Recalling traditional practices of toasting kaya toast over hot charcoal, Chef Pang creates a charcoal-infused croissant to house the Queen’s Kaya. The croissant is made by blending in bamboo charcoal powder with dough, laminated with high quality French butter using traditional French techniques.

From the East, the Matcha Croissant ($6) presents a smooth concoction of custard and the finest matcha powder, sourced from the city of Nishio in the Aichi prefecture of Japan known for producing very high quality matcha powder. Using crème patisserie methods, Chef Pang creates a perfect balance between the two ingredients, leaving a subtly sweet yet pleasantly bitter filling.

From the West, the Quatre Fromages (4 Cheeses) Croissant ($6) is a well-rounded mix of aged Cheddar, Gruyère, Parmesan and Mozzarella, balancing sharp, savoury and salty flavours. The filling is inspired from a traditional French Mornay sauce – a thick white sauce of cheese, butter and milk – but given a more fluid texture to create a flowing lava of cheese.

Chef Pang has given Antoinette’s well-loved croissant the perfect companion, in the form of a smooth, creamy and decadent salted egg yolk flling oozing out of its light and airy centre.

Called the ‘Salted Yolk Lava Croissant’ ($6.50), this new viennoiserie features the best of French baking and the love of Asian salted eggs. To achieve the perfect oozing centre, the croissant flling is made with real natural salted egg yolks, sugar and milk, and hand-sieved to give it a silky-smooth texture. Break it apart, tear into it – you will not long resist this divine treat of savoury and sweet. Antoinette’s Salted Yolk Lava Croissant is made fresh daily in limited quantities.

6 flavours, Salted Yolk Lava, Chili Crab, Salted Caramel, Charcoal Kaya, Matcha and Quatre are now available daily at Penhas outlet from 11am, and other selected outlets. Delivery or reservation available for orders of 10 pcs or more.

The post Antoinette Introduces French Croissants in 6 Different Flavours appeared first on Miss Tam Chiak.

Kent Thong Turtle Soup started in Keong Saik Street in 1992 before moving to Chinatown Complex. The kitchen is helmed by a husband and wife duo, they take turns to run the stall daily.

Their new signboard is straightforward – either turtle soup, black chicken soup or mutton soup. I had two meals there and had a chance to speak to both of them. They greet you and politely asks for your order, no matter how busy they are.

Mornings are dedicated to making their soup, allowing it to simmer and boil and release all its flavours. They use the same soup base for black chicken soup and turtle soup. But for black chicken soup ($5), they added some XO wine into the soup, hence it is so much more fragrant. You get quite a full bodied soup that is comforting.

On the other hand, the herbal aroma in turtle soup ($12) is delicate. The mildly herbal soup is light and sweet with soft gelatinous skin which all women love. They use farm-bred turtle meat which has a lower calorie content and less fats. It also contains significantly more protein. The meats are chunky and goes well with a bowl of rice. Add $1 to have your turtle eggs added in your soup. It’s rare to see them but it brings a richer flavour to the mild broth.

For a regular mutton soup ($6), you get an impressive serving of lamb ribs and meat. Almost fall-off-the-bone delicate, the meat is tender, lightly gamey and well seasoned. The soup is intensely flavoured yet light, albeit having a thin layer of fat swimming on the surface.

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Travellers to Batam would be familiar with Yong Kee Istimewa Soup Seafood. Having operated for over 20 years, this iconic fish soup restaurant is famous for its simple clear fish soup which beats many other fish soup in Indonesia. Good news is, you don’t have to travel all the way to Batam for their fish soup now as they have set up a stall in Ang Mo Kio!

I was having a bad cold and the best food to have for lunch would be a bowl of steaming hot fish soup. Located in a coffeeshop at Blk 133 Ang Mo Kio, the menu is simple and straightforward.

Whether you order sliced fish soup ($4 or $6), seafood soup ($5 or $7) or fish head yam soup ($6 or $8), the same broth is used for making all of them. The soup is not full-bodied but, refreshingly light. The thinly sliced batang fish slices were firm to the bite, it’s smooth, firm and clean tasting. Pairing with their sambal balachan, it has got the kick!

In a bowl of fish soup ($4 or $6), you’ll find typical ingredients such as crisp lettuce, fried shallots, and fresh fish slices all served with steamed white rice. They only have peanut chicken feet as accompaniment in this stall. If only they have a wider mix of side dishes like their batam outlet, that would be perfect. The Fish Head Yam Soup ($6 or $8) has generous serving of fish slices and huge yam pieces. I thought it could have more depth especially with the addition of yam.

If you are looking for a bowl of fresh and healthy fish soup, Yong Kee Seafood Fish Soup is a good option for you.

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Now that I am on my own, I have been trying to practise four-day week, turning Thursday as the new Friday. It is not easy as there are always so many things to be done. But guess what, Xing Yun Kway Chap opens only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday – THREE DAYS PER WEEK! #ultimatewin

We visited last Sunday after hearing about it. Since they are only open for 3 days a week, expect long queues forming at the stall as foodies satisfy their kway chap craving. I knew standing 45 minutes in queue is all worthwhile when I was served with a glorious plate of perfectly braised kway chap.

The braised pork belly, pig’s intestines and tau pok are well flavoured with the savoury braising sauce. Balanced in flavour, the braising sauce has got a good consistency and is not too thick nor watery. The ingredients are stewed long enough for the spices to penetrate into them.

Don’t worry about the interestines as they are tender and absorbed the sauce without any odour. Since we are in the queue for so long, we ordered a portion of pig’s tongue which makes the aunty brimming with joy. They also have huge pig trotters. Dip the morsels into a tangy spicy chilli sauce for oomph.

The translucent kway is slippery smooth and do not break easily in the broth. Pork rib’s broth is first added into the bowl of noodles before flavouring it with just a little of their rich gravy for braised meats. It has got a very mild sweetness and very aromatic.

Go early because they are usually sold out about 1pm.

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Yesterday, we travelled all the way to Holland Drive Market & Food Centre to have claypot rice. Sadly, it was past the lunch time and they were already closed. When we were about to leave, we passed by this new stall called Rojak Line and decided to give it a try.

Newly opened for a month, 31-year-old Debbie has been a crazy rojak fan for years but she didn’t like hae ko (shrimp paste). So she created her own vegetarian rojak sauce using quality ingredients.

Hae ko (shrimp paste) is an important sauce for making rojak. When replaced with a vegetarian version, I was skeptical at first but it turns out to be outstanding. The sauce is rich and sticky, but tasted surprisingly light and zesty. With a hint of tamarind and ginger flower, the well-rounded flavours binds the ingredients perfectly.

Rojak Line Rojak ($4 / $5 / $6) has got prominent ingredients such as pineapple, turnip, you tiao and cucumber which gave a refreshing dimension. They are all lathered in the evenly. My only grip is the you tiao (dough fritters) were not crispy enough hence it lacked the crunch.

Using the same rojak sauce, they created Toast You Tian Popiah ($2) which basically wraps the you tiao in popiah skin and sprinkled with crushed peanuts. Again, sauce is outstanding but I think you tiao is a little too doughy and not crispy enough. Otherwise, this would have been perfect.

Another popular item in the menu is Vegetarian Popiah ($1.80) made with braised turnip, carrot, shitake, homemade sweet sauce, peanut, chilli and garlic. For vegans, they can request for no garlic. Service wise, honestly it was a little slow but I guess Debbie is still new, so she needs some time to speed up.

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CRAVE recently opened its fourth outlet in ION Orchard, bringing the popular Selera Rasa nasi lemak from Adam Road Hawker Centre and Rafee’s Corner teh tarik formerly from Amoy Street Hawker Centre all under one roof.

Operated by Pezzo Group which has Pezzo Pizza kiosks all over Singapore, this also marks CRAVE’s first venture into the city area, after setting up shop in the heartland malls of Hougang, Bedok and Punggol.

The award-winning Selera Rasa nasi lemak counts the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, as one of their fans, who requests it for breakfast every time he visits Singapore.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo also had the chance to savour this dish when he was in Singapore for his youngest son’s graduation ceremony in November 2014, when he had breakfast with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana.

So how did the partnership between Selera Rasa, Rafee’s Corner and Pezzo come about? According to this Straits Times article, the co-founder of Pezzo Pizza, who is also a regular Selera Rasa customer, broached the idea of a joint venture to owner Abdul Malik bin Hassan. In this arrangement, Pezzo takes care of the outlets while Selera Rasa ensures the quality of food.

On the other hand, Mr Abdul Malik, who was around at the tasting session, told me that he is a good friend with Rafee’s Corner’s owner Mohamed Rabeek. They got to know each other when they previously participated in Singapore Day, where they brought their beloved classics to Singaporeans based overseas together with other top hawkers and restauranteurs.

CRAVE’s mouthwatering nasi lemak is prepared using a family recipe that has been passed down over generations, with a winning combination of basmati rice, fried chicken wing, signature sambal chilli and fresh otah-otah. Almost everything is prepared in-store. The nasi lemak come in various combinations with sides of ikan bilis, sliced cucumber and sambal chilli, and are priced very affordably between $4.90 and $6.90. Try everything at one go with the Royal Rumble ($6.90), which comes with chicken wing, egg, fried ikan kuning, begedil (Malay-style spiced potato patties), and top up $1 for the otah.

The piping hot basmati rice is light and fluffy with a whiff of coconut milk fragrance. Usually found in biryani, the long basmati grains are a welcome change from the typical short grain rice found in other nasi lemak, as they absorb water well but do not become overly wet and clumpy. The chicken wings make use of a secret recipe that involves overnight marination, and are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. 

Meanwhile, the sambal chilli is made with a combination of Indian and Japanese chillies and is cooked for five hours, resulting in a sweet-spicy-savoury concoction that goes well with the other ingredients. The otah-otah are made every morning with ground quality mackerel fish and wrapped with banana leaves – so moist and good that other diners have ordered a few of them separately at $1.80 each!

But for me, the winning side dish was the begedil ($1.20). Good begedil are hard to come by and I asked for even more to munch on, though Mr Abdul Malik was meek about the preparation details. He only shared that the potato patties were mixed with a bit of pepper and other spices, and covered with a layer of egg before frying.

Rafee’s Corner’s Mr Mohamed Rabeek was around too and I got to see him in action, preparing the fragrant and smooth teh tarik in perfect motion. Making use of a blend of tea dust, his teh tarik has a nice flavour that makes a good pairing with the nasi lemak. 

Besides teh tarik, other drinks like kopi tarik, teh c and kopi o are available at $1.80 (hot) and $2.20 (iced). Two other non-coffee/non-tea options in the form of bandung and calamansi are available too at $2.50 (iced).

Other outlets are at Hougang Mall #B1-11, Bedok Mall #B2-22, Waterway Point #B1-K7 and Parkway Parade B1 (Food Republic Stall 18).

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Fried carrot cake, or chai tow kway, is a dish that I will definitely introduce to my overseas visitors whenever I do food tours with them. That’s because the savoury radish cubes are so different from their carrot cake which is usually eaten as dessert.

I have a soft spot for carrot cake because my grandfather would always buy it back for supper or tea break when I was still a child. Till now, I still eat it very frequently. Especially the black version, it’s so irresistible. Guan Hin Homemade Carrot Cake (元兴自制菜头粿) has been under the radar for too long. I have been seeing it on my friends’ feed for a few months but every time I went to the hawker centre, it’s closed. No luck.

When I went there last week, I am so happy that they are opened and I finally get to try it! Run by a old couple, they still make their own rice cake in the shop. If you visit them at the right time, you will see the 83-year-old uncle busy making their own radish cake in the stall. That’s the reason why you get to eat thick and chunky rectangular radish cake instead of the thinly sliced ones which are mostly factory made.

We tried both black and white version. I prefer the former because the addition of black sweet sauce makes the soft carrot cake moist, sticky, sweet, and savoury. When it is done well like this, it is super addictive with aromatic charred edges! They are very generous with eggs too! My friend says it taste much better when you do take away, so give it a try and let me know. The white version are not bad too, you get the mild crunch from the preserved radish.

The quest to find good black carrot cake continues… So far, I have Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao in Bedok and Fu Ming Cooked Food in Redhill in my favourite list. Guan Hin is my new favourite for now and if you have any recommendations, leave a comment for me!

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I was having lunch in a hotel one day and was asking one of the staff where to get cheap and good eats in Orchard Road? He immediately recommended me to try Rabbit Brand which sells $10 Buddha Jump Over the Wall in Lucky Plaza.

Immediately the next day, I dropped by to have lunch and was super impressed. I am sure many of you are familiar with Rabbit brand. No no, not the one that sells sweet, but the one that supplies abalone, fish maw etc. Because they supply seafood (Yeow Seng (Seafood) Pte Ltd), opening a restaurant is a good choice because they can mark down the prices.

$10 Buddha Jump Over the Wall?!?! He is not kidding! Ok lah, to be exact, it is $10.15 including GST. Stewed with generous amounts of mini delicacies such as dry scallops, abalone, mushrooms, sea cucumber and fish maw, the taste is mellow and tender. In fact it is lighter than Shen Xi Soup but still decent. A set comes with a small plate of bean sprouts and a bowl of rice.

Something cheaper? Go for the $5.90 seafood steamed rice with mini abalone, mushroom, tender chicken chunks and lup cheong. Drizzled with some superior soy sauce, it is not too bad for a meal.

For something more luxurious, go for braised whole abalone set from $11.25. Apparently it is a popular choice as the abalone absorbed the oyster sauce and pairs with the white rice.

While I won’t recommend the braised claypot fish maw soup ($5.90) because it was a little too bland, we like the tom yam version ($5.90) which is hearty with a mild kick. Plus you get quite a few huge pieces of fish maw.

All set come with rice, dessert (cold white fungus soup) and unlimited Chinese tea. Pair all your meals with their homemade XO sauce. They have another outlet in 11 Circular Road as well.

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Rarely do I have the chance to visit the west but when I do, I make sure I chiak all the way. We were recommended to try Xiang Mei Roasted Meat (香美烧腊), a two-minutes walk from Bukit Batok MRT.

Still using charcoal to roast, I get a beautifully roasted duck thigh with that mild crackling skin and juicy meat. Even though it was not as meaty, you can still get the juiciness from the meat with a very slight herbal flavours. I can’t remember if there was gravy but I think it’s good on its own.

The soy chicken is decent with quite tender meat but char siew is not their forte lah. Roast meat didn’t crackle as much and didn’t impress. Unfortunately, the chilli here is a little weak, tangy and spicy but too watery. You can enjoy your meal for $3 with complimentary soup. They change their soup almost everyday, we had peanut soup that day.

The post Xiang Mei Roasted Meat – Charcoal Grilled Roast Duck in Bukit Batok appeared first on Miss Tam Chiak.

Wanton mee needs no introduction. When it comes to a great wanton mee, it’s hard to find one which gets all elements perfect – from the noodle texture to the wanton toppings. Located in a quaint coffee shop at Seletar Hills, I was recommended to try 36 M.S Homemade Yun Tun Noodle.

Their superb homemade egg noodles take centrestage, which is different from the usual mee-kia. The uncle will first blanch the noodles in boiling water, before ladling out for a cold water bath to give them a springy texture. They are then dipped into hot water again and quickly tossed in the sauce to give them a silky texture.

The next star is the huge and juicy dumplings (水饺) filled with pork mince wrapped in the stall. I recommend you to order dumplings noodles without chilli. Because the noodles are tossed in savory black sauce that gives it the glistening look.

Wanton mee with chilli sauce was decent. The red char siew was ordinary, but it doesn’t have a hard texture like some other stalls. The only disappointment is small wantons. Oh ya, the portions are little small as well. So for guys, you probably got to upsize it!

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Chef Benny Se Teo of Eighteen Chefs has opened a new kopitiam in Bugis Junction – Seng Kee The Black Seed. This modern coffee house is going to be halal-certified so our Muslim friends can also enjoy kaya toast and nanyang coffee together.

The ordering system is quite straightforward. You order and pay at the cashier. When the number on your receipt shows on the screen, collect your food.

One drink the menu that they speak strongly about is the Bullet ($1.90 for 8 oz) which is made from concentrated black coffee with a slice of butter. It packs a punch!

Their 63°C soft boil eggs ($2.20 for 2) is super power lah! The sous-vide egg is a thing of beauty. The yolks are runny and surrounded by tender white that’s so silky smooth. Totally can’t bear to eat them. That reminds me, that I haven’t touch my sous-vide machine for a long time…

Their menu is quite different from our other coffee joints like Toast Box or Ya Kun. Yes they have the usual suspects but on top of it, Chef Benny has given a clever twist on our local dishes to cater to all.

For example, the chee cheong fun is not served in the black sauce. Instead, you can have them in sambal belacan ($3), peanut & chilli sauce ($3), beef rendang ($6.50), sambal sotong ($6.50), devil’s curry chicken ($5.50), local curry chicken ($5.50) or japanese curry (vegetarian, $4.50). So many different ways! I was recommended by the cashier to try the sambal sotong version. The chewy sotong is drenched with a thick and spicy sambal sauce that is so fragrant and tasty. Because of such intensity, I love this so much that I ordered again during my second visit.

Our national dish Hainanese Chicken Rice is given a gourmet twist as Chef Benny came up with Hainanese Chicken Sandwich ($3.20 for 4″, $6 for 8″). Choose from ciabatta or focaccia as slices of chicken, ginger sauce, chilli sauce, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes are sandwiched in between the bread. It’s a little hard to eat them as a whole because of the thick layers of lettuce, making it easily dismantled. But if you successfully put them all in your mouth, you can an explosion in taste as if you are having a plate of comforting chicken rice. Other options include beef rendang sandwich that is stewed for at least 3 hours till it is tender; hae bee hiam with wild rocks, tomato with cheddar, roast duck or sambal sotong.

Devil’s Curry is a fiery red curry made with a different style of spice paste namely dried chilies, shallots, ginger, vinegar, yellow mustards, sausages, potatoes, carrots, chicken/duck etc. The end result is a complex flavour that is tantalising to the taste buds. Here, you can pair it with bread bowls ($5) or rice ($5.40 for nasi lemak, $4.50 for plain rice). It’s thick and sedap but needs a little more kick for me.

Breakfast is perhaps the best excuse to dive into supremely delicious nasi lemak, as New York-based Time magazine listed it to be the 10 most healthy breakfasts in the world (really?!?!). Nasi Lemak here uses basmati rice and starts from $2.40. We included a chicken wing and costs $3.80 in total. The chicken rests on a pile of coconut-scented basmatic rice studded by 1/2 boiled egg, ikan bilis, cucumbers and a fiery sambal.

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Everybody loves dim sum, and siew mai is usually the favourite. Now you can get decent siew mai for $1.90 at Xiao Chen Homemade Bao Dian! Started a few months ago by a Malaysian cook, Xiao Chen Homemade Bao Dian serves cheap and decent dim sum at a coffeeshop in Geylang Bahru. My group of makan kakis visited the stall in early April to try it.

To be honest, I never like to have dim sum in kopitiam because many stalls use commercially-made stuff that is bought from factories. I had a chat with the boss and he comes to the stall before 6am to prepare and makes the dim sum from scratch daily. The hard work put in to make these dim sum – it’s really not a job that everyone can do for years. I am sure there are many other kopitiam dim sum that holds that passion too.

Most of the dim sum items are priced at $1.90 including siew mai, har kau, crab meat dumpling, pork ribs, chicken feet etc. For good results, the boss uses fresh meat to make his dim sum. That makes most of his dim sum different. Other staples include chee cheong fun ($2), braised pork bao ($1.30), big pau ($1.60), coffee pau ($0.80), golden sands pau ($1). We didn’t get to try any pau that day, so we probably got to head back and do it again.

While you are there, don’t forget to walk over to Geylang Bahru Market & Food Centre nearby to have a plate of Guan Hin Carrot Cake.

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At Tai Thong Crescent, there is a new bak kut teh stall called Rong Shu Xia Rou Gu Cha (榕树下肉骨茶). Yes yes *clears throat* 路边一棵榕树下, 是我怀念的地方 ~~ But this place is not located under the banyan tree. The owners from Perak, Malaysia call it this name because there are always food stalls located under the banyan tree and he would always meet his friends there to makan. Hence, 榕树 resonates with alot of Malaysian.

Started a few months ago, Rong Shu Xia Rou Gu Cha serves cantonese style bak kut teh, which is also known as Malaysian Bak Kut Teh. Unlike our peppery version, spices and herbs are added into their broth. We went for lunch last week and tried a few of their signature items.

First off, the steaming hot Pork Ribs Soup ($5.90). This reminded me of Restoran Shoon Huat BKT in Taman Sentosa. Not as herbal as I expect, the clear and watery broth is vague and a lot less herbal than the Klang style. So if you are looking for a kick in the soup, this is a little mild. Good thing is, the gentle soup does not snatch the limelight from the sweetness of the pork ribs. It’s quite tender and fall-off-the-bone easily. They currently only serve pork ribs now, but I hope they will add more toppings like liver, intestine and pig’s stomach to go with the soup in future.

To pair with bak kut teh, we ordered Preserved Vegetables ($1.90) and Stewed Peanuts ($1.90). The former is not bad, it still retains its crunch and not overly salty. Because of their opening special, they are having 50% promotion on weekdays from now till 1 July 2016 for selected items. On our day of visit, the Special Fried Pork is selling at half price ($3.20), so we ordered as well. Deep fried till golden brown, it is like biting into popcorn – crispy and flavourful with fatty meats in between.

The sizzling pot of Ginger Wine Chicken ($5.90) is tender while the savory sauce goes great on rice. I would prefer the chicken to be braised a little longer so that the sesame oil can be infused further. The Pig Trotter’s ($5.90) decent with a great mixture of fatty skin and lean meat.

Our meal ended with a bang, when the owners serve us a pot of XO Spare Ribs Prawn Noodle Soup ($5.90). This is like the best creation from Rong Shu Xia! The broth is made from shell and heads, added with intense XO sauce to develop a rich and umami laden flavours. Not the big prawns that you find in some other stalls, but the broth won us over.

Don’t expect much service. I called to ask their opening hours and the waitress was talking to someone while answering my phone. Upon reaching there, I had to repeat my orders to the waiter so many times. Well, I guess it is the teething issue that they are still working on. Look forward to better service next time.

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I am a huge fan of fish soup. There was once a foodie I knew online introduced me to a famous fish soup stall in Chinatown Smith Street food centre and said it was the best fish soup she has ever eaten, with no milk. The gullible me believed and went to try it only to find myself very disappointed and not to trust her anymore. Where got no milk? The amount of milk and sesame oil added into the soup was so overwhelming that I cannot… Moral of the story: some reviews really cannot be trusted. So I told my friend Melvin about my disappointment and he said, “Let me introduce you to a super good fish soup stall that everyone gave thumbs up!”. I was still skeptical and asked, “Sure or not?”. This time, I am really impressed.

Owner of Mr Fish, Mr Lee, only started selling fish soup in Chinatown about 2 years ago. As a family business, his son, Alan, who works as a It specialist at night helps in the stall almost every day and is now doing most of the cooking. Considering there are so many fish soup stalls in Chinatown, it is really brave for Mr Fish to come in. But they came in strong and are not newcomers in the F&B industry. They used to run a zi char in stall in the west Henderson Road. When they found got a stall in Chinatown, they decided to just focus on doing Cantonese style fish dishes well, i.e. Fish Soup, Black Bean Sliced Fish Hor Fun, Braised Bittergourd and Sliced Fish etc.

We waited half an hour on a late Saturday afternoon for our dishes. When the Fish Head Bee Hoon ($5) finally arrived at my table, I got that whiff of aroma from the piping hot fish stock. They first fried the fish bones and then boil it for hours to get that creaminess and silky texture. This is time consuming but they have insist that no short cut is done – meaning no milk is added. This one really got no milk lah, I am very sure because I am very “sensitive” to lactose products. One sip of the soup, you know it’s worth the wait. They are very generous with huge chunks of fried fish and some cabbage to give a refreshing taste.

Besides the fish head bee hoon, the other best seller is Braised Bitter Gourd and Sliced Fish ($8). Cooked in a black bean sauce, the taste of wok hei is obvious. When bite onto the bitter gourd, you get their crunchy and smoky aroma, with fresh fish slices. It’s so comforting and best goes with rice. I can’t wait to try their Black Bean Sliced Fish Hor Fun which is freshly fried upon order, hence the waiting times increase. But, quality food is worth the wait right?

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My grandmother used to cook mee hoon kueh when I was a kid. She will prepare the dough and add dong cai (preserved winter vegetables) into it, tore them piece by piece into the boiling soup. That’s one of the sweetest childhood memory. Sometimes, we would eat you mian which we bought from the wet market.

When I visited Grandma Ban Mee (老妈子板面) at Amoy Street, memories start flowing as the stall name resonates with my childhood. During lunch time, the queue for this stall is very long. We decided to give it a try to see if it really brings back some feeling of nostalgia.

Honestly, it’s not really ban mee lor. It’s more like you mee. The menu is straightforward with only 3 options (Chilli/ Dry/Soup) and additional toppings come at extra charge. We were recommended to go for their their signature dry chilli ban mee ($5).

While I have not tried Kin Kin to make a comparison, the noodles here are springy with a moderately spicy chilli paste, egg, ikan bilis and minced meat. You could feel a little heat, but it keeps you going, perhaps due to the fragrance from shrimps. Before you know it, the bowl of noodles is gone!

I belong to the traditionalist who still love ban mee soup ($4), so we had to order it. Typically during my younger days, my grandmother only uses dried anchovies for the soup. But now, the taste profile has changed and we are looking at better tasting soup than before.

Grandma Ban Mee’s clear soup version was lighter than many other ban mee stalls but it’s filled with ingredients like mushrooms, black fungus, ikan bilis and vegetables. My dining partner finds it lack of depth, which is understand-able. But for me, it is probably a similar taste to what I eat at home. I call it “comfort”.

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Before I began my post on Ding Ji Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles, here’s a disclaimer – I am not paid to write about them. The story goes, this new bak chor mee stall opens in Bishan, at the same coffeeshop as the famous 284 Kueh Chap. I saw it while I was having supper. Then I went back for lunch and to give it a try.

The first time I ate it…

It was really really good. I ordered the most expensive one from the menu – fish maw soup. The first thought was, it looked like Seng Kee minced pork noodles in Serangoon Garden Market. That is my favourite and it has definitely set the high expectation.

So when the cook prepared my fish maw soup, I watched closely of the ingredients he added. The rich soup base is simmered overnight to get all the goodness from the pork bones. There is generous amounts of sliced pork, pork liver, dried sole fish (ti po), a spoonful of minced meat and egg served in the aromatic soup, with springy noodles tossed in chilli sauce. The ti po probably gives the soul to the broth. To be honest, the aroma of the ti po here is not exactly comparable to the one in Seng Kee. But, it does have that subtle fragrance that many BCM soups are lacking. Plus, I believed that the fish maw used here is a higher grade than Seng Kee’s, because Seng Kee’s version had a strong greasy smell to it.

Even though the mee kia was factory made, they were well tossed with chilli, vinegar, lard oil and sliced braised mushrooms that were spongy with savoury braising sauce. From readers’ comments, I understand that there are many Ding Ji noodle shop around the island but only the one is Bishan and Eunos serves fish maw soup. The rest of the Ding Ji outlets only do Teochew Minced Pork Noodles – which is really not impressive.

Keeping all these factors in mind, plus it only costs $8 for such a generous soup and noodles (cheaper than Seng Kee’s), it was natural for me to share about this stall. At that moment, I am quite certain I have found a very decent bak chor mee / fish maw soup stall that is open for 24 hours and so near to all of us who live in Ang Mo Kio and Bishan. In fact, I was so excited about it that I called my husband and good friend immediately after my lunch to tell them about this “finding”.

But I didn’t expect…

After my lunch, I roughly edited the video I took on my phone and uploaded to Facebook during the unpeak hours. What I didn’t expect, was the amazing feedback that everyone gave. Within a day, the number of shares and views were soaring and the stall eventually ran out of fish maw soup the following morning. Till date, the video itself has got 221K Views, 4369 Shares and 1200 comments.

To be honest, the numbers were too scary. The response was overwhelming, to the extent that the stall cannot cope with it for the first three days. I have read every single feedback, be it good or bad. Thank you for spending time to type it out. Some people queued for 2 hours just to get a bowl of noodles. When people queued for so long, their expectations increased and when the noodles cannot meet their expectations, they get angry. There were people who assume that I get paid to write about this, there were people who called me nasty names, and there were people who take time to defame the stall by pasting the same reply on everyone’s comments. The most ridiculous thing is, some actually boycott it without even tasting it just because the stall belongs to Fei Siong. Come on lah, how childish is that? Pfft.

For those who queued, tried and left disappointed …. it’s understandable. I had it on a quiet weekday afternoon with no crowd, and the cook took his time to slowly prepare my soup and noodles. But after the video came out, the cook had to speed up the cooking just to cater the sudden crowd. There are definitely differences in standards, after all, it’s hawker food. And to be honest, after the video, I didn’t dare to write about it anymore.

So I went back again…

The issue is, because the stall operates 24 hours and they have two shifts to manage the stall. I usually go during weekday lunch and it is cooked by the uncle you seen in this post. There was no problem and I still enjoy it, even though I thought the soup was milder than what I had previously. I guess it was because their turnover time for boiling of soup became shorter, hence it was not as rich and flavourful.

But after reading through all the comments, I went back on a weekend supper to try it 2 weeks after the video was published. From 7pm to 7am, the soup and noodles are cooked by a 74-year-old aunty. Now I can truly understand the frustration of many foodies. Our orders were a little messed up, the noodles were overcooked (because the aunty was trying to decipher whose noodles were those) and the soup was not great. Some of the soups were only lukewarm. It was in fact, disappointing. I never doubt her experience but she was probably overwhelmed by the crowd too.

In conclusion…

I apologize if you were served a less than satisfactory bowl of noodles. I stress that I don’t own the place nor I am paid to write. I am just a happy foodie who wants to share good hawker food that I have found. It’s not unsurprising that we get drastic opinions from two different extremes of the same stall due to consistency argument. But I hope you understand that all reviews are subjective since it is a perception of an experience. 

Like most things, word of mouth is one of the strongest way a restaurant or hawker stall builds its street credibility. But it is also the responsibility for all F&B establishments to uphold the standards. Sometimes, the dish may not suit your liking. For example, I love my chicken rice flavourful and oily, but my husband thinks it is too much and prefers a lighter rice. It’s not wrong. Your food preference and my food preference may be different and can be different. I won’t criticise someone just because they have different views about the same dish. It’s fair comment, in my opinion. But well, obviously some people think their tongue can taste the best dish and if they think it’s lousy, they go all out to penalize and criticize. I don’t agree to such behaviour but I won’t name and shame. Afterall, we are here to build a healthy community of foodies.

For me, I would still go back for my dry noodles and fish maw soup in the afternoon. It is still tasty in my opinion. In fact, I just brought some of my food kakis there and they love it. In my district, it’s not easy to find a good bowl of bak chor mee like this. A bowl of BCM starts from $3.50 but I really suggest you to try the $8 fish maw soup version because it’s solid. They also serve huge and juicy teochew dumplings. Yes, they open 24 hours.

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