Lai Hua Porridge Cheong Fun: Found my Zhar Leong at last!
I finally found a stall in a hawker centre that sells Zhar Leong (Chee Cheong Fun with You Tiao)!
For those who haven't yet tried this Hong Kong Dim Sum dish, it is essentially deep fried flour wrapped in steamed flour and drenched in a slightly sweet and savoury soy sauce. A very simple dish which uses the most basic of ingredients but it really hits the spot and can be quite addictive.
Zhar Leong isn't quite considered a top dim sum dish in Singapore, but in Hong Kong it is found in every self respecting Dim Sum restaurant. I must say that it is my favourite form of Cheong Fun (Steamed Rice Rolls) and I would always ask for Zhar Leong first and settle with Char Siew Cheong Fun if it wasn't available. It isn't easy to find Zhar Leong even in a lot of fancy Dim Sim restaurants which is why I am quite excited to find this stall that sells it for $2.50 in Changi Village Food Centre.
I thought that it was very smart of Chef Tham to include this dish in his newly opened stall. It really does differentiate his stall from the others. It certainly caught my attention. Chef Tham used to be the head Dim Sum Chef of Goodwood Park Hotel, before he decided to venture out to start his own business, so he certainly has good credentials backing him up.
The Cheong Fun is made fresh when you order and was quite good though I expected it to be just that bit more soft and silky since it is handmade. Otherwise, for $2.50 it did satisfy my craving for Zhar Leong. 4/5 
For those who like the Hong Kong style congee, you can also order a bowl of congee from the stall. For me, the Hong Kong style congee is less robust than the Hainanese style. The porridge here reminded me of congee that Crystal Jade serves. The pork balls are a little different from the usual local version where minced meat are rolled into balls. These are a little more bouncy and have a texture somewhere between the commercially available pork balls and the ones you make yourself at home. Great if you are looking for Hong Kong style porridge. 3.75/5
Conclusion
Not many places where you can just sit down and order a plate of Zhar Leong in Singapore so it is well worth a visit if you are after a tasty snack.
Lai Hua Porridge Cheong Fun
What to do next:
Check out another place to eat Zhar Leong: Victor's Kitchen
Must try the Ipoh Hor Fun opposite this stall!
As well as the Beef Kway Teow beside it!
27 comments:
Hopefully I'll have time next Sat to head to Changi Village~
Thanks for bringing our attention to zhar leong! Not sure if it's just me or is this a little-known dish in Singapore. "Swa koo" me certainly haven't come across it before. It looks and sounds delicious!
Changi Village is rather far for me. Would try Victor's Kitchen instead :) (For now anyway)
Wow! This place looks like a stall that I should visit soon. Thks! : )
I am also swa koo to hear of zhar leong. I have only eaten You Tiao wrapped in glutinous rice in HKG which is also excellent. I's a long time since I went to Changi Village, time to head there for this besides a host of other nice food.
zha leong is more common in Hong Kong. There's other places that serves it here but not in an FC though but can't think of where off hand as this is not my favorite dimsum so never order it keke. Maybe ieat can enlighten where else we can get zha leong here
Char Leong is available not only in Dim Sum Rstnt but in almost every shops that sells porridge in HK.I used to eat it at 'Ocean Empire' which has many outlets all over HK.
Hello! The only place in Singapore which I've eaten zhar leong, bsides Victor's, is this Mayim restaurant at West Mall. It serves dim sum alongside Chinese canto and northern dishes, somewhat like Crystal Jade. There's an online menu, looks quite affordable. It's $3 for 2 large rolls.
Been wanting to try it for the longest time but always end up being too full from either their neighbors beef noodles or fish soup to have it. Will order the chee cheong fun next time i am there. They got some durian chong fun right? I wonder how that tastes like. I tried putting durian in a jaffle. But it seems heated durian loses its flavor so i am curious how well it holds up in a chee cheong fun.
If I dont remember wrong you dont like durian. Maybe you can bring ieat jr along next time to review the durian cheong fun
Who is spreading viscious rumours about me not liking Durian?
I love durians. I just don't quite like it in other forms other than the natural form.
jencooks= youtiao in cheong fun IS zhar leong. zhar leong is the cantonese name for it...
not my favorite..fried dough wrapped in steamed dough????
Wow~ Can't believe you can find this is Singapore. I miss this dish in HK. Whenever I go HK, I will go for this Zhar Leong. It's really very nice... Does it taste as good as you ate it in HK?
I think you really can't compare. It's like asking if you can really eat nice Hokkien Mee in Hong Kong. But the Zhar Leong is good enough to satisfy a craving.
Oh ok... I shall try it this weekend. Thanks!
if you like to, you can try this porridge/chee cheong fun place at Killiney Road (somewhere in the middle of the stretch of shops and restaurants).
I have not tried the porridge there, but their cheong fun comes in a diversity of flavours ranging from fruits to standards like you tiao to even contemporary flavours like green tea and yam. not too expensive too.
Can try it and give your rating too! ;)
this place at Killiney, overall prices all went up. It's kinda ex now I feel. Overall still quite good for it's porridge and cheonhg fun
Hey I tried the cheong fun and porridge from the stall before, i think its nice and worth it..
For durian lovers, the durian cheong fun is a must try dish.. The durian filling is satisfying..
Anyway i heard changi village hawker is closed for renovation, will resume business on 7 oct.
Sumo, thanks, I thot chee cheong fun is already Cantonese enough. Good learning ground here.
Oops, hold your breath until 7Oct since Changi Village hawker is closed for reno..thanks js for the info otherwise the long journey is wasted.
Arghh... didnt read the last comment... went there yesterday.. whole place deserted as its closed for renovation.
Sorry, I did not know they were closed for renovation!
wow, thanks for introducing zhar leong, i never eat it before also. haha. bur changi village's also a tad far, have to wait for the right time. lol
I agree that the chee cheong fun and porridge stall along Killiney Road rocks, esp their mushroom chee cheong fun. They also have pretty "funky" choices like mango and durian which I tried several years ago. I wonder if they still have these... Would be great to see your review on this place!
I ate at this stall last month.Would only rate it 3.5/5 I'm surprised when you mentioned the chef used to be from Goodwood Park Hotel. The cheong-fun was not as smooth as I expected and the sauce he gave to go with was disappointing.
Mrs Tan
oh my! thanks for ending my search to zhar leong in singapore! i am finally able to devour some instead of thinking about my just-ended hongkong trip!
Closed till oct 08 or 09?? If closed until 08 oct then how come renovation so fast?? i thought they only closed recently??
Then how come last month got people still say eaten it last month???
When did it started closing?? When will it finish? You guys sure got all your dates mixed up or not???
Had the char siew ccf on Monday.Found the skin too thick & the char siew too hard.. As usual had my beef noodle soup, as good as ever.
Tried the char siew CCF, on Monday, The skin too thick & the char siew too hard. As usual had my fav beef noddle soup.
Tried this but didn't really like it. The texture of the skin wasn't smooth enough for me. The you tiao was plain crispy. I only like you tiao which are crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. Nevertheless, thanks for recommending this unusual snack.
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