Changi Teochew Kitchen: From Simple Teochew Mueh to Teochew Banquet
With Fashionfoodie,Cactuskit, Jencooks, Wahcow, Toothfairy and BossConan
Now, this Teochew Kitchen was recommended by Fashionfoodie who, if you all remember, is one of our Teochew Ah Hias who really loves his Peh Dou Her. So when he started going on about the Braised Duck and Tua Terng (Large intestines) here, I could feel a strong Swatow wind blowing me towards Changi Village.
Changi Village is one of those last few places in Singapore that still has that "outback" charm. When I was a kid, Changi used to be the end of the earth. A day out at Changi beach was a big thing and almost like going on a road trip to Malaysia. But then along came Changi Airport and suddenly a lot of the mystery of Changi was lost. But Changi Village itself has still got a bit of that "ulu" flavour and a great place to go for supper. And if you are hankering for some hot Teochew Porridge on a cold rainy evening, you'd be happy to know that a new Teochew Kitchen has just opened there to transport you to Swatow.
This place was opened by a couple of Teochew Ah Hias who wanted to bring the concept of Swatow dining to Singapore. So when you walk into the restaurant itself, you will see the food being displayed like what they are in Swatow (or China in general). They even went to the extent of hiring two chefs from Swatow to be in charge of the food there. The restaurant has two sections, an aircon area with private rooms and an Al Fresco area. The best thing is that you can actually come here and have a choice of whether you want to eat simple Teochew Porridge for a few bucks a head or go for a banquet of Teochew favourites like steamed shark's head and Orh Nee.
Salted Egg Roll $12 for 8
Our first dish was something new for me. The salted egg rolls are made from dried persimmons wrapped in a crispy dough made from salted egg yolks. Somehow they struck me as something very typically Teochew as we do like to mix sweet with salty flavours. Just take the Teochew Bak Chang for example, which characteristically has a ball of sweet bean paste in it. I don't think it is something for everyone which is why it is not a popular Bak Chang. But for this Teochew Ah Hia, I found it quite pleasing. 4/5
Cold Crabs $20 per Crab (small)
The cold crabs are served with a bit of vinegar here instead of sweet plum sauce. I find it as difficult to rave about cold crabs as I do about sashimi, since you don't really "cook" the dish so the comments are limited to how fresh the produce is. So okay, will it make a big difference if I said the crabs were fresh, very fresh or very very fresh? I mean, how much fresher can a crab get since they are all live crabs? For me cold crabs are simply crabs which are steamed and put in a fridge. Of course they have to be full of roe or sperm, but other than getting a good supplier, is there any other secret in the preparation of cold crabs? 4/5
Braised Platter $18
Everyone was quite pleased with the braised platter, especially Fashionfoodie who highly recomended this dish. The braising sauce is very nice and balanced and the duck was tender and flavourful. Those who like "Tua Terng" (large intestine) would be very pleased with the Tua Terng here as it doesn't have any smell and the texture was very good. 4.25/5
Pork Aspic $15
Fans of Pork Aspic will be happy to see the photo of this fast dissappearing dish! Though Mom never purposely made this dish at home, I remember digging the jelly out of a Tupperware of overnight Braised Pork as a kid. I guess that was where the idea for the dish originated from. I haven't tasted enough Pork Aspic to tell you if this one is a good one, but I would just say that I am not a fan yet. Much prefer to eat Mom's cold Lor Bak! 3.5/5
Shark Head $5 per kg
Steamed shark head is very much like Sea Cucumber in that it is essentially a tasteless gooey substance that has the ability to absorb the flavours of the sauce it is cooked in. Actually the texture of soft collagen is very similar to pork fat so it really is quite shiok when it slides down your throat. The sauce is made from Chai Poh and little cubes of Pork Lard, so you can just imagine how shiok it is! 4/5
Now, this Teochew Kitchen was recommended by Fashionfoodie who, if you all remember, is one of our Teochew Ah Hias who really loves his Peh Dou Her. So when he started going on about the Braised Duck and Tua Terng (Large intestines) here, I could feel a strong Swatow wind blowing me towards Changi Village.
Changi Village is one of those last few places in Singapore that still has that "outback" charm. When I was a kid, Changi used to be the end of the earth. A day out at Changi beach was a big thing and almost like going on a road trip to Malaysia. But then along came Changi Airport and suddenly a lot of the mystery of Changi was lost. But Changi Village itself has still got a bit of that "ulu" flavour and a great place to go for supper. And if you are hankering for some hot Teochew Porridge on a cold rainy evening, you'd be happy to know that a new Teochew Kitchen has just opened there to transport you to Swatow.
This place was opened by a couple of Teochew Ah Hias who wanted to bring the concept of Swatow dining to Singapore. So when you walk into the restaurant itself, you will see the food being displayed like what they are in Swatow (or China in general). They even went to the extent of hiring two chefs from Swatow to be in charge of the food there. The restaurant has two sections, an aircon area with private rooms and an Al Fresco area. The best thing is that you can actually come here and have a choice of whether you want to eat simple Teochew Porridge for a few bucks a head or go for a banquet of Teochew favourites like steamed shark's head and Orh Nee.
Salted Egg Roll $12 for 8
Our first dish was something new for me. The salted egg rolls are made from dried persimmons wrapped in a crispy dough made from salted egg yolks. Somehow they struck me as something very typically Teochew as we do like to mix sweet with salty flavours. Just take the Teochew Bak Chang for example, which characteristically has a ball of sweet bean paste in it. I don't think it is something for everyone which is why it is not a popular Bak Chang. But for this Teochew Ah Hia, I found it quite pleasing. 4/5
Cold Crabs $20 per Crab (small)
The cold crabs are served with a bit of vinegar here instead of sweet plum sauce. I find it as difficult to rave about cold crabs as I do about sashimi, since you don't really "cook" the dish so the comments are limited to how fresh the produce is. So okay, will it make a big difference if I said the crabs were fresh, very fresh or very very fresh? I mean, how much fresher can a crab get since they are all live crabs? For me cold crabs are simply crabs which are steamed and put in a fridge. Of course they have to be full of roe or sperm, but other than getting a good supplier, is there any other secret in the preparation of cold crabs? 4/5
Braised Platter $18
Everyone was quite pleased with the braised platter, especially Fashionfoodie who highly recomended this dish. The braising sauce is very nice and balanced and the duck was tender and flavourful. Those who like "Tua Terng" (large intestine) would be very pleased with the Tua Terng here as it doesn't have any smell and the texture was very good. 4.25/5
Pork Aspic $15
Fans of Pork Aspic will be happy to see the photo of this fast dissappearing dish! Though Mom never purposely made this dish at home, I remember digging the jelly out of a Tupperware of overnight Braised Pork as a kid. I guess that was where the idea for the dish originated from. I haven't tasted enough Pork Aspic to tell you if this one is a good one, but I would just say that I am not a fan yet. Much prefer to eat Mom's cold Lor Bak! 3.5/5
Shark Head $5 per kg
Steamed shark head is very much like Sea Cucumber in that it is essentially a tasteless gooey substance that has the ability to absorb the flavours of the sauce it is cooked in. Actually the texture of soft collagen is very similar to pork fat so it really is quite shiok when it slides down your throat. The sauce is made from Chai Poh and little cubes of Pork Lard, so you can just imagine how shiok it is! 4/5
Conclusion
I think a lot of people are looking for a place to go for a nice bowl of Teochew porridge and being in Changi Village, the "ulu" atmosphere does add to the whole experience. This is a good place to go with the family to enjoy a few typically Teochew dishes and decide if you would like to burn a hole in your pocket or keep your pants intact.
Changi Teochew KitchenBlk 5 Changi Village Road
#01-2--1 S500005
65465482
Open for lunch, dinner and supper
Recommended by Fashionfoodie
30 comments:
I missed my grandma's bak chang very much, been many years since she passed away, me and my bro would always ask for more red bean paste and no chestnut in ours, and grands would mark our bak chang with different colored strings from the others...
but i dun get the cold crabs with vineger, cold crabs tend to have this strong smell which i dislike compared to the freshly steamed ones.
Live crabs doesn't mean they are fresh. As a matter of fact, I don't think you can find really fresh crabs from markets or restaurants.
They are live crabs no doubt but the problem is that from the time they were caught to the time they were been slaughter in kitchen is very long time, maybe more than a week, hence their meat is not so "tough" and almost watery, soften or sometime even almost "diminished"!
The real good fresh crabs are those that in every part of the crab, the meat is very "muscular" and it sticks to the shell no matter how you cook or crack it. To eat these fresh crabs, you have to go catch them in the sea and cook them on the boat. OR, you can go to kelong restaurants where they rear it in the kelong, and they feed them to keep it fully alive hence fresh. Those that you found on fish tanks in restaurants or market, are quite simply still alive but not fresh.
The only place to eat those kind of crabs in singapore is in Pulau Ubin, there is a kelong restaqurant. Otherwise you may have to go to as far as Kukup.
Good point Anonymous. Do write in with a penname so we know when you are commenting.
It is not easy to get really fresh crabs. I used to stay in perth and there is a place in WA called Mandurah about 60km east of perth city where people go crabbing for blue manta crabs which people call qi(4) in Singapore.
When in season, you can catch about 60-80 crabs and you know what? not even a quarter of it has the 'muscular' texture kind of meat. Most of the meat are very "hu hu"(in teochew) means very easily dissolved. I believe the reason for this is that crabs do go into hibernation and during those times, they eat little or nothing and so affecting their meat quality. Or the weather is too cold or too hot and they have very little activity and then their muscle which is essentially meat has too little exercise and so becomes "saggy" and soft so display lousy quality.
Generally from my experience, those crabs that are caught deep sea has better quality meat. Snow crabs in particular and also spider crabs. They however come at a hefty price though. As for mud crab, I think there are 2 kind, one is the long kang type and the other live in the sea. So if you get the sea type which is the sri lanka type then you can get good meat. Otherwise local one I dont think so because they are caught from longkang and they don't 'exercise' that much in longkang whereas in sea they may need to swim to fight the tidal wave....
Pulau Ubin seafood has moved to mainland in Changi village. So their seafood i dont think still keep in kelong.
Same as kampung chicken theory. They get to exercise so their meat has more bite. But I don't like kampung chicken leh. Very tough man the meat. I prefer chicken sit in the cage all day long do nothing, so their meat is soft soft and tender, easy to bite : ))))
Do you know long time ago, pulau ubin seafood used to be located inside deep inside the island which needs a taxi or bicycle ride and during those days they do not have a signboard and their business is very good, tourist or visitors always go there to eat. They then moved to near the Jetty area and named it "Wu Ming Dao" seafood. Business dropped so badly they wanted to close it down until a fengshui master told them 2 things. First the location is no good because people going to Ubin either is going deep into the island or when they are coming back to Jetty is rushing to take boat back to mainland- a transition place, second their name is no good because wu min dao translate = no name and yet COLLAPSED! LOL!!. So upon the recommendation of the master, they changed their name to Ubin First Stop Restaurant and also shifted from there to Changi where people finished their bumboat ride can take their time to have a nice meal.
Leslie, I wonder have you been to the old punggol seafood eating place?? During the late 80s or early 90s, the punggol road used to lead to this seafood place at the jetty end where there was 2 seafood restaurants fighting for business. It was quite a scene during weekends in those days where up to even hundreds of cars would be there parked or looking for space to eat there. There was even valet parking service would you believe! There was 2 restaurants on the left and on the right. My family always frequented the one on the right whose boss has a thick moustache and always standing at the middle of the coffeeshop directing movement in those days.
Their chilli crab was really to die for. It has such fantastic flavour, the sweetness, the saltiness and the sourness was just right. Every table will have a plate of crab, jiam bao to go with it, deep fried baby squid, mee goreng. These were the standard items. They then were chased away by the government and they moved to beside the Punggol Marina for a few years and then they upgraded into a high end restaurant and rented a space in the Punggol Marina building. I visited them a few times after that and sadly their quality dropped and then the saddest thing is the boss passed away due to cancer. I think his siblings took over and then changed the chef. The last time I was there was in 2002 and they had a famous taiwanese chef who used to do cooking show on TV. Their menu changed too. Sad. I heard that the original chef had open an outlet somewhere in hougang area in a coffeeshop serving the same menu as last time. Up till today, still cannot find...if any readers heard or know where is it..please broadcast it here. Thanks.
I found this article!! That is the restaurant!
http://www.asiaone.com/Wine%252CDine%2B%2526%2BUnwind/Reviews/Story/A1Story20070831-23738.html
Yes I remember the old Punggol jetty. It was the good old days when Punggol was as "Ulu" as Changi. Had to travel through Hougang all the way to get there. It was a long time ago, but I remember the Mee Goreng and Harlock Prawns were pretty amazing.
BTW Anonymous, you should just give yourself a penname so that we can differentiate you from the other people commenting. You can easily do this by selecting the "Name/URL" option and typing in a pen name. Better still, if you register with google or openid, you won't need to keep typing in. It does lend credibility to your comments.
Generally, as the anon said, it is bad to eat seafood in their summer season, since they tend to be more watery. Same applies to fish like tuna.
He is also right in that storage plays a part in the mouthfeel and texture. I haven't read up, but I would suppose the factors include:
Stress, lack of activity, lack of food, lack of water.
But ieat, I seriously doubt there is no skill in making cold crab, and likewise sashimi. If there wasn't, why would a chef require so much training in Japan just to get certified? I think there's more skill in sashimi than there is cold crab, or even the bulk of other hawker foods such as BKT. Note I said, "skill". The great sashimi chefs have great knowledge of anatomy and ichthyology, on top of their godly knife skills.
Too bad the vast majority of those here in Singapore just anyhow chop the fish.. which aren't even that fresh anyway.
Oh I am sure there is a certain level of skill involved but what I am saying is that even whatever level of skill you have, you can't turn lousy fish into great sashimi.
But if you had lousy meat, you can still turn it into a reasonable curry if you have enough tricks up your sleeves.
Actually i never happen to spot this place before when i went to Changni Village, normally i went to the kopi diam and was eating the carrot cake store recommend by IEat which is located at Changni Village.
Will try this store on next visit to Changni Village.
I have fond memories of the old punggol. There used to be 4 restaurants started in the 70s and only 2 left standing in the 80s. Punggol Choon Seng which is nearer to the beach and the other one is Punggol Hock Kee. They operated from coffeeshop kind of outlet except that at the backyard, tables and chairs would lay until as far as they can lay. I rememebered a waitress once told me that the entire combined space that time could sit up to 2000 people!
Hock Kee is the one thta moved into the Marina country club. I went back there 2 years ago, it taste different now. I remembered there used to be a famous dish which is prawns wrapped with pancake and sprinkled with sesame seeds. That dish is simply superb and they've removed it from the menu.
For those who had been there and seen it, this pictures would complete your walk down the memory lane.
http://www.punggol.sg/images/old_pcs_rest.jpg
http://www.punggol.sg/images/old_ps_rest.jpg
Last year there was an article that involved the hock kee family, you can read it here http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/274861/1/.html
Ah but that depends on the nature of the dish of course. That's why in Singapore we generally get very spiced up food while in Japan, the Mediterranean and other coastal areas (yeah we are coastal but we don't fish or farm what) tend to gravitate towards the sashimis, salads and other more natural-tasting food. With fresh ingredients, bringing out the freshness becomes of utmost priority, hence cold crabs (which I quite like, 2nd behind salt baked crabs)are suitable for live crabs. On theother hand, I never did fancy chilli or blackpepper crabs that much since I felt they covered the crabs' own taste. Rather have chilli crayfish instead, where the muddy crayfish taste is covered by the chilli.
For me, a good cold crab has to be accompanied with an excellent chilli sauce. It really hits the unami spot when the "yellowish substance" & the chilli complement each other well.
Lee Do rest. (now situated at ubi) used to serve one of the best cold crabs & chill sauce. Standard has dipped now though.
I'm hugely disturbed by the "greenish-yellow substance" in crabs. When I was younger, I was under the impression it was uncooked roe, but now, ugh. It's strange how people can eat female gametes with pleasure but be repulsed by male ones.
This teochew mui stall looks really clean and nice. I remembered there was this restuarant that served pretty good teochew mui buffet(served in dishes) at plaza Singapura way back ago. After it no longer operated, less teochew mui since ha. Thanks for dropping by at the site!
Oh gosh u jolt my memory of Punggol with that two restuarants there, very laid back atmosphere, the breeze that becomes your fans under that zinc roof, the famous Punggol Mee Goreng that started from there, the deep fried chicken skin with sotong paste as base is now fresh in my mind. I remembered they told me how the whole area was sealed up just for LKY when he dines there...
Ok Changi Teochew is next best given that out of town feel in Changi Village with some "old" food to reminisce.
I used to stay in Bedok during the 80s and during those times, the famous seafood places were along the east coast road where there's a whole stretch of seafood restaurants occupying now where we see the row of terraces and semi Ds.
I remember back then, my family used to frequent the one that is called Keng Lock. Their crab, cockles and prawns is a must eat in those days. Further down the road near the corner of the SIR unit, there used to stand the famous Long Beach restaurant which occupies a big plot of land with 70% of it for parking.
During those days, the must eat items at Long Beach was the crispy deep fried spices duck, drunken prawns, cuttlefish kangkong, otah (which has a bbq place specially setup for it). It was good and cheap in those days.
In the 90s they all shifted to East Coast Beach are and then price started going up and it became more like a place for tourist with all the tooting and stuff...
Those that lived in the sembawang area would know that there once stood a seafood eating place at Sembawang beach which is quite legendary.
the one that i missed and looks sooooo good~!
wow, all the crabs expert here. make me crave for crab liao~
no one here seems to be interested in shark fish head. it is really a v v nice dish!!!
Leslie, if capture you, put inside a tank, stop feeding you for 2 weeks, i am sure when time to eat you, you will also don't look delicious when BBQ. LOL!!!
Not if you fed me Wagyu beef everyday and give me nice massage!
Do you mean massage you or massage the beef? Or are you the beef? LOL!!!!
thanks for the post=] my mum is a teochiew.. she is definitely going to love this..
I tried the food here yesterday was not bad. However, the price was abit steep though. $46.20 ( before the 30% opening discount) for 2. We had the braised duck, spring onion/chili frog legs and fried fish.
I dont really see a section whereby you can have simple teochew porridge for a few bucks a head?
arsenal girl, you may want to try the one at MacPherson Road opposite Standard Photo. Their teochew porridge is pretty good. It's closed on Sundays.
wa sweet
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