Uncle Gen's Hong Kong Cuisine: The latest stall to make it to the Really Must Try list!

Hong Kong Steamed Rice with Chicken and Salted Fish $3.30

As the number of blog posts approaches the one thousand mark, it amazes me that there are still so many new places that are still waiting to be discovered. Indeed, Singapore might be a tiny red dot, but if the world atlas were drawn according to the number of great eats, I reckon we should at least be the size of a one dollar coin. After blogging about hawker food for the last three years, I find that my list of places to visit is still quite long. A lot of this is due to our intrepid group of makan kakis who scour the island for great places to eat and then post their own reviews and pics in the forum. Now that we have another thousand or so members in the facebook group, the to do list will just keep getting longer. So, many thanks to everyone who have written in to recommend their favorite food haunts, you guys really keep the blog going.

This next stall was discovered by Cactuskit whose mouth watering photos in the forum caught my attention immediately. You know, one of the joys of food blogging is finding a stall where the food is really very very good, yet still relatively unknown and best of all, you can eat it everyday and still have money left in your wallet! Cactuskit's post looked like it fit the bill, so it was immediately placed on top of the to do list.


Yam Cake $1.80

I haven't eaten Yam Cake for a long time because I haven't really come across one that was worth the calories. Most of the Yam Cakes I come across are cold, hard and rather dry. Not so with Gen Shu's (Uncle Kum) version. He tells me without hesitation that there are three important criteria when it comes to Yam Cake in Hong Kong. First, its got to be soft, then its got to be moist and finally and most importantly, it has got to be flavoursome. This one fits all three criteria and is one of the tastiest Yam Cakes around and even better than a lot that is being served in classy dim sum restaurants. Well worth the money, the calories and the queue! 4.6/5


Pork Rib and Red Bean Soup $3.30

If you love double boiled soups then you are going to love this place. Gen Shu has 20 different types of soups which he serves here and they are all chock full of ingredients. If Pork Rib and Red Beans doesn't sound exotic enough for you, then you should ask him when he will be serving his Pig trotter with Oyster and Season Gourd soup. Anyway the soup I had that day was excellent. For $3.30, you really can't complain as you get a bowl of flavourful soup with so many pieces of tender soft pork ribs. 4.5/5


Mince Pork with Salted Egg Steamed Rice $3.30

It is not often that I come across a stall that almost everything is good. I say almost because I didn't taste everything but whatever I had that day was good. This is not surprising once you realise that Gen Shu happened to be the Head Chef of Mouth Restaurant for 15 years before he retired. Being a chef of such experience, he is able to call his stall a "Mei Shi She Jia" (Gourmet Kitchen). What that means is that you could give Gen Shu a whole Pig and he will be able to make use of every part of that pig to cook a series of unforgettable dishes for you. But more than that, Gen Shu is one of those Hong Kongers who is simply passionate about Hong Kong cuisine. What that means is that he doesn't stinge on the ingredients. When you eat his steamed rice, just taste the soy sauce that accompanies it and you will know what I mean. There is soy sauce that is concocted in a laboratory and there is soy sauce that has been properly fermented and aged. Gen Shu is just the type of chef who knows his soy sauce as a sommelier knows his wines.


Steamed Rice with Preserved Veg and Pork Belly

If you are going for the steamed rice then I would highly recommend the chicken with salted fish. This is one where the taste of the chicken and the salted fish has really infused into the rice so that each bite is full of the umami goodness of the salted fish. This is really almost as good as it gets. 4.75/5.


Hong Kong Style Congee $3

As with all the other dishes which we tried, the Congee here is really good as well. Full of ingredients and the Congee, in true Hong Kong fashion, is smooth and flavoursome. All this for $3! 4.5/5

Conclusion

It is usually very risky to give a stall such a big endorsement. However, with Gen Shu, I am quite confident that most readers who go there will come away very satisfied that they have found something that is Cheap and Good! No..... Cheap and Very Very Good.

Gen Shu Mei Shi She Jia
Toa Payoh Lor 4
Blk 74 Food Centre #01-03
Opens 6am till sold out around lunch time
Closed on Mondays