All Natural Kitchen: You make me feel like a Natural....Man!

This Stall is closed

Chicken Wraps $4.50

Ok, time for a post to highlight some healthier stuff for our gym going, organic insisting, calorie counting friends who want to make sure that their tight T shirts remain comfortably tight but not bursting at the seams.

Yes, there is a market for people who want to eat chicken breast without the skin and all natural mayonnaise that is whipped by hand instead of being churned in a industrial vat. It is the same people who would for brown rice, whole wheat, whole grain, no artificial this and that stuff. In order words, the good stuff that they used to grow in the farm before the advent of genetic modification, pesticides and hormone injections to increase the yield of the harvest. All good intentions aside, these are the very people who are contributing to the global food crisis by insisting that we grow our food slowly. OK Ok, I am just joking, its good to be natural - just like armpit hair is also very natural.

Anyways, if you have just had a 3 hour workout at the gym, the last thing you want to do is to put back all those calories that you just worked so hard to get rid of --- Unless of course you are in the gym to burn calories in order that you can eat more. So what do you do if you are also on a tight budget since you have already spent all that money on the gym instructor and the latest gym gear? You do what most Singaporeans do when "money no enough" and head down to the hawker centre where you can spend the minimum cash for maximum satisfaction. But here is the dilemma, Char Kway Teow has too many calories, Chicken Rice is full of hormones and Yong Tau Foo is probably laden with trans-fats from deep frying in palm oil. So what to eat?

Enter Kenneth, our twenty something year old, half Eurasian, quarter teochew but "all natural" Engineer who got so fed-up facing the problem everyday that he decided to open a stall to sell the things he would like to eat after a gym workout. All natural kitchen is not called "all natural" for nothing. Kenneth makes all the sauces here using natural ingredients. I guess natural means no stuff like artificial enhancers. After all, if you are already on artificial enhancers to build up your physique, you won't want to overload yourself would you?

One of the popular dishes here is the toasted tortilla wrap which is filled with roast chicken (with no skin), fashionable lettuce (not iceberg) and fresh tomato salsa. Not bad and I especially like the spiced yoghurt sauce he provides with the salad. Think healthy and it can be quite shiok. 3.75/5



If you are looking for a wholesome breakfast, you can go for the wholemeal pancakes with raw honey. Tastes really healthy. Know what I mean? 3.5/5 OK, I admit I still prefer my Pratha but when you are struggling to keep your belt buckle from slipping under an ever expanding belly, this is what you should be eating right?



Kenneth had to hide behind the counter because he didn't wear his tight T shirt that day and was too shy to let us take a picture of his abs. Damien insisted that he should be tagged under "Hawker Hunks" though I felt he was more of a "Metro" Male. Well, you guys can tell me what you think.

Conclusion

Eat healthy food, it's good for you.

All Natural Kitchen
Amoy Street Food Centre
#02-110
Open for Breakfast and closes around 4pm

....Read more!

Epok Epok Central: Epok Epok, Neneks and Hawker Hunks!

With smart and Mr.YaKwang

Epok Epok with egg 50 cents each

The most surprising thing about this Epok Epok is NOT that it is one of the most addictive things I have eaten recently, but the fact that the hands that make them belong to an exclusive breed of Hawkers whom I have created a new tag for --- Hawker Hunks.

Now, its been commented in the blog that one of the most attractive things about a man is the fact that he can cook.

I challenge that statement.

I think that what women actually find attractive is a man that looks as if he would have women falling at his feet AND he can also cook at the same time. I think that women view the domestic ability of the male as an indicator of his domesticability. In other words, if he can cook, I can probably get him around my fingers.

Anyway, I don't want to detract you from the Epok Epok, so ladies, please avert your gaze from this fine specimen of manhood back to the picture on top. Today we are talking about Epok Epok. The type that Nenek used to make.

It was Mr.YaKwang (aka Jason) who alerted me to this particular Epok Epok. Now, Mr.YaKwang is one of the most fussy (almost obnoxiously fussy) foodies I know. Nine out of ten things recommended on the blog cannot make the grade for him. So he ends up eating his own food most of the time. So when Mr. YaKwang told me about how much he likes this Epok Epok, it got my attention straight away.


If you stare long enough, you too might be transported back to your childhood!

Do you remember the scene from Ratatouille when the food critic Anton was transported back to his childhood with one taste of the Ratatouille? Well, its sort of like that for Mr.YaKwang. He said that this was the type of Epok Epok he remember eating when he was a kid.

So after taking the first few pictures, I gingerly held the Epok Epok in my hand and prepared myself to be transported into a surrealistic dream sequence as I bit into the Epok Epok........ nothing. Not surprising since the curry puffs I was used to were those from my school tuckshop and they are a little different.

That's not to say that the Epok Epok here was not good. They were excellent. The crust was thin and crispy and combined with the freshly boiled egg and buttery curried potatoes, I downed about five of them before I knew it! 4.25/5

The thing I felt was missing is one or two pieces of savoury chicken meat in the Epok Epok. I know it is not so common in Epok Epok as it is with the Chinese version, but nevertheless I love the joy of finding that savoury piece of meat hidden among the potatoes! I am also dreaming of a minced beef Epok Epok which Lokman promised he will make soon.


Nasi Lemak with the works $2.50

There has been some discussion over at the forum about Nasi Lemak and more specifically, where to find a good Malay style one. Well, look no further! All I needed to do was just have a whiff of the steaming rice to know that this is a good one. The sambal belacan here is also very shiok and it is on the sweetish side which I feel should be the case with Nasi Lemak. The sambal also has that wonderful savoury taste of the belacan which hits the Umami Spot. You can buy the ready packed ones for $1.20 which comes with rice, ikan bilis and choice of egg or ikan kuning. They put in the special effort of sandwiching the chilli between two pieces of banana leaves for that added fragrance. Sedap lah brudder! 4.25/5

The chicken wings here are well marinated with lots of tumeric and ginger so they were very good, but I would advise you to be there around lunch time in order to get them freshly cooked.

Conclusion

The simple things in life are often the best. Personally, my idea of the perfect breakfast is a cup of Teh Tarik, a plate of Epok Epok and Nasi Lemak. That is what I miss most when I was overseas.

Oh, back to the Hawker Hunks issue, I don't want to be sexist, so I was actually going to name the Tag "Hawker Hunks and _____ Babes" but I can't really think of an adjective that begins with B to describe girls who operate hawker stalls who look like they should be on the catwalk instead. Let me know if you have any ideas. And don't forget to check out the other Hawker Hunks in the blog.

Epok Epok Central
Blk 4A Eunos Crescent
Eunos Crescent Hawker Centre
#01-09
Lokman 96958889
7am to 7pm daily
Closed on Mondays

....Read more!

Rui Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice: The Return of Swee Kee?

Update: Aug 2008: Rui Kee is closed



When it comes to Chicken Rice, there is only one name under the Singapore Sun that stands heads and shoulders above all the rest. Swee Kee. The very mention of the name strikes a chord of nostalgia amongst those around 30 and above. Swee Kee served the most yummilicious, tender and "chickeny" chicken ever. I still remembered the two times I was invited to Swee Kee by my Uncle while I was still a poor student. He used to order something like 4 chicken hind quarters and 2 chicken thighs for 3 persons. Every bite was a taste of heaven.

Word came through the forum that Swee Kee has been resurrected as Rui Kee. Some family members from the Swee Kee clan decided that it was time to bring back the taste of traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice to the masses.



Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice (which really is traditional only to Singapore since you can't find this on Hainan island) unlike the Cantonese version, does not have Soy Sauce drizzled over it. The Swee Kee style of chicken rice really faded when Swee Kee closed in the 80's and in its place emerged the Cantonese version. Another difference is that the Hainanese do not hang their chickens because this would drain all the oil from the chicken. Instead the chickens are left lying on the plate.

Rui Kee was started by Ex-Model Jamus who used to love eating traditional chicken rice. He collaborated with his Aunt, who used to be one of the cooks at Swee Kee, to reintroduce Hainanese Style Chicken rice to a new generation of Singaporeans.

One of the unique things about Rui Kee is that you get to choose between Kampung Chicken, which I like to call the atheletic type and the Normal Chicken, which I call the voluptuous type. Unfortunately there is a trade off between taste and texture between the two. Swee Kee used to rear their own chickens, so their chicken used to taste great but at the same time, meaty and juicy. Nowadays there are very few chicken farms in Singapore (Swee Choon has a chicken farm in Lim Chu Kang producing eggs) so all the chickens come from Malaysia. Since the quality of Hainanese style chicken rests primarily on the quality of the chicken, there is no way that we can ever get Chickens of the quality that Swee Kee used to dish out.

Having said that, the chicken here is flavoursome and done well. The Kampong chicken was a bit more chewy but fuller in flavour, whilest the normal chicken was softer and juicier. I prefer my chicken really fat and juicy so I was a little dissappointed that the one here was not voluptuous enough.



The rice here is very good. It has got a nice bite to it, not too oily and very fragrant. I think this has got to do with the skill of the cook and that they fry their rice before cooking. Chilli lovers can rejoice as they have 2 types of chilli here. The normal one is reminiscent of the Swee Kee chili while people who like really spicy stuff can opt for their special reserve chilli which can really make you sweat and scratch your scalp (I exaggerate).

Last but not least, ladies can have the luxury of being served by the only Chicken Chunk in Singapore (short for Chicken Rice Chinese Hunk). So far he is the tastiest looking Chicken Rice seller I have come across with biceps that most men would aspire to have. I asked him how he got the biceps to which he replied: "I eat chicken rice everyday".

My wife insisted that I should give his biceps a rating of 4.75. She says mine is only a 4.

Conclusion

Don't come expecting Swee Kee and you will be pleasantly surprised by the standard of the chicken rice here which I would place in my A list of Chicken Rice stalls to visit. 4.25/5

Rui Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice
776 North Bridge Road
63964563
Mon - Sun
11am to 10pm

....Read more!