Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette: At long last!

With Taukwa

Oyster Omelette $4

I have been waiting 3 years to eat at this stall. No kidding. The last 5 times that I visited Toa Payoh Lor 7 food centre, it was either on a day when he was closed, not yet opened or on holidays in China.

When I first starting blogging back in 2006, one of the first group of hawkers that I targeted were the Hawker Legends listed by Makansutra. This was the first batch of hawkers who won the award and I think that most of them deserved the honour. Three years on, I have almost completed the list. After Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette, there is only one more left and that is Mattar Road Seafood BBQ. Ok, must press on to finish what I started three years ago!


Ah Chuan: The most important thing is to control the fire

I have been largely disappointed with this particular dish the last few times I have eaten it. Mind you, this is a high calorie, high cholesterol kind of dish, so when you eat it, you really want to make sure that the calories are worth it. From my point of view, this is a dish with simple ingredients so it is really dependent on skill and experience to get it right. The flavour comes basically from eggs, oil, oyster and fish sauce and I feel a good oyster omelette should not even need to be bathed in chilli to taste good. But even if you prefer it with chilli, the chilli sauce here is well balanced and has the right amount of sourness to cut through the oil.

The texture on the other hand is a bit more complex. There's got to be just the right balance of crispy starchy bits, crispy brown egg bits, chewy starcy bits and sticky starchy bits. And of course it is a given that the oysters must be fresh.

I must say that this is the most satisfactory Oyster Omelette I have eaten since I started blogging. The oysters are big, juicy and fresh and the texture of the dish is just perfect. The only thing I can think of that would make it even better is if he fried it in pork lard. 4.75/5

Conclusion

Oyster Omelette is one of those dishes that I try to avoid eating too much of because it really isn't all that healthy. So if I were to have the craving for oyster omelette, this is the one stall that I will head to gurantee that my calories are not wasted.

What to do next:

After eating the Oyster Omelette, go for Chendol at Dove Dessert!
If you still have the stomach, you must not miss Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Kway Teow.
Check out the rest of the Hawker Legends.
Where else to eat Oyster Omelette.

Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette
Toa Payoh Lor 7 Food Centre
Stall #01-25
3pm to 9pm
cloosed on Tuesdays

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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

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Hua Fong Kee Roasted Duck: Only in Toa Payoh!

Some people like Bill Gates want to rule the world. Others like Phua Chu Kang only want to rule Singapore and perhaps JB and Batam. But for Mr Johnny Teo, all he wants is to rule Toa Payoh.

With three stalls strategically placed around Toa Payoh, no Toa Payohrees need to worry about not getting a nice Char Siew and Roast Duck fix. And according to Mr Teo, he really does not want to move out of the boundaries of the Big Swamp. (Toa Payoh means Big Swamp in the Minnan Dialect)

When I blogged about Fong Kee back in 2007, I wasn't overly impressed with the Char Siew but this time round, I was quite pleasantly surprised with their Char Siew at their latest stall in Lor 5. Unlike the last time, the Char Siew this time round was juicy and tender and well caramelized. So I have revised their Char Siew rating to 4.25/5.



Unfortunately, the Sio Bak is still much the same as the last time. The flesh was dry and the skin was gummy. 3.75/5



Just in case you wanted to have laksa with your Roast Duck, (which I initially thought was a little wierd until I remembered that the Thais have their Roast Duck in Red Curry), Fong Kee has also ventured into this market. Their laksa was competent, but nothing really to shout about. Still it is good if you wanted to try the Roast Duck with Laksa combination. 3.5/5



Conclusion

Good place for Char Siew and Roast Duck. I just wonder if they will really just remain within the boundaries of Toa Payoh or if they would eventually spread to Bishan?

Hua Fong Kee Roasted Duck
Blk 51 Toa Payoh Lor 5
#01-62
96658595
Open 8am to 8pm

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Tian Tian Lai Hokkien Mee: I would if you were opened daily!

Our recent polls showed that the Hokkiens have the least proportion of foodies as compared with the other dialects groups. Of course this does not mean that they don't have a few lip smackingly shiok dishes in their culture. One of the best dishes in the world that the Hokkiens have given us is the humble Hokkien Mee which is in my opinion, the most underated of Singaporean dishes. Every tourist knows about Chicken Rice and Chilli Crabs but not all of them are as familiar with Hokkien Mee. If you all remember our polls last year on Singaporean's favourite hawker dish, Hokkien Mee came first, ahead of Chicken Rice to everyone's surprise. Thankfully there are quite a few great Hokkien Mees around and I am still finding gems even after blogging over 20 stalls.

Now you might be wondering why I did not blog this stall earlier. The fact is that when I was here last year but I did not think much of it. However, this time round, I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it actually is.



The main characteristic of this Hokkien Mee is its gooeyness which intensifies the crustacean taste of the the stock. The noodles were well fried and the chef is no friend of pigs, so you get your lard and belly pork strips here. The prawns and sotong are tiny and only serve as a garnishing. What you are going for is just a satisfying, full flavoured, fried noodle dish. 4.5/5

Conclusion

Simple, no frills, gooey and tasty Hokkien Mee. As I alluded in the title, the irony is that the stall extols its patrons to come daily but are only opened six days a week.

Tian Tian Lai (Come Daily)
Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Blk 127, Toa Payoh Lor 1
#02-27
Singapore 310127
9.30am to 9pm
Closed on Mondays (how to come daily?)
Ordering Hotline: 62518542/96717071

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93 Wu Xiang: Handmade Teochew Wu Xiang

With smart and bashful hunter


It is increasingly hard to find people making their own Ngor Hiang nowadays. With the advent of the commercially available Ngor Hiang, most stallowners have opted to be Ngor Hiang Traders rather than Ngor Hiang Chefs. So when I find passionate hawkers who still endeavor to make their own Ngor Hiang, I usually like to give them a try and blog them so that their efforts are recognized. (Of course, the Ngor Hiang has to be nice as well!)

If it is hard to find handmade Ngor Hiang, it is harder to find handmade Teochew Ngor Hiang! Even the commercial ones are Hokkien Style.



The thing that struck me about the Ngor Hiang is that it is not as spiced up as the usual Ngor Hiang. So for me, it did not have the kick of a spicy full flavoured Pork Ngor Hiang roll, but both of my kakis liked it because they like the freshness of the taste. 4/5 There were a couple of items that you don't find elsewhere ie the chef's own inventions. One that is worth mentioning is the tofu egg fritters (pic above). It was refreshing to have a Ngoh Hiang that was silky soft on the inside, something quite novel for me. 4/5

Conclusion

Handmade Teochew Ngor Hiang is not that common so it's well worth a try.

Update:  18 Sep 2008

The Hawker Centre is closed for renovation which will take around 1 year.  Thanks to Lorenz for the update.

93 Wu Xiang Xia Bin
Blk 93 Toa Payoh Lor 4 Food Centre
#01-202
12pm to 9pm daily
Closed on Thursdays

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ABC Poh Piah: Poh Piah goes with everything!

With smart and bashful hunter


Poh Piah is just great. It's healthy (relatively) and tasty and it is a really good side dish with whatever you are ordering. If you think about it, it is just the Chinese version of the Donar Kebab or the Burrito and the way I see it, it should originally be eaten whole rather then cut into bite sized pieces. Why I say this is because the nature of the "wrap" is such that it is designed as food on the go, meaning that you can grab the Poh Piah in one hand while the other hand is being used to hold onto the reins of your horse. It is supposed to be Chinese fast food, if you know what I mean.

However, nowadays, it is the custom to cut it into bite sized pieces and eat with your chopstick which really doesn't make sense as quite often, some of the filling will drop out during the transit from the plate to your mouth.

Smart (more precisely, his wife) recommends this particular Poh Piah stall in Toa Payoh. So far, very few of the Poh Piah's in this blog has hit the threshold for me except for the Qi Ji which at one stage really did it for me. But I found recently that the standard of the filling had fallen a little. For me the ultimate Poh Piah has got a nice, soft, chewy skin which leaves that sweet carbo aftertaste, packed full of the savoury turnip filling and most importantly, packed with lots of the crunchy stuff.

I must say this particular Poh Piah tastes rather good. The balance of flavours of the ingredients is just right. The only problem is that it is a little limp and the skin (handmade but procured from elsewhere) just lacks that chewiness of which the Qi Ji one is still currently the gold standard. Perhaps the next time I could ask the Uncle to make a specially turgid one for me! 4.25/5

Conclusion

Try to see if the Uncle will sell you a Poh Piah with extra ingredients (you'll have to offer to pay more of course). That might well turn this from a very good to great Poh Piah.


ABC Poh Piah Blk
93 Food Centre #01-204
Toa Payoh Lor 4
9am to 10pm
Monday closed

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Soon Heng Silver Stream Rojak: Two bucks and they still include cuttlefish!

I find rojak to be the most difficult hawker food to take pictures of. It's well......it's rojak. It isn't colourful and very messy and I always find it difficult to take an appetizing picture. If you look at my rojak photos, I think you would agree that they are pretty hum drum.

Anyway this rojak was recommended by many readers from the last rojak post disputing my claim that Lau Hong Ser was the pre-eminent rojak in Singapore. Ok, so I had to taste it for myself.

I was a bit apprehensive when I found out that they toast their You Char Kway in an ovenette and use commercially procured ground peanuts. How can they compete against my other rojak entries most of whom toast their YCK over charcoal and grind their own peanuts? Can this rojak be even on par with the others, let alone be superior?

Well, I did find that it was a very nice plate of rojak. The balance between sweet and sour was perfect and the Hae Gor (Prawn Paste) was very good. But I found the peanuts a little dry though they were generous with it. It just did not meet up to the standard of peanuts which are fried and ground daily by the hawkers themselves. For $2, this was a generous plate of rojak which included cuttlefish as well. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Very good rojak and very good value for money. The peanuts are the major stumbling block preventing it from being the undisputed rojak champion.

Soon Heng Silver Stream Rojak
480 Toa Payoh Central
HDB Hub B1-23
11am to 8pm

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Gideon 300: Freshly Baked Traditional Hainanese Buns

Butter Buns: 2 for $1

There ain't nothing better than a freshly baked bun straight out from the oven..... except maybe a Hainanese freshly baked bun straight from the oven!

The bread culture in Singapore is alive and well and many are cashing in on the market for breads. You can find freshly baked soft buns in every neighbourhood centre in Singapore, so why am I so excited about these ones?

Most of the buns found in our neighbourhood bakeries have quite a standard bread dough. I suspect there must be a standard recipe or pre-mix that are supplied to these bakeries and then it is just a matter of adding different fillings. The buns are typically, very soft and very light. Have you tried squishing one of these buns before? You can basically reduce them to one third of its original size!

The buns here are different. If you remember my blog on Chin Mee Chin, I made mention of one of our Singapore Heritage institutions which is the Hainanese Coffeeshop that makes its own confectionery. Not many are left in Singapore. That is why I am so excited to find this typical Hainanese Bakery in a modern Food Court! At least someone is bucking the trend in order to provide us with an easily accessible piece of tradition.


Sausage Rolls: 80 cents

The buns here may appear smaller but they are more substance than form. The butter buns may only fit the size of your palm, but when you pick one up, you realize that it is quite substantial. The aroma of the freshly baked butter bun immediately triggered black and white images of marble tabletops with cups of Kopi served in traditional ceramic cups with saucers so deep that they used to decant the whole cup of kopi into the saucer to cool it down before sipping off its rim.

But nostalgia aside, the buns are really simple and delectalicious. For me, nothing beats having a few of these buns with a cup of Kopi or Teh C. Of course, what is a Hainanese confectionery without the custard puffs? Oohh, creamy light and fluffy custard puffs and Teh C........... Only problem is that these are tiny one mouthful ones so you need more than a couple to satisfy that craving.

Now a bakery like this doesn't just spring out of nowhere. There is a legacy behind it. The patriarch of the store is none other than the famous Ah Peh who runs the Keng Wah Sung Kopitiam in Geylang Lor 41. His son, who is a certified Baker decided to make their Hainanese Bun available to a wider audience by opening a shop in the Toa Payoh heartland.


Tuna on a freshly baked roll $1

Conclusion

Like the good old Kopi C, this is a piece of Hainanese Tradition that will never go away because it is just so good. This is rustic confectionery and I really hope to see more branches springing up across the island!

Gideon 300
HDB Hub
Gourmet Paradise Food Court #B1-24
8.30am to 7.30pm
Closed on Sun and PH
91901431

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Fong Kee Roast Duck: The Duck Sauce was outstanding

So far the best Roast Duck I had was the one in Sydney. Ok, ok, I know that the best Roast Duck is in Hong Kong, but I never had the chance to eat at the famous Roast Goose place in Hong Kong.

During the early 90's, Hong Kongers fled Hong Kong for the West due to the uncertainty what would happen when the British lease on Hong Kong ran out. One of the cities that Hong Kongers fled to was Sydney. As a result, there was a boom in the number of Chinese restaurants in Sydney. And most of them were very very good. In fact, I had better Hong Kong food in Sydney than the food I ate on my recent trip to Hong Kong! One of the most memorable char siew and roast ducks that I had was in my hometown (of 7 years) of Eastwood, one of the North Western Suburbs of Sydney.

Sad to say, I have not found a Roast Duck in Singapore that I can proudly claim to be as memorable yet. However this particular one is pretty good. The thing that sets this one apart is the sauce which is quite shiok and the sesame seed adds more savoury goodness to the flavour. 4.25/5

The Char Siew and Sio Bak were above average. I found the Char Siew a bit dry that day thought the taste was pretty good. The Sio Bak had a crispy skin but the flesh lacked that extra juiciness and umami kick.3.75/5 I was a little disappointed with the noodles that day as it had a strong alkaline taste.

Conclusion

One of the more outstanding Roast Ducks around. The Char Siew and Sio Bak were of good standard but does not need to be raved about.

Fong Kee Roast Duck
Blk 124 Lor 1 Toa Payoh
#01-459
8am to 8pm
Closed on Thursdays
62515192

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Chi Hao Liao: Start of my Ultimate Hor Fun Hunt

With khim, SCSbutter, HappiMummi and amagada


I am starting on my quest to find the ultimate Hor Fun in Singapore! For me, the ultimate Hor Fun must satisfy 2 criteria. First, the Kway Teow has got to be slightly charred and be so tasty that you can eat it on its own, and secondly the gravy must have that "what the heck did they put into the Shang Tang (stock) flavour".

Now the humble Hor Fun is pretty much an uncelebrated staple in the Singaporean diet. Uncelebrated because it never makes it onto the "Recommended" list in your typical Cze Char Menu. It appears to me that the Hor Fun is always on the "In case you don't want to spend more than $3 on your meal" list. As a result, there aren't many "Star" Hor Funs out there. Or so I thought.



When khim wrote in about this $10 Hor Fun which had sea cucumbers, scallops, prawns, mushrooms and other goodies, it seemed too good to pass up. It was like something that I would have suggested to a hawker to do!

The use of the Opeh Leaf and the fact that the Hor Fun was on top of the recommended list was the first indication that this was a going to be a special Hor Fun. Now to the taste test to see if it is just "Ho Toi Bo Hor Jia" (Attractive but lacking substance)

The Hor Fun was nicely charred and had a good Wok Hei flavour! Criteria One checked. The gravy was very tasty and there was a great selection of good stuff like sea cucumbers, pork tripe, scallops, mushrooms and prawns. SCSbutter remarked that the tripe was really tender and it takes skill to be able to cook it that way. I felt it would have been even more impressive if they would use bigger sea prawns or crayfish instead of tiger prawns and if the gravy had a bit more ooomph.

Conclusion

Certainly a good Hor Fun for those who enjoy lots of liao (ingredients). The Hor Fun itself was well fried but somehow I suspect that somewhere out there there still lurks something even better. Let the search begin! 4.25/5

Chi Hao Liao
Blk 94 Toa Payoh Lor 4
5pm-1am Everyday

Recommended by ieater, khim

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Mellben Crab: Crab Bee Hoon!

It was just after the Chinese New Year and I was looking for stuff to eat around Toa Payoh and everything was still closed. Then I remembered that the famous Mellben Crab in AMK had recently opened a branch here in Toa Payoh! So after being dissapointed at Lor 4 and Lor 7, I found myself in Lor 8 ordering Crab Bee Hoon in the middle of the afternoon! Hardly an appropriate time to eat crab, but nothing else worth eating was open! I think the staff was also quite surprised that someone would walk into the restaurant and order just one Crab Bee Hoon and nothing else!

I found the soup quite robust and savoury with a tinge of spiciness to it. The taste of the galangal, milk and spices really came through. If you ask me, it tasted like a laksa without the chilli and with milk instead of coconut cream. (not quite laksa but I hope you get the picture). I was a little dissppointed with my crab that day because the claw meat was atrophied (about half the size of the shell). I would consider any Crab Restaurant worth its salt to ensure that the crab is solid. (I never had bad crab at Jumbo East Coast before) Maybe the crabs had been kept over the CNY period and as a result became sluggish. 4/5

Conclusion

Quite a robust and enjoyable soup. Dissppointed that they sold me a Handicapped Crab for $35. BUT, my feeling about crab beehoon may be best expressed by the words of U2: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for!" Seriously, if people are so bowled over by Crab Bee Hoon there must be a really really shiok one out there. I think I will still need to visit the original stall at AMK to see if I can discover the holy grail of Crab Bee Hoon there!

Mellben Seafood
Block 211 Lor 8 Toa Payoh
#01-11-15
63533120
Kelly: 91469932

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