You Char Kway The traditional way: Margaret Dr FC Supplemental

Who doesn't like the versatile You Char Kway (YCK)? You can eat it plain, dunk it in coffee, cut it up and put it in Porridge and Tau Suan, stuff it with Sotong (squid) paste and refry it, toast it and add it to rojak. Yet, YCK making is a dying art. In the past you would see someone making YCK at any market in Singapore. Now, some of our younger readers may not even know how it is made.



Thankfully, this elderly couple who have been here at Margaret Drive FC for the past 37 years are still persisting in making YCK the traditional way. I would like to dedicate this blog to them for preserving our culinary heritage.

Ever wondered what ingredients go into the YCK that gives it that classic YCK taste? I have. Uncle tells me that the basic ingredients of YCK are: Flour, Baking Powder and Salt. Eh Uncle, you not telling me something right? How come its got that YCK taste? Must be some special spice that is put in right? Nope, he insisted its just Flour, Baking Powder and Salt.....but... he admitted that he uses a very special, good quality Baking Powder... AND... the taste of the YCK can only be achieved if it is fried together with the other stuff like the Ham Chee Pang, Heh Czi etc. The sesame seeds and five spice used in the other items flavours the oil which is not decanted, but topped up everyday. Thus, you will never be able to make YCK at home.



The process of making the YCK is pretty straight forward. After the dough is cut, one piece is placed on top of another.



Then a slender aluminium rod is used to press down on the dough to make the 2 pieces stick together. (I used to see them using a wooden stick like that from a Sau Pu Li Li {Broom made from the leaves of the coconut tree})



The dough is then stretched and put into the hot oil. It's amazing that Uncle gets all the YCK the same length. If you get me to sit behind the chair and make YCK, I guarantee that the YCK will come out looking like they could be players in a Rugby Team.



Conclusion

You just cannot beat YCK made the traditional way. The YCK is crispy on the outside, chewy and savoury on the inside. It's a treat just eating it by itself. 4.5/5

Unfortunately, Margaret Drive FC will be demolished in 2010, marking 40 years of YCK making for this wonderful couple. They tell me that they have a few years in them yet and will relocate somewhere else and still be doing what they have dedicated their entire lives to perfecting.

Thanks to them, we can still keep our childhood memories alive... at least for the next few years.

Margaret Drive FC
#01-558
96806008
Tues-Sat 12pm-10pm
Sun 9am-8pm
Monday closed

....Read more!

Xin Ji Chicken Rice - Margaret Drive FC

This is quite a well known chicken rice stall situated on the second floor of the Margaret Drive Food Centre and I think that it is seriously underated. Oh yes, it is well known, but its been around so long that people have begun to favour the newer stalls and especially those selling Kampung Chicken. Our recent makansutra forum poll showed very little support for this chicken rice compared with the likes of Boon Tong Kee, Kampung Chicken Eating House and Five Star.

But I quite like it! The thing that really got me was the fragrance of the special sauce that they sprinkle over the chicken meat. There is just something so fragrant, so umami, so special about it. I have not tasted a sauce as good as this one, and I am going to attribute it to the age of the stall and its premises. How else can you explain why all these old stalls tend to taste better then air condition food places?



Oh, forget Kampung Chicken, that's your anorexic, atheletic type. No, chicken should be like this! Plump, voluptuous, juicy and tender so then when you bite into its flesh, you don't get chewy bits stuck in your teeth, and when mixed with the incredible sauce -- Mmmmm... shiok man! What I really enjoy as well is the rice. Take it plain and as you swallow, smell the aroma and let the sweet taste of the carbohydrates linger at the back of your palate for just that instant. Not too oily or garlicky, this rice is one of the best I tried.



Conclusion

An oldie but a goodie! Go eat it before the HDB upgrading program changes it forever! For me, the best chicken rice of all the ones I reviewd so far, but in terms of chicken, I still give Yee Cheong Yuen the edge. To read the rest of my chicken rice reviews, click here 4.25/5



Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice
Margaret Drive FC
Block 40-A #02-548
10.30am-9pm
64710355
Closed on Monday

....Read more!

Poh Piah - Can we do better?

Poh Piah is like the ultimate side dish for most of us. Almost everytime I visit a FC, I get tempted to buy just that one or two Poh Piah to put on the table.



This montage is for those of you who have never seen Poh Piah skin being made. Ever wonder if they make it this way commercially? Think about it. Almost every FC sells Poh Piah, but where did all the skin come from? If you are interested, head to the 2nd floor of Margaret Drive Food Centre and you can see it being made. Basically, the guy puts his whole hand into a big vat of gooey flour mix, and just slaps it onto a hot griddle, then deftly retracts his hand leaving the thin Poh Piah skin on the griddle. Repeat it a few hundred times and you would build the leaning tower of Poh Piah pictured above.



The other main ingredient is of course the braised turnip. It is the chinese turnip that gives the Poh Piah its distinctive taste. You don't appreciate this stuff till you go overseas. When I was in Australia, you can't find chinese turnips, so most restaurants substitute shredded lettuce for turnips when making spring rolls. Not the same yah? A really nice turnip filling is sweet, savoury and really satisfying.



This particular stall was featured in AsiaOne as one of 4 best Poh Piah stalls in Singapore. I think it's because it's one of the few that makes their own skin. The filling is your classic, sweet sauce, chilli, braised turnip, bean sprouts, eggs and the best bits, the crunchy sweet thingy. Some stalls use peanut to substitute, but that just does not cut it. You need this mysterious, crunchy sweet thingy.



Conclusion

Good, I give it 3.5/5, but I just can't help thinking how this could be so much better. I think that hawkers should seriously rethink and reinvent hawker food in Singapore. Just like what we did with Godzilla Da Pao and Sirloin Steak Satay. All I did was to suggest the idea to the stallowners and they were willing to experiment with it. Now both items are doing so well that I won't be surprised if other hawkers start copying them. We are not talking about a quantum leap, just the next step in the evolution of an old favourite. In the Da Pao scenario, all we did was take the humble pau, increase the size (like those in Malaysia) and add really nice stuff like salted eggs and lup cheong. With Sirloin Steak Satay, we increased the size and use a better cut of beef. Why can't we do it with Poh Piah? The fact is that there are many people like you and me out there who want better stuff and are willing to pay just a bit more for it.

Now, if you are a Poh Piah seller, this is my fantasy Poh Piah. Make it bigger! Add extra crunchy thingy, add Crispy Pork Floss, Black Sesame Seeds, Nice King Prawns and XO lup cheong in your Poh Piah and I will come and eat it and maybe take a few pictures. And if you are reading this blog and happen to know a hawker somewhere who is passionate about their food and willing to take the next evolutionary step, go ahead and encourage them, give them your wildest ideas and tell us all about it! We would all benefit from a hawker food revolution!

Queenstown Poh Pia Stall
Blk 40A, Margaret Drive Food Centre, #01-484
97816307
10am-10pm

For those who want to have their own Poh Piah Party, they sell a $50 set which includes everything needed to make 40 Poh Piahs. Call 96423881 to order.

....Read more!

Shanghai Tim Sum - SingShang Cuisine

I thought that Shanghainese dumpling and la mian cuisine was quite a recent trend in Singapore until I found this 30 year old little Shanghainese Food Stall in the old Margaret Drive FC! Oh, you mean the Shanghainese were around 30 years ago! Ah Soh Des Ka! Started by Sebastian's father over 30 years ago, the food here has evolved into what I term as "SingShang" cuisine.

Take for instance the Tom Yum soup pictured above, this is like Tom Yum meets Sharks Fin soup. It is thick and gooey like Shark's Fin soup but it has the chillies, lemon grass, galangal, lime flavours of Tom Yum. Whoever heard of Shanghai Tom Yum? Quite interesting. $4 per bowl (bigger bowl then picture above) (Ok, I realised that Tom Yum is Thai cuisine, but this is the SingThai version of Tom Yum, ok? Pedantic!) 3.5/5




The handmade Guo Tie deserves to be raved about. Crispy on the outside, juicy and savoury meat morsels on the inside AND you get 10 for $4!! Nothing better then good food then GOOD AND CHEAP food. Buy two plates and you will be very happy. Simple pleasures in life. 4/5




This is the Shanghai rice cake. It's like hor fun, but instead of kway teow, you get what looks like sliced Marjong tiles. Its very chewy and supposedly, the yardstick in gauging its quality is how much of it gets stuck to your teeth. Good to try it once, but not really my cup of tea. (Don't try it if your dentures are loose) 3/5




The steam dumplings are quite commendable, the main main selling point being real value for money. Not as tasty as Crystal Jade or Imperial Treasure which are my favourite Shanghainese food places, but hey, $3 per plate, can't complain, especially if you have a family of 10 mouths to feed. 3/5



Conclusion

The original sign board says it all! This is one unique food stall in a Food Centre thats looks like its next on the HDB upgrading program. So try it will you still can!

....Read more!

Char Kway Teow - Margaret Drive FC

I have received suggestions that I should blog foods from the various Food Centres so that when you all are heading towards a certain Food Centre, you can have recommendations on what to eat so that you will not "waste your calories". I thought it was a good idea, so I visited Margaret Drive FC (Ok, you guys who complain I always blog food from the East, hey, I am listening!) yesterday and tasted some of the famous hawkers there. Over the next few days, I will post the few more notable stalls there.

Today, I am excited to report on the famous Char Kway Teow (CKT) on the ground level of the FC. I haven't had CKT for a while because I did not know any good ones and rather not "waste my calories" on lousy CKT. But this one had a long queue at 4.30pm!! So die, die, line up and try.



This Teochew Ah Chik has been frying CKT for 30 over years. Day in, day out. "Mai Hiam! Mai Ham! See You Joi! Mai Mee, Mai Ter Lah! (no chilli, no cockles, more black sauce, no noodles or pork lard). Phwa, talk about repetitive stress disorder! But this man seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit. So I asked why his CKT is so good. "I don't know" he says.

You see, the conundrum about CKT is that the ingredients are very basic. Put in the lard oil and fry some garlic. Add kway teow, noodles, bean sprouts, fish sauce and stir fry. Add some water, stir fry some more, add black sauce and chilli, stir fry some more, add cockles (oops, you don't want cockles ah?) and serve. What secret is there? I joked with him that it must be his special kanabee (body odour).



No wonder people line up. This is be BEST kway teow I have eaten in years. (OK hold your horses, I only ate about 5 plates in the last few years). The taste is just right. Its got that nice savoury flavour mixed with a tinge of sweetness and just the right amount of fish sauce that you can't taste the fish sauce itself. A mouthful of noodles plus the occasional lard bit (Please read disclaimer), Phwaa Sayah! I die a happy man.




For those who love See Harm, see the amount I got for $2.50! Too bad I don't take See Harm.

Conclusion

Good enough to spend some precious calories and cholesterol points on! Eat it before the government decides to upgrade the FC. Once he is transplanted into a new environment I am afraid he would lose that "I have be here for over 30 years" taste!

4.5/5 Shiok!

Hai Kee Teochew Char Kway Teow
Blk 40A Commonwealth Ave,
#01-550 Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Ctr
5.00pm – 10.00pm Closed Sun

....Read more!