Ah Seng Eating House: Braised Duck, Teochew Style

My dad used to braise duck when I was a kid. He still does it now occasionally. There are few things that my dad does cook and one of them is braised duck. Unfortunately, I never learnt how to braise duck from him. My cooking skills all come from mom. Maybe its time I asked him to teach me the age old Teochew tradition that has been handed down the Swatow Tay line for generations!

Anyway, as you already know, Braised Duck comes in two different styles. The Teochew style has a braising sauce which has the consistency of water while the Hokkien style sauce is thick and gooey. Being a Teochew, I guess I am obligated to say that I prefer the Teochew version. But you know, gooey loh does taste better with rice....



If you are after a nice Teochew version of Braised Duck, then this is certainly one stall that is quite popular. It is just next to the Bakery which that sells the luncheonmeat buns which I blogged about earlier and I think they are probably the same family. The braising sauce is nice and the duck is tender. Lots of people rave about it. I thought it was good enough to be included in this blog, but difficult to rave about. 4/5

Conclusion

Another place to go if you have the craving for braised duck.

Check out the other places to eat at Serangoon Way Food Centre!
Read about other places for Braised Duck.
Did you realise I have a tag specifically for Teochew stalls?

Ah Seng Braised Duck Rice
Stall No. 44 Serangoon Garden Way FC
Mon to Sat 11am to 9pm
Sunday closed

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Ah Xiao Teochew Braised Duck: Slice it Nice!

When you all order chicken or duck dishes, do you ever pay attention to who chops up your meat? I seldom, but I find that when it comes to a potentially tough meat like duck, the person who slices it really does make a difference.

This teochew braised duck was highly recommended by smart who claimed that it was one of the best in Singapore. It is the Teochew style braised duck meaning that the sauce is the thin, watery type and more savoury than sweet compared to the Hokkien version.



So I had really high hopes when the dish of duck came but surprisingly my first impression was that the meat was a little tough and a tad dry. Tastewise, the Teochew style braising sauce is not as sweet as the Hokkien version and was quite Pang (savoury). However, I was sitting there giving my muscles of mastication a good workout and wondering why smart would even recommend such a place.

When the Lao Ban Niang spotted me taking pictures of the plate of duck, she popped over with the usual "Are you a reporter?" question. When I complained that the duck was a bit tough, she immediately explained that her worker was not as adapt at slicing the meat as she was and offered to demonstrate how it should be done.



So when I was presented with the 2nd plate of braised duck, I must say it looked quite different from the first plate. This time it was sliced thinner and each slice was wider as she angled the cleaver more diagonally. And it yes the meat was more tender and juicy. So, if you are patronizing this stall, make sure you ask the Lau Ban Niang to slice it for you! 4/5

Conclusion

Who slices the meat does make a difference which is why other Lau Ban Niangs like the one from Yeo Keng Nam and Kay Lee insist on doing it themselves!

Ah Xiao Teochew Braised Duck
Geylang East Food Centre
#01-30
11.30am to 7.30pm
Monday Closed

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Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice: Cheap no Good, Good no Cheap

With Damien


I guess it is part of the Singaporean character to look for things that are cheap and good. This is especially true when it comes to food. However, many foodies are also ready to fork out their cash when they come across really good food. The fact is that the "Good" is not cheap and it is compounded by the fact that the "Cheap" is not as good as the "Good" that is not cheap.

There are only a handful of hawkers in Singapore who can actually command such unquestioning allegiance from their customers. Their food is so good that their customers don't mind paying the premium as well as suffer potential verbal abuse in order to have their taste buds tickled. According to Damien, this is one of them.

I was of course skeptical. How good can braised duck really get? I have yet to find a braised duck that I could have a craving for.

Well, all that is about to change. The duck here is actually very enjoyable. The meat was moist and tender and the unique, sweet vinegar chilli was the perfect accompaniment for the duck. It was actually quite shiok! 4.5/5 Just one problem, the plate small plate of thinly sliced duck costs $5 and if you go during peak periods, the wait can be pretty long.

Conclusion

Really nice braised duck with a shiok chilli sauce dip. Good enough to get me thinking about traveling all the way out West to eat it, but not quite that good enough for me pay a premium and still suffer a long queue for.

Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice
38 South Buona Vista Road
10.30am to 8.30pm
64759908

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Cheok Kee Duck Rice: How good can Braised Duck get?

Did you know that a duck is called a duck because of the way it ducks underwater to feed? I just thought that that was an interesting piece of trivia.

Talking about ducks, it seems to be the poor (or should I say fortunate) cousin of the chicken. I mean, you eat chicken at least a few times per week and its cooked in so many different ways. When it comes to duck, you basically have the roast version or the braised version and a sprinkling of dishes here and there. I remember as a kid, mom only ever cooked braised duck and it is eaten only during festive occasions.

Since braised duck is a supposed to be a Teochew dish, I should really love it since I am 100% unadulterated Teochew. Then again, I have already confessed to my lack of Teochewness as is apparent in my lack of appreciation of the Peh Toh Her. So braised duck does not evoke as much saliva as say Char Siew for me. In fact, I think that braised duck can only attain a certain level of shiokness which will never surpass the shiokability of something like say, a bowl of laksa. I don't remember eating one that I can really go "Shiokadoooledoooo!".

So when it comes to this 40 year old Duck Rice in Macpherson, I was not too disappointed since I was not expecting too much. The thing about this stretch of stalls along Macpherson Road is that it really is a model of Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. There are only a few shops there that have been around for more then a couple of years. The rest of the stalls just keep changing hands because the location is just not conducive. So if this stall has been around for so long, it means that the food must be good enough such that it has got a critical mass of regular customers to keep it going.

As I said, I did not expect too much. So it wasn't too bad. The duck was a little dry and the braising sauce was nothing to brag about. But hey, I am sure that there are fans out there who would disagree with me. The other thing I found out is that this is a Cantonese version of braised duck. Interesting since you would not expect people in the past to do cross cultural dishes as much as they do today. I was told that Cantonese Braised Duck has a thick gooey sauce and uses more herbs then Teochew Braised Duck. Perhaps our Braised Duck experts can confirm this to be true? 3.5/5

Conclusion

Has anyone ever eaten a braised duck that can be rated near a five or can braised duck only ever get so good?

Cheok Kee Duck Rice
520 Macpherson Road
9.30am to 7pm
Closed on Tuesdays
67439755

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Xing Ji Braised Duck: Good Enough to switch loyalties!

This stall is closed

On assignment with Professional Photographer, Alec Ee
Set for 2, $8 Photo by Alec Ee

On this occasion, I was invited to join professional photographer, Alec Ee to a photoshoot of his favourite Braised Duck stall which according to him is better (in a different sort of way) from the famous one at Tekka. This little known braised duck stall facing the Sungei Road thieves market was only started 6 months ago but has already attracted a regular following of braised meat lovers like Uncle Alec, who, until he found this stall, was a regular at Tekka.



Being in the presence of a professional photographer was a little intimidating for me at first. When you look at the kind of photos that he takes, you will know what I mean. Because he was so particular about the lighting and set up, it meant that for once, I was the one who had to be patient and wait while others took the pictures. After that I had to take my shots before we got to eat! Phwa I was really hungry by the time I got the first piece of duck into my mouth.


Duck Noodle $2.50 Pic by Alec Ee

The first thing that caught my attention was the way the stall owner sliced the duck breast. It is in the same style as the braised goose served at Guan Hin. Surely a good sign! When it comes to duck I actually prefer the breast meat to thigh meat. Because duck breast is actually red meat not white, I find that it combines tenderness of breast meat with the taste of thigh meat.

Do you know the difference between red and white meat? Red meat consist of slow twitch muscle fibres while white meat consist of fast twitch muscles. Slow twitch muscles are used for slower, sustained activity such as walking while fast twitch muscles are good for quick but short lived bursts of activity. So, chicken breast is typically white meat because a chicken doesn't really fly, it uses its breast muscles to quickly flap its wings when it is excited. The legs contain more slow twitch muscles since it is always walking around. That explains the difference in tastes of the two parts of the chicken. But since ducks actually fly (most migrate seasonally), the breast meat contains more slow twitch muscles so that they can have sustained muscle activity while they fly for long distances. Which is why duck breast tastes more like red meat. Yes or no?

The Braised Duck here is quite good. The breast is nice and tender and because it is sliced thin and wide, the texture is very different from your usual braised duck. I like the Lor as it is the thin watery type and is on the sweeter end of the spectrum but it still has enough umami. 4.25/5



Aside from the duck, the other thing that you really must order is the pork cheek. Oooh, sinfully soft and chewy at the same time! Not good......Very Good! 4.5/5

Conclusion

My next assignment is to try the famous Braised Duck over at Tekka. The braised duck here is very good, but until I get to compare it with the other famous one, you will just have to take Uncle Alec's word that it is good enough for him to switch loyalties! It's a new stall, but the stall owner really has passion for his craft, so I think it is only a matter of time before other braised meat lovers will discover his stall.


Xing Ji Braised Duck
Kelantan Food Centre
(Facing Sungei Road Thieves Market)
11 Kelantan Road 01-04
10am to 7pm daily

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Lee Xin Braised Duck: Tender Braised Duck: North Bridge Food Centre 1 of 2

With smart, liverpool and iwatch_ueat


I have been passionate about blogging those really old established hawker stalls because since they have been around for so long, their food ought to be good (akin to Darwin's theory about survival of the fittest yah?) But you know what, I realise that what really makes the food good is not how long it has existed, but how passionate the hawker is about the food.

Of late, I have been coming across more and more newly established stalls who have been around only a few years and yet their food is really very good. Another advantage of new stalls is that there is no old baggage holding the hawker back, so he is at liberty to experiment and innovate.



This Lor Duck (Braised Duck) stall is one good example. This gentleman has opened this stall for less than 2 years, but hey the duck is pretty good. You'll notice that the way the meat is cut and presented is reminiscent of how they do it in good Teochew Restaurants like Guan Hin. We loved the tenderness of the Duck and the Lor was tasty though it could have been a little more robust. 4/5

I asked him where he learnt to braise duck from and he simply said that it was a matter of trial and error, constantly getting feedback and trying to improve on the formula. It helps that his spent a good part of his life as a herbalist before deciding to go into the food business.

Conclusion

If you are into braised duck, you should give this one a try!

Lee Xin Braised Duck
North Bridge Food Centre
#01-93
9.30am to 8.30pm

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Chuan Lai Kway Chap King: The First is actually the Last

This blog is dedicated to all the Surgeons that I have worked with. I know how you all yearn for Kway Chap after a long hard day at the operating theatres!

If I asked you to guess what the first picture showed, only those who are Kway Chap Afficianados and those who have done a course in Anatomy will be able to identify that these are the terminal end of a tube that started from the pig's mouth. Oh yes, the Chinese call it the first part of the large intestine. Westerners call it the last part. See where the priorities of the 2 cultures lie?



I was never a big fan of innards, so I only took the picture of the Rectums to make you go EEEEEeeeyuuuuuck! (or Yum Yum whichever is your fancy)

I had the duck, belly pork and Tau Pok (deep fried bean curd) instead. The Lor (soy sauce) was thick and gooey and it was very herbal in taste, not really my kind of Lor 3/5. The duck was tender and one of the better ones I tasted. 3.75/5 But the belly pork that day was really bad. It had a smelly pork taste that I could not stand. 2/5



This did not make any sense to me because there was a lot of people eating there and the shop has all kinds of newspaper write ups. Even after the lunch peak hour, there were still quite a lot of people eating there and the amount of food prepared was very impressive. I keep wondering if it was just my own tastebuds and that maybe the smelly pork was a one off.



I was told that before the lunch crowd there was double the number of ducks shown in the picture! Such is the popularity of the stall. If there are readers who are fans of this stall, I hope you will write your comments and tell us why you love it so much!

Chuan Lai Guo Zhi Wang
560 Macpherson Road
67441252
8am to 12.30am Daily






Addendum: Fried Da Chang Tou as recommended by one of our readers!

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Cheok Kee Duck Rice: East Coast Lagoon Food Village Part 4 of 7

With: AC Towkay & iwatch_ueat



A good duck rice must have a good Lor (Gravy). As my mom would say "lose-win" is the Lor. Most of the time when I eat duck rice, I don't actually go for the duck meat as I would with chicken when I eat chicken rice. I usually go for the Tau Pok (Fried Bean Curd) and the Lor with the rice. And if they have braised peanuts, it's a bonus.



East Coast Lagoon Food Village seems hardly the place one would go for Braised Duck. To me the beach means Satay, Rojak, Hokkien Mee and Roti John. Braised Duck seems too melancholic for the beach. But hey, here was the store and there was a picture of Kim Ng and Fiona Xie eating the duck rice. Who am I to argue with the wonder twins?




The Lor is very good and overall, I like it. Its the thick and sticky type which is a little sweet and the herbs are not overpowering. Actually, I have to admit I am not a duck rice fanatic, so this one is as good a duck rice as I ever ate. However, I don't think you'd drive all the way from Jurong to eat this, especially since they have branches elsewhere.



Conclusion

A good duck rice, but as I already alluded to, when you come to East Coast at night, you just want to eat something that is grilled over charcoal or put on a banana leaf. Know what I mean? 4/5

Cheok Kee Duck Rice
Laguna Food Village Stall 29 (Carpark side away from the beach)
Opened 11am - 10pm
64454222

Acknowledgement: Superfinefeline recommended this

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