The Secret to Appreciating Part 2 - Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee (Hougang)

Another famous stall that I am going to share the secret with you.

Fried hokkien mee was one of my favourite foods growing up.  In fact, I used to stay near the old location of this stall, where they call it Hougang Six Mile or 后港六条石.  Of course, I was too young back then, and after the hawker centre got tore down, a lot of good foods were gone, and I would occasionally look out for stalls that say they used to be at Hougang Six Mile.

Anyways, fast forward to 2009/10, when I was working for a certain public service, I had to do a certain inspection around the area.

One of my colleague, who was super into hawker foods too (although he was like 50+ so he probably isn't that active on the internet), asked me if I liked hokkien mee.  I told him yes, I love it, and he shared with me the secret to enhancing the taste, which he discovered by accident.

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Similarly, this stall is famous enough that I don't have to say too much about it.

In Singapore, there are two main types of hokkien mee; one is the wet and soupy type, like those found at food republic food court, and the other is the dry type, like the one in this photo.  The wetter types tend to use thicker bee hoon, while the dry ones tend to use the thinner bee hoon.

Honestly, I find this stall a little different from the normal categorisation, as it uses thinner bee hoon, is generally dry, but has some stock to it.

However, this stall is definitely my favourite hokkien mee stall as the stock used is excellent!!  You can literally taste the prawns in the stock!  The bee hoon is cooked till somewhat crispy too, which adds to the overall taste of the hokkien mee! Overall, the taste is just great!

Unfortunately, people who love their chilli won't appreciate this, as they only serve cut chilli.

Oh, I NEVER use the lime, as I think the lime will spoil the taste.

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Now, here's the secret.

The secret to enjoying this hokkien mee is to......................da bao.  Or takeaway/to go.  Even if you are eating at the food centre.

Why?

Because when you do a takeaway, the crispy thin bee hoon will absorb the stock, making it excellent!!  Yes, it may be lukewarm when you consume it, but this way gives a totally different dimension to the hokkien mee!

It's like, if you eat there, you are listening to band members playing their instruments individually.  If you don't appreciate the instruments, you might think it is just random noise.

But if you da bao, you are listening to the finished product; the new song of the band!  Everything mixes well together, and not a single wrong or off beat to it!  And then the lyrics comes in and what the band members played individually now makes sense!

Take a close look...the bee hoon seems more expanded due to the absorbing of the stock.  And overall, it is more dry as the stock as been absorbed.

This way of eating levels it up, from a 9/10 hokkien mee into a 9.9/10 hokkien mee!!!

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My ex-colleague discovered this when he had one plate there, thought it was nice, and decided to da bao for his family.  And when he had his second serving at home, he thought it was even better!

So, when he knew that I was heading around the area for a site inspection that day, he said "Kang Wei, go try the hokkien mee.  Order one plate and eat there, and order some packets to bring back office.  Order one packet for yourself too, so you can see the difference."

I remember clearly that when I had it there, it was good, but I wasn't too impressed.  After going back to office, I opened up the packet and starting eating.  And from then on, this stall became my favourite hokkien mee stall.

And so, when I first told the special one about this hokkien mee (since she works somewhere there), she said it was crap.  Not nice at all.  But I asked her to go along with me, and used the secret to impress her...and now, no other hokkien mee can impress her.

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I highly recommend people to go in pairs.  I was super fat back then, and I could easily eat two portions with no problem.  But now, I'd say, go in pairs.  Order one to eat on the spot, and order one takeaway.  Try the plate first, before opening up the packet and enjoy.


One word of warning though, this place can be highly inconsistent.  Don't scold me if things don't turn out well for you.  I have had my fair share of inconsistencies when I go around eating for food, and this stall happens to be one of them.

The Secret to Appreciating Part 1 - Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh

As we all know, Ng Ah Sio famously turned down some politician from Hong Kong a few years back.  Prior to that piece of news, I probably went there once or something, but never really liked it.  But that was when I was young, and soft drinks were the only drinks that I consumed when dining out.

With that piece of news, I decided to go back and try Ng Ah Sio. 

And boy, I never regretted my decision.  For I discovered the secret behind Ng Ah Sio's success and why it was so good.  

And I am going to share it here. 

I believe, Ng Ah Sio is famous enough that there isn't much need for me to do a detailed review.  

The soup is super peppery, which I find is the distinct style of Singapore bak kut teh.  People have their own views on this, some love it, some don't.  Personally, I am ok with it.  

The pork ribs are the most tender ribs I have tasted for bak kut teh.  

The pork trotters aren't good at all.  

The pig skin was random, some tough, some tender. 

The special one didn't like the chai buey. 

The list can go on and on. 

Enough of that.  Here's the secret. 

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The secret to Ng Ah Sio, is the TEA! 

Ok, you might be wondering...it is bak kut teh, of course there is tea.  

But Ng Ah Sio's Tea is DIFFERENT!

They provide a special type of tea whereby I was unable to find any information on the internet.  And when I ever walked into a chinese tea specialty shop in Liang Court and enquired about it, I was chased out of the shop, with the shop owner claiming that the tea is poison.  

Poison or not, that tea is the secret to enjoying Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh.

Before Jumbo took over, it used to be 小月甘, which, loosely translated, probably means dew of the small moon.

Now, it has changed and become 小叶甘, dew of the leaflet.

When I heard of the change, I was disappointed as I was worried if it would have the same secret taste, especially when it was the special one's first visit here.  Regardless, I ordered it anyway.

Ok.  Enough of the long story.  I'm going to cut straight to the point.

1.  Order 小叶甘.
2.  Order a bowl of peppery bak kut teh. 
3.  Prepare the tea.  If you do not know how to, ask the servers.  I am not going to teach you the methods. (first, wash cups, then, throw away first brew etc.)
4.  Wait for the bak kut teh to be served.
5.  Drink one small cup of the tea. 
6.  Drink one spoonful of hot, peppery soup. 
7.  Drink one more cup of the tea.

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Why, you might ask, do I need to do this?
Let me explain to you.

The tea, is special.  This tea has a very specific, sweet aftertaste to it.  And I literally mean it.  The first small cup of the tea will let you have a rough idea how the aftertaste is like.  NOTE: AFTERTASTE.  NOT THE TASTE OF THE TEA.

Here's the fun part.  Somehow, coupled with the hot, peppery soup, that specific aftertaste gets enhanced.

It is so sweet that it is something I have never tasted before.  I won't say out of this world, but it is just so special.  The thing is, the sweetness of the enhanced aftertaste lingers in your mouth, in your saliva.  That after you swallow the tea, you will just keep on swallowing your saliva just to get that taste of sweetness.

It is something that you really have to try to understand what I am talking about.

One thing to really note however, is that the change in tea did affect some criteria.

First, every brew must be long enough such that the colour of the tea is dark brown.  More gao, in Singaporean terms.  As such, each brew can really take at least 5 minutes to achieve that state.
Secondly, the soup MUST be pipping hot.  The soup is refillable, but we have the tendency to get greedy and ask for refills while waiting for the brew, hence when the brew was ready, the overall effect wasn't as good.

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I highly recommend you to try this yourself.  So far, I have only told 4 people of this, and despite one of them totally disliking peppery bak kut teh soups, he was amazed and impressed with the tea.  Another one loved the soup to begin with, but after the tea, she felt that Ng Ah Sio is the best bak kut teh in town.

To all those who do not like peppery soup, try this method and taste it for yourself.

And this is why, Ng Ah Sio is my favourite bak kut teh.


*note* anyone familiar enough with the situation or with tea, can you kindly educate me on why they say 小月甘 was "poison?"

New Job!

I'm excited about my new job, not because of the prospects, but because of what I am going to do.

I have graduated for 6 years and have spent most of this time trying to identify what I want to do.  During this period, 99% of my peers have moved forward in their respective careers, while I have wandered around at the same spot.  Back to square one, as I used to put it.

This time round, its different.  Its not a back to square one job, not a moving forward job.  In fact, it's some 3 steps backwards.

Rationale of my decision aside, this post is kinda like trying to say that I am starting a new job, and I am not sure how much I can review as my break periods are lesser than 1 hour.  Having said that, I will try as much as possible to share my thoughts on the foods that I eat.

Cheers!

Hoe Huat Wanton Noodle *WTF IS THIS SH*T*

Hoe Huat Wanton Noodles
#01-60
Haig Road Market and Cooked Food Centre
14 Haig Road
S(430014)

So the special one works around this area, and I do come here and try some food as and when possible.  However, as the special one has worked around here for quite awhile, she says she's sick of the food here.  Having said that, she only comes here after 8pm, when most shops are closed already.  Thus, she suggested coming here for lunch, and here we are.

We were quite surprised at the number of stalls opened at 11.30am...seems like the whole food centre was only 75% operating.  And some of the shops that weren't opened at that time were also closed by 8pm.  Which kept us wondering how the overall quality of food is.  And it wasn't even a Monday when we came by.

Having said that, I did notice that there was a fishball noodles stall that people will queue for around 6pm, and would close by 7.30pm.  Well, it wasn't opened at this time, and I have yet to figure out its opening hours.  I will definitely come back to try fishball noodles.

Anyway, there were two similar wanton noodles, and I chose the one that said it was the original or something like that...

Huge regret.

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No taste.

Noodles?  Tasteless.
Soup?  Crap.
Wanton?  Waste of calories.

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I am not gonna say any more.

WTF IS THIS SH*T?

Unless someone tells me I super suay and that day was an off day.  Else I probably won't go back there again.


*on a super side note, my close friend and I, and now the special one, calls wanton noodles - slutty noodles or 淫荡面..I have no idea why, but everywhere in Singapore they call it wanton.  Do a search on definition of wanton and you'll know why.

Ichiban Seafood Sliced Fish Soup *nice*

Ichiban Seafood Sliced Fish Soup
#01-18
Seah Im Food Centre
2 Seah Im Road
S(099114)
-fish soup (obviously)


Fish soup used to my staple for a while, from 2010 to start 2011.  I wasn't too particular about foods back then, as I was trying to lose weight.  Hence, I opted for the "healthier" version; soup, no rice, and fish.  Fish is beneficial!

I guess, the turning point came when my friend and I, after a basketball session, went to a fish soup near my house for dinner.  I frequented that stall a lot, not that I love it, but it was indeed the "healthier" option.  My friend wasn't too kind though.  He said the soup was really bad, and contained a lot of MSG.  He even suggested another fish soup stall.  Now, I have doubts about this particular friend's taste.  He is even more biased than me, and to the extent that there are times he would bring me to this "wonderful" place, that will turn out to be one of the worst foods I've ever tried.  But then again, he has recommended some good foods before, like the char siew rice at Keong Saik Street and Marutama Ramen.  Nevertheless, I did try his recommendation, and boy, it became my favourite fish soup!

I brought my mom there to eat, and she loved it too!  Alas, that stall doesn't open on weekends, hence I was unable to get my dad to try.  Regardless, my dad also said he never really like fish soup, so I didn't really push him to.

One day, he came back and told me that he just had the best fish soup ever.  Which came as a surprise, given that he didn't really like fish soup.  But since he likes it, I thought I should give it a try.

Unfortunately, the location wasn't a place where I went frequently, hence it took awhile before I went.

*On a side note, I did a search for Seah Im's address and found that a famous blogger wrote about this place last year.  Well, i have to admit I am unlike him, where I can taste the difference in fish used and stuff...so my comments probably be different from him.  Well, I'm biased anyways.

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I ordered the mixed fish soup - mixed fish being both fried and boiled (is boiled even the correct term?) fish pieces.

First thought was that the soup tasted ok, nothing nice or spectacular.  One thing for sure, it wasn't msg-ish.  I was able to taste the fish bones and ginger that was used to cook the soup, making me feel that it was those  home-made type of soup, as compared to other hawker fish soups.

The fried fish, though not too big in size, was surprisingly meaty, which I felt was not bad!  The fish slices were normal though.  I'm biased, so despite it being not bad, I still felt that the fish meat couldn't match up to my favourite fish soup stall.  (The red/dark part in the photo is the shadow.  I know, I can't take nice photos...)

The chilli came as a surprise though.  It was good, being heavy on the lime taste and was adequately spicy.  Now, I can take chilli, but I'm not a fan of adding chilli unnecessarily, but this chilli, I'd recommend people who can take spicy stuff to try it.

It was hard to determine why my dad love this stall that much.  Overall, it was good, probably slightly better than most of the fish soup stalls out there, especially without the msg-ish taste, and that you could taste the effort put into making the soup.  But it just did not stand out to me that much.  Then I suddenly recalled how my dad eats his fish soup.  He was sharing with me that he usually eats like fish porridge, where they add soup to the cooked rice.

And so I tried it.  I have never been a fan, and I hardly enjoy my fish soup this way, but by adding the soup to the bowl of rice, the taste changed!  The soup became tastier and sweeter.  It felt even more traditional, even more home-made style.

No added milk, no extra gimmicks.  Just plain, simple, sweet, fish porridge.

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I'd give this a nice.  Normally I'd say it's just not bad, but I think the mixture of the rice and the soup just makes this stall stand out.

Perhaps you, who usually eat fish soup the same way as I do - soup, and a bowl of rice, can try it different when you come to Ichiban Seafood Sliced Fish Soup.

A Reminder on My Philosophy

1.  I will eat and review whatever food there is.  I will not be picky or will not recommend only good foods.  If I don't like the food and I think it sucks, I will say it that way.

2.  I am also biased.  I understand different people have different preferences.  My preferences will definitely differ from yours.  My favourite may not be your favourite.

3.  Of course if one fortunate day I get invited to do food reviews...well...till then!

BACK

I'm back!

After 2 months of nuaing and not blogging.  Erm 3 months.

As i mentioned previously, I am spending a lot of time with my special someone.  And I do intend to spend more time with her!

Also, a habit of mine is that I tend to review only when I'm alone.  The reason being I can write my thoughts and take my time reviewing the food that I am consuming.

That's why when I'm with her I tend not to bother too much about writing.

I also noticed that an Anonymous commenter has been posting.  Thanks Sir/Mdm for your support!  You seem to know quite a fair bit about the food around the area!  Hopefully I can go back there and try the foods again so that we can share our views together!

On a side note, I tried going back to the Redhill Porridge on two separate occasions; the first during the 4th or 5th day of CNY, and they were closed...the 2nd was one week after that.  The standard seemed to be affected a little, and I found the porridge getting saltier.  I was da bao-ed for my family, and my cousin, who can take quite a level of saltiness, actually commented that the porridge was salty.  Regardless, it has not changed my view on the porridge; it is still my favourite!

I did also make a trip to zhen zhen, which I used to like...and I find that I still prefer Redhill Porridge.

Finally, my new year resolution was that I'd like to blog at least twice a week.  I shall work towards this small goal.

Cheers all, and have an awesome 2013~!

Woke up for nothing!

Reached the red hill porridge at 7.55pm. Queued for 20mins.

Abt another 8 people in front of us.


SOLD OUT!

Red Hill Porridge *favourite* - LOVE AT FIRST BITE!

Red Hill Porridge
#01-90
Red Hill Food Centre
85 Redhill Lane
S(150085)
- pork porridge
- fish porridge
- pork and fish porridge
- raw fish yu sheng

Mon-Fri
5.30am to 8.30am

(In any case, I'm sure that this porridge is already famous to begin with.  I won't be surprised if there are tons of reviews on this)

I don't remember being a porridge person.  I do have places I like though, like the Clementi central one (for the traditional taste), the Zhen Zhen porridge at Maxwell (for the yu sheng haha), and the one at Chinatown...I don't remember the name or even if the stall is still there.

In fact, my uncle recommended me to zhen zhen, and I kinda got hooked onto the yu sheng since then. 

Also, I do like the Sinma Frog Leg Porridge too.

Anyways, a few days back I decided to try my luck with chee cheong fun at Redhill Market, and I saw that at 7.45am in the morning, one porridge stall had like 8 people queuing, so I told myself that I'll be back.


And I was.

And I was shocked.  At around 7.50am, I was like the 29th in the queue!!!!  And even when I was served, there was like another 15 people waiting behind me!!!

And boy, did I NOT regret queuing!!!

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*I'm not a photograph person.  And obviously I do regret the seat that I chose, as you can see the shadows still there*

Being greedy, I ordered pork porridge, added egg, and a place of yusheng.

IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST BITE.

The porridge was SUPER thick, SUPER tasty!!!  After the first bite, I really spent some time deliberating if I should add more soy sauce to further enhance the taste.  But, I didn't, as I felt that the taste was just toooooooo good to eat it on its own!!!

It was so thick...even thicker than cantonese style porridge.  And maybe thicker than frog leg porridge!!  The smoothness wasn't as smooth at cantonese style porridge, but to me, it doesnt matter.  To me, porridge is about the taste, not the smoothness.  If a porridge was to be judged in terms of smoothness, then the one at Clementi would have failed terribly.

I then tried the yu sheng, which I thought was standard.  Nothing really special, and I do think I'd still prefer Zhen Zhen's yu sheng.

The more I ate the porridge, the more I loved it!!!

*From the photo, some parts of the porridge looks like there's this transparent water thing.  Which, happens to be the egg white.


Then came the mixing of the egg with the porridge.  Which gave me a little mixed feelings.

Why?

The first bite after mixing the egg, I immediately regretted!!  I couldn't get back the original taste!!!  ARGH!

But I was super amazed - most porridges, after mixing the egg, would just give a different taste which is a combination of egg and porridge (ok I can't find a better phrase to describe, but what I'm trying to say is that when mixed, most porridges would just give another taste.)

BUT NOT THIS!  The mix of the porridge and egg was something I've never experienced before!  Where the yolk's distinct taste not only blended with the porridge, it gave off a triple layered taste!  I could taste the yolk, the porridge, and then the mixed taste!

Excellent!!!

And that's how the mixed feelings came about.  I lost the the original taste of the porridge, but I found something that was on par!

The more I ate this mixture, the more I loved it!!!

The ingredients?

SUPERB.  EXCELLENT!  AWESOME!!!

The Clementi porridge, despite having the same ingredients, doesn't really bother with the texture of the ingredients.  ie.  the liver is overly though, the pork slices isn't tender.

This stall is just different!!

Liver was awesome!  Tender!  Cooked to perfection IMHO!  A little cooked on the outside and totally tender on the inside!!  Like the chef purposely cooked it a little raw, and let the warmth of the porridge do the rest of the work!

Pork slices?  Tender!  Tasty!

Pork balls?  Nice!!!

What's left, would be to see if the level of MSG used was insane to make it tasty. 

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And my verdict?

FAVOURITE!

LOVE AT FIRST BITE!
I have never been so awed by a simple bowl of pork porridge.  I am now a convert, though it will be really difficult to find the time to eat this again due to the unfavourable opening hours.  Oh wait.  I just mentioned crap.  Because my favourite kway chup opens around the same time too and it's even further for me to travel LOL.





I super regret ordering the $2 one.  I SHOULD HAVE ORDERED $3!!!
In fact, what I did notice is that they do sell plain porridge on its own; the ah pek before me ordered $3 and requested for a $1 extra porridge.  Maybe I'll do just that next time!! 


And lastly, I can safely say that it is not MSG that makes the porridge so tasty!  I did not feel thirsty immediately after that, and my lips did not crack (my lips will crack if too much MSG used.)

I'LL BE BACK!

End of the Bukit Merah Food Centre Project

Well, the Mei Ren Yu was the last of the project. 

There are like 2-3 more stalls I'd like to try.

Hopefully I get the chance in the near future!

Mei Ren Yu Yong Tau Foo *nice*

Mei Ren Yu Yong Tau Foo
#02-52
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road
S(150163)
- yong tau foo (obviously)
- laksa sauces


Not that I've never been a fan of yong tau foo (ytf for short), and not that I'm particular about ytf. 

There was, however, a period of time, when I thought that ytf was the healthiest food served at food centres, and I was quite hooked onto it.  Not that I like the taste, but more like it was healthy. 

In fact, my favourite ytf was the one that used to be at the kopitiam at Bedok Bus Interchange that sold $0.20 per piece.  And mine was like $4.80 LOL.

Anyways, for ytf, I normally look out for 1 thing:


The soup (do I see soy beans?  Does it taste of soy beans?  Or is it msg filled?). 

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If there was an option for a dry version or a soup version, 90% of the time I'd go for the dry version.  It's just a personal preference, and once again, I did go for the dried version.  And for ytf, I usually request for both the chilli and sweet sauces to be added. 

I probably mentioned this before, that I'd usually try the soup first before tasting the main dish.  And for this, I did like the soup.  It was somewhat salty, with a little soy bean taste.  And it didn't feel all MSG filled, so I thought this was pretty good already.








Then to the noodles and ingredients proper.


There wasn't anything special with the noodles, it was just normal, what you'd expect from any other ytf stalls.

Ingredients-wise, I thought it was a little more impressive.
First thing, this stall is a little more expensive than others I'd say.  It was $0.50 per piece.  HOWEVER, the good thing is that you can choose a minimum of 4 pieces, which is definitely better than normal ytf stalls, where they require minimum of 6 pieces.

The spread was normal, but why I said it was a little more impressive was that it had luncheon meat and fried chicken to choose from. 

And the best part?  The fried pieces that you choose from are served, not by dumping everything into soup and heating it up, but they really deep fry these pieces! 

Thus, the tao gua (tofu) really tasted nice!!  I felt that it was fried nicely and tasted good.  The external skin was crispy, while the inside of the tao gua was soft and nice!

Finally, I thought the sauces were ok.  The chilli was a little spicy for ytf standards, but I could still catch the taste of the sweet sauce. 

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Taste is ok overall, but im biased. Im rating this nice, for the effort put in frying the fried ingredients rather than dumping into soup and "heating"

And obviously, food tastes better after being fried!

Fong Sheng Cooked Food *not bad*

Fong Sheng Cooked Food
#02-13

Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road
S(150163)
- Char Kway Teow

As far as I can remember, Char Kway Teow wasn't exactly one of my favourite foods growing up.  I do recall that I didn't like cockles, oysters, and most forms of shellfish growing up. 

Some time in 2005, my uncle introduced me to Margaret Drive Char Kway Teow, and that kinda sparked off my love for Char Kway Teow, and I did go around Singapore looking for "the best" Char Kway Teow.

Fast forward to now, that Char Kway Teow, which is Hai Kee, remains my favourite, despite trying a better tasting one while at the Ultimate Hawker Fest this year.

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Before I even tried this stall, I was looking forward to it already.
Reasons being:
1.  Every time during lunch, the frying was kinda non-stop.
2.  Not sure because of the poor ventilation of the food centre, but the sector will always be filled with the smell from this place.
3.  A lot of people eating!

Well, I wasn't exactly sure why, but when I ordered, I kinda deviated from my norm - asking for extra lard pieces even though this was my first time trying this stall.

And, not sure if I should be glad that I didn't get my way, or should be surprised at the response...but the stall people were saying that there was no lard, and they don't use lard.

This came at a huge surprise!!!  How can a delicacy like Char Kway Teow be cooked without lard????
 
Anyhows, I still ordered, and had to wait a while before my order came.

The colour of the Char Kway Teow was quite light, in terms of looks I'd prefer a darker (more dark sauce used) version.

The taste had a little chao tar taste, which I do favour.  However, the wetness was a little drier that what I'd have preferred.

One thing I realised, is that most Char Kway Teow stalls don't cook their beansprouts as much as Hai Kee.  Thus, there's a little crunchy and raw taste overall.  Which I find it acceptable.  And same goes for Fong Sheng.  

Overall, the taste is abit hard to describe.  Because it does remind me of the fried kway teow that was sold in my primary school canteen.  Not to say it's not good, but it does give me a nostalgic feeling.

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I'd rate this stall as not bad.
I do like the chao tar taste, but it's not exactly spectacular or nice in any special way, just a little nostalgic.

Also, my friend did point out that there's another Char Kway Teow stall hidden at another corner of this food centre.  A quick search on the internet revealed that that stall had been reviewed by a famous food blogger, though the rating wasn't that high.

I guess I'd look forward to the trying the other stall soon.  

Changed Colour Scheme

I didn't exactly like the previous colour scheme, other than sharing with my gf that I chose yellow to make people hungry, as showed in a study of the colours used by companies in their logos.

And I did notice that the more popular food blogs used pretty basic colours. 

So I took this chance to slightly revamp the outlook of the blog. 

It's still not exactly what I want, but I guess it's better than the previous one. 

An unfortunate turn of events

I received some unfortunate news some time last week.  Hence, I think I might not be able to finish reviewing all the stalls at Bukit Merah Food Centre.  Nevertheless, I'll carry on food blogging and look around for places to eat and review them whenever possible!

Lai Hin Fish Ball Kway Teow Mee *potential favourite*

Lai Hin Fish Ball Kway Teow Mee
#02-11
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road
S(150163)
- Fish ball noodles

I was super looking forward to review this stall! Why? Because I tried it before I thought of reviewing the whole food centre, and I really really really really liked it!

I reviewed 2 other fish ball noodles stalls prior to re-trying this again, and I have mentioned before the stalls that I like, so I'm not gonna re-mention those again.

But this stall is definitely a potential favourite!! I was really glad to have found this stall!

I think the stall owner either has superbly dry skin or may have some skin conditions; her skin was a little flaking.  But I have no issues with that.  In fact, the successor of my favourite satay bee hoon stall has some skin problems too if i recall correctly.

Oh, the first time I visited this stall was about 11.30am.  I think they just opened, I was 2nd in queue, but I was not the 2nd to be served.  Why?  Because apparently, there were like 6 people who were queuing even before this stall opened!!  That really made me curious about it.  And boy, I wasn't disappointed!!!

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Yes, from the picture, because of the minced meat, you might mistaken it as bak chor mee.  But no.  It is fishball noodles.  And it tastes like the type that I love.

If my food is served with soup, I do have a habit of tasting the soup first before eating the dish.

So, the soup for this is great!  It was super tasty!  A little oily for my liking, but I'm not complaining!  There were bits of fried onion in the soup too!  Nice!!

Traditionally, fishball noodles were served with the sauce below the noodles, and you have to flip/mix the noodles yourself.  I don't remember who or when it started where the cook will help you flip/mix the noodles with the sauce, but regardless, I still do it myself.  Not only to create a more even mix, but also to separate the noodles.

And for this stall, the vinegar smell rose up when I was flipping the noodles.  And was it fragrant!!  Ok, I do detest stalls that have excessive vinegar, but this was ok!

The mee kia was excellent too!!  Dry and cooked well!!  So much so that it even reminded me of the Joo Seng Fish ball noodles that I grew up eating!

The chilli wasn't that spicy, and was good.  So goes for the minced meat.  That I thought I could even enjoy a bowl of minced meat on its own!

The fish ravioli even tasted similar to the one at joo seng!!!  I always thought the one at joo seng was hand made though, so for all I know, both might be getting from the same supplier haha!

Finally, the only disappointing part about this meal was that I felt that the fishball was a little bland.  Not tasty enough.

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Overall, this stall is definitely a potential favourite.  I would highly recommend this to people who love fish ball noodles!!

And if my favourite stalls start retiring one by one, this might well become my favourite fish ball noodles stall!!

Lim Soon Li *not bad*

Lim Soon Li
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road
S(150163)
#02-31
- Nasi Lemak
- Laksa
- Prawn Noodle
- Mee Siam

I think it's pretty obvious to us Singaporeans that Nasi Lemak in Singapore is divided into three types.
1. Traditional, banana leaf wrapped nasi lemak.
2. Chinese style nasi lemak.
3. Malay nasi lemak.

I'm not going to explain too much into the difference; I'm assuming people reading this are Singaporeans.

And as a reference:  I've never been into the traditional type.  Yes, it does remind me of the good ol days, but that's about it.

As for Chinese style, I do like Chong Pang Nasi Lemak for the ingredients that they serve, especially the chicken wings.  Also, I do like Punggol Nasi Lemak for the fragrant rice and their chilli.  Finally, a special mention to Hong Ni Kitchen.  I like that place, though I've only been once.  And would definitely want to go back again for more!.

As for Malay style, there are two places I like.  The Adam Road, stall no. 2 Nasi Lemak, for its rice!  Also, Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak, not because it is good or what, but because it accompanied me for a good 6 months.

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This stall, well, I'd say there's nothing much to rave about.  The rice is ok, as it has the coconut taste, though I found it abit bland.

The chilli had a more after-taste type of feel.  A little spicy initially, but felt more and more spicy after awhile.  A little like wasabi, where you don't taste much initially, but after awhile it gets to you.

The ngoh hiang was acceptable by my standards.

No comments on the fried chicken though.  Seemed like it was seasoned with the yellow thing, I'm not sure what it is called.  But I'm sure people will understand when I mention that the seasoning is the same as that being used for the fried fish in the traditional banan leaf wrapped nasi lemak.

Finally, the luncheon meat was surprisingly nice!! It may have looked dry, but it was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside!

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For now, I'd rate this a not bad.  Of course, I'd review it again once I have tried the other foods that this stall offers.

Hehehe

Obviously, personal friends know that I'm enjoying my time with my special someone now.  That's why I'm not posting much nowadays hehehehehe.

Lim Kee Part 2 *WTF IS THIS SH*T"

Lim Kee Part 2

Click here for the original post, and the address for Lim Kee


I usually don't blog immediately after trying out a stall.

But today, I have to.

I tried Lim Kee white version chai tao kway some 2 weeks ago, and decided to publish the post on how much I liked it.  And while typing, I thought, why not go for the black version tomorrow?

And so I did.

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This is the black version.

And a repost of the white version.


WTF IS THIS SH*T????

I was shocked.  I totally did not expect this...I would say, lack of effort.

To the extent that I even asked "Is this the black one?" when I was served.

If anyone did read what I posted previously, I have said that the black should be sweet, while the white should be salty.

And obviously, it was because both are cooked differently!

But look at this piece of "sh*t!  I don't know what to say!

It's so obvious that it was fried the white version way, and then added with a few drops of sweet sauce, and ta da.

Fail.  Epic fail.

And there wasn't even the need to write how it tasted like.  Because it tasted exactly like the white version.  With some sweet sauce.  Period.  End of story.

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Yes.  The black version is graded as WTF IS THIS SH*T.

And I'll downgrade this stall to not bad.  I still like the white version.  But that's about it.

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On a side note, there's something that I'm wondering.  About looks vs taste vs how it is supposed to be.  I'm biased.  I like things in a certain way.  But that does not mean that I am not acceptable to new stuff, new taste, and new style of presentation.  But that's worth another post altogether, and I'm not going to dwell on it anytime soon.

Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls *not bad*

Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road
S(150163)
#02-06

- Hainanese Chicken Rice
- Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls
- Hainanese Mutton Soup

I won't say I have always loved chicken rice.  Well, I do remember when I was young, my family would always have sunday brunch at a particular chicken rice stall at Lim Ah Pin Road.

And during the days when I exploded, I would have half a chicken plus a packet of rice.  Just for dinner.

Anyways, chicken rice to me was something I do like, but not love.  And I have ever tried searching for the "best chicken rice" in Singapore, leading me to Far East Plaza, where there were two stalls, to Lucky Plaza, where I thought it was the best for awhile, then to Peace Centre, where I thought Sing Ho chicken rice was second to none, and finally settling at the Kovan Food Centre one, where I just ate and ate and ate.

Looking back, there definitely wasn't a best.  It was just my preference.  And my preferences shifted as I grew.

And that's another story altogether.



The first time I tried chicken rice balls was in Malacca, one of the two famous stalls.  I do remember liking the balls, but the chicken wasn't like Singapore-style, so I thought it was just ok.

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I had originally intended to order chicken rice balls along with chicken meat and innards.  But the moment I realised that they sold mutton soup, I couldn't resist the temptation.

I thought the mutton soup was nice.  It had the herbal flavour, no smelly mutton smell.  Plus the wolfberries did not cover the taste of the soup!  Meat tasted a bit braised, and was a little too touch for my liking.  Had to chew a little harder for the taste to come out.

The issue with this though, was that I thought it lacked in the after taste department.  Flavourful, yes.  But when I finished it I really did wonder where had the soup gone to.

I thought the rice balls tasted just nice.  It was served abit cold though - the rice balls were prepared and kept at room temperature instead of being served in those rice buckets.  It was not too strong in the garlic and ginger department.

The dark soy sauce (yes, it's extremely important to me.  More important than the chilli LOL) was too salty for my liking.  I prefer it thicker and sweeter.

Finally, the sauce of the chicken had some sesame oil taste, and I can't exactly say I like this combination despite my preference for sesame oil in some of my food.  Meat texture was pretty much standard.  Otherwise, I'd say that the sauce was quite bland, and was definitely the weakest of the meal.

Personally, I have always thought that the chicken meat is usually bland, and it is the soy sauce/oil/whatever combination aka sauce of the chicken rice that gives it the taste, hence my emphasis on the sauces.

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This stall is definitely interesting.  The soup's good, the rice balls were nice, but it was at room temperature, hence a little cold.  Perhaps the normal rice would fare much better since it was stored in the rice buckets.

Overall, I'd say its not bad.

Lim Kee *not bad* EDITED

Lim Kee
Bukit Merah Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road S(150163)
#02-49
- fried carrot cake (white)
- fried carrot cake (black)
- chwee kuey
- soon kuey
- Char kway teow

- I think this stall closes after lunch time.

Long time ago, I had a conversation regarding fried carrot cake with my father.  I don't exactly remember how and what, but I remember back then (and it was a long..long...time ago), I preferred the black version while my dad preferred the white.  And I do vaguely remember why the conversation begun was because we had a plate of chai tou kway that looked like the black version yet tasted a little salty.

And it was then I concluded that IMO, black chai tao kway should be sweet, and white chai tao kway should be salty.

Fast forward years to now, I'm a convert.  Given a choice, I'd choose the white one any day.  Having said that, I guess I can partly blame the Bukit Timah Chai Tao Kway for popularising the white version .  Plus its really quite hard to find a good black version.

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So, Lim Kee Chai Tao Kway.  Touted as 10 best Chai Tao Kway, as displayed by some certificate at the stall.

The moment I saw it I was impressed.  It totally differed from the contemporary chai tao kway!  Contemporary chai tao kway somehow is cooked like omelette style, where its chopped kway fried with stirred eggs into big chunks.

But this isn't!!!  And I thought this is how chai tao kway should traditionally look like!!! Win!

Take a closer look!  Win!

I like the taste.  It just feels traditional.

For the first time too, I could really taste how the carrot cake felt like.  But then again I rarely attempt to take note of the taste LOL.  And *disclaimer* I meant I could really taste how the white chunks of carrot cake tasted like.  Not how the whole plate tasted like.  Argh I'm not making sense, am I?

The cake tasted nice, it felt a little tough and wasn't soggy.  Full of flavour that is!

The overall combination was just good.  I have no idea what the green vegetables used was, but I felt that it blended well!  Probably that was why I thought it felt traditional!

As I said, this wasn't the contemporary type, where it was omelette style and where the egg was fried till crispy.

My first bite, I first tasted the chilli, which wasn't too spicy.  Then the fried egg.  Then the texture of the egg.  Then the chye poh that was used.  And finally, the flavour of the cake.

With a tinge of after taste making you crave for more.

Personally, I've never really liked to eat the cake chunks without the eggs.  But for this, I was actually looking forward to consuming the cake chunks alone.  Just so I can get to experience the taste again!

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Overall, I'd say this would be a potential favourite for the white version.

Not only because of the fact that it was more traditional, but also the overall taste.

I'll definitely try the black version soon!



*edited.  I have downgraded this stall to an overall *not bad*.

Click here for the reason why I downgraded it.