Learning Chinese: 你吃了吗?

Even though I’ve been eating Chinese food all my life, I feel like I barely know anything about it. I’ve spent a few brief weekend getaways in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the past 18 months and I’ve been eating a discovering the larger world of Chinese food.

In fact, the more I eat, the more I realise how much I don’t know. And this is what I’ve been learning …

Perhaps the reason why we can’t taste the range of dishes anymore is simply because there are just some ingredients that aren’t available anymore! I remember going to the wet markets as a child and staring wide-eyed at those cubes of coagulated pigs’ blood and not so nasty bits of brain and lung which I haven’t seen in last 10 years or longer!



In Hong Kong, I was introduced to Almond and Pig’s Lung soup. I slurped down on a delicious version at Luk Yu Teahouse, one that has been popular and approved by the locals for many years. The almond soup is delicately flavoured with mandarin peels and is creamy and has a gentle grainy texture from the almond puree that gives it a good richness. The pig lungs were a lot milder than I expected. They looked a little strange but they had an airy and spongy texture that was pleasant to eat.


Shrimp with Longjing tea

fishballs with watershield

I’ve also learn about Zhejiang cuisine at a recent meal at Hongzhou Restaurant and I was surprised at the delicateness. We ordered shrimp with Longjing tea unfortunately was a little lightly flavoured for me. It sounded wonderful but it was a little bland, so I suspect I was just served a poor version of it. The homemade fishballs served with water shield, were very seductive. Pillow soft, they danced around my mouth as I chewed down on them. As for the accompanying water shield, I’ve yet to learn to appreciate.



I was never a fan of Sichuan food and I never quite understood the draw of the mouth numbing experience. But that is starting to change. I think part of the draw and thrill of it is that it is a mild form of extreme eating. It is about eating and being at the edge and not falling over and surrendering to those chillies and peppercorns.

Fuschia Dunlop’s Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, has made me reconsider sweating and it out for a full spicy meal.

The shui zhu yu at San Xi Lou pushed me further in that direction.

The name, “water cooked fish”, evokes images grease-free, health and weight conscious cooking but the actual dish is far from it. In fact, oil is used in cooking the fish. And not just oil, but a lot of it. And don’t be alarmed by the chillies, there are only about...a hundred of them in the bowl? But they will remove most of it before you dive in with your chopsticks, and they are large enough to avoid. What you need to watch out for are those peppercorns. I crunched down on the first one and it really kicked me in the face. I was unprepared. Overwhelmed, I had to put my chopstick down. Then as I was recovering, “crunch”, I bite into the second one, and I had to stop eating again but the sensation of pain and pleasure that started on opposing ends started to inch closer to each other. And before I knew it, I found myself loving and hating those sensational little bastards. Oh, and the fish licked with the fragrant oil was very tender.

So I’ve been exploring and re-discovering a whole new world of Chinese food. Other than that, I’ve also been really fortunately in meeting local foodies whose wealth of knowledge I’ve learnt a lot from. I feel really humbled by this whole experience and in awe of this old and diverse cuisine.

Luk Yu Teahouse
24-26 Stanley St
Tel: +852-25235464

Hong Zhou Restaurant
1/F,Chinachem Johnston Plaza
178-188 Johnston Road
Tel: +852-25911898

San Xi Lou
7/F, Coda Plaza
51 Garden Road
Tel: +852-28388811

Singapura oh Singapura

Singapura Seafood Restaurant
Blk 9 Selegie Road
#01-31 Selegie House
Tel: 6336 3255

Cold crabs rock. It is crab au naturel and because of that it is essential that the crab is of the freshest quality. At Singapura restaurant, the flesh is firm and compact, the roe is creamy and the garlicky vinegar chilli sauce is a great complement.

This restaurant has been around for while. Its operations are now run by the second generation but the food still holds on to good traditions. Other than the solid chunks of cold crab, there was more good food that came from.

Unlike the usual prawns rolls that are made from a combination of minced pork and prawns and rolled in bean curd skin, their special prawn rolls were made form whole prawns and deep fried to a crisp. And their pork ribs, tender and sticky sweet are finger licking good should not be missed.

Our attempt at ordering a vegetable dish was derailed when the staff suggested that we tried their baby kalian with pork liver, another deliciously sauced dish that disproportionately had more liver than leaves – so much for trying to order something healthier!

Last up before our noodles was the fish head. The fresh dish head was steamed with a generous handful of garlic and then sauced with tau cheo, very simply put together but very good. To finish it all off, we split a plate of Foochow noodles, after all we are in a Foochow restaurant, and that rounded up dinner.

Bo Innovation

With menu items ‘steamed foie gras siu mai’ and ‘crispy garlic wonton, salty duck egg curry foam, escargot ragout’ reflect all the signs a modern fusion Chinese restaurant. Its name, Bo innovation, has some history. The original restaurant that Chef Alvin Leung aka the Demon Chef took over was called Bo and having enjoyed positive publicity over the years, it was hard to shake off the name Bo that had been associated with him, eventually adopted it as it to mean BO-ld innovation. Alvin Leung’s BO is his interpretation of innovative modern Chinese cooking has been wowing international and local audiences with his ‘extreme Chinese cuisine’ and has even been hailed as Hong Kong’s most innovative chef.

All these promised an out of this world experience, one that will shock and awe and induce inspiration and will be something that I remember and talk about for a long time. Did it? No. Was it terrible? No. Most of the dishes were ok-good but there was nothing that moved to the next level and met my expectations of this talked about restaurant.



Duet of french chicken - slow cooked in lotus leaf & served with ponzu sauce; smoked quail egg, taro crust, caviar; steamed foie gras "siu mai"; Macau crab souffle

The cooking is tasty but lacks a certain level of elegance. My biggest let down was the smoked suckling pig, slow cooked 20 hours with Sichuan apple chutney because I’m in Hong Kong, the land of glorious roasted goose and pork, and the pork that I was served had a tough and chewy skin and it had too much fat that I could hardly eat it.

There are some good showings. The Macau crab soufflé was wonderful served with the homemade vinegar and so was the slow cooked French chicken in lotus leaf that was tender and fragrantly perfumed. The highlight for me ironically was an item that was not on the present menu, the Caesar in a cone - a parmesan cone filled with an espuma of romaine lettuce, onion and other common Caesar ingredients.

At Bo Innovation, experiencing the food is only one half. If you can, sit at the chef’s table and experience Chef Alvin. He cooked for Anthony Bourdain with a cigar in mouth and has told a friend of mine “I’m going to cook for you and you are going to like it!” You’ll either like him or hate him.

Bo Innovation can be fun on occasion. Maybe I’ll go back to see what the Demon Chef has been experimenting with but with managed expectations.


Caesar in a cone

* view the meal in photos here .

Bo Innovation
Upper Ground Floor
32-38 Ice House Street
Central, HK
Tel: 852-2850-8373
http://www.boinnovation.com/
* They are moving in the next few months, check the website for their new address

Pu Dong Kitchen

Pu Dong Kitchen
271 Bukit Timah Road
Balmoral Plaza, #B1-02
Tel 6732-8966

I have driven past this building so many times and have never really thought about it as a dining destination. On ground level, that is what is visible as you drive by are: Waffletown, Big Bird Chicken Rice and Spizza, what is invisible and in the basement is this little Shanghainese restaurant called Pu Dong, where the food is piping hot, tasty and of course, oily.



We were seated next to a family of mainland Chinese whose shoulders we kept peeping over, hoping to catch a glimpse of what they were eating and perhaps what we should order, but it appears that this place is a favourite with locals and those who come for a taste of home. From our neighbouring table, we gathered that the braised pig leg in brown sauce looked like a sure winner and with the reassurance of the waitress we ordered that along with several others.

We started with a cold appetizer of chicken “pu dong” style with special sauce, which was a concoction of vinegar, soy sauce, chopped ginger and sliced spring onions. The cold pieces of chicken had to be dipped in to the sauce, and the first hit of favour was salty and then a little sweet, a good way to whet your appetite, but the breast meat of the chicken was a little dry and powdery.



Next up we had a duo of dumplings, xiao long pao and the pan-fried meat buns. With the first, I had success in keeping the sweet broth in the delicate skin, which performing the delicate operation of dipping my dumpling into the vinegar and topping it with ginger, but with the latter, my first bite into it witnessed my pan-fried meat bun squirting its tasting juices unto the table, nonetheless, it was still all good and delicious.

The zha jiang mian here is slightly different from the version that I usually have at crystal jade, instead of mince meat, luncheon meat is used, it is slightly spicier and I really liked the texture of the noodles.

Then came the pièce de résistance, braised pig leg in brown sauce, where the meat was tender and gently pulled away with little resistance. And our last dish was braised eggplant with shredded pork in chilli sauce, which looked to be first fried in the wok for a slightly charred flavour and then braised. Both were delicious and fabulous with white rice.

It’s good, a great discovery hidden in the basement, maybe that’s good too, less obvious to the public that drives by, less hassle in trying to get a table.

Over the hill and not so far away …

Seleta hill restaurant
16 Jalan Selaseh
Tel:6483 0348


ma po tofu

Over the hill and not so far away in the Seleta Hill neighbourhood lies a well loved and established restaurant. Run by a couple who are well seasoned in the restaurant business having worked in Szechuan restaurants in America, the food is good and the steady flow of customers that night was testimony.

This place has character. The pink walls and several chinese themed art pieces that hang on them seem rather random, but gives it a cosy unpretentious feel, and when you look around, there is even a sign that apologises that you have to pay $0.60 for plain water! And if you have ever wondered what the origins of some dishes are, the stories of three Chef's specials—Tung-po pork, General Tso's Chicken and Ma po Tofu—are explained.


szechuan dry-sauteed stringbeans

From the menu, we mainly lingered and ordered from the Chef’s specialties: szechuan camphor and tea smoked duck, dan dan mian, ma po tofu, general tso's chicken (fried crispy then sauteed with dried chilli and house special sauce prepared from homemade vinegar, fermented broad bean in chilli, onion, garlic and ginger. Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy inside), szechuan dry-sauteed stringbeans with chopped mustard pickle, fermented broad bean paste sauteed until dry and tender, claypot sea cucumber hunan style (with herbs, fermented bean paste, spices, gravy extracted from scallop and duck).


general tso's chicken

Between the two poultry dishes, the duck was a little chewy, but general tso’s chicken was like it described, crispy on the outside, tender and juicy inside and coated with a sweetish sauce, it was very addictive. I liked almost everything we ordered… the ma po tofu was silky smooth and the stringbeans was savoury and cruncy…except the dan dan mian, and with the food we ordered, rice was the natural and better accompaniment.

Although it is Szechuan food, I think it is rather child-friendly Szechuan food, I broke a small sweat during the meal, but the chilli factor in the food here is not too hot to handle. Many do bring their families here, so make a reservation if you come, that is absolutely essential.

Suburbia Eating: Vine Pavilion Tea Restaurant

Vine Pavilion Tea Restaurant
126 Casuarina Road
Tel: 64598891


Lion's Head

We stumbled upon this place when we were driving looking around for dinner. The original plan was to head to Botak Jones, but it was a Saturday night and the wait was “half an hour…at least” and so we decided to drive around instead to find some other chow.

I don’t really recall how we ended up here. I cannot remember if we came here with the intension of eating prata and then got sidelined or that we decided to see if there was any interesting food places next to the prata shop. Surprisingly, this strip is crowded! For me, Casuarina Road = Crispy Prata Shop and nothing else and so I was intrigued that there was active food scene along this street and was even more delighted to we managed to uncover another decent inexpensive eatery.


Drunken Chicken

The Vine Pavilion Tea Restaurant is a no fuss, no table cloth eatery. On my first visit, because there were only the two of us, we only sampled 3 dishes: drunken chicken, si zi tou (literally lion’s head), which is large meatballs stuffed with a salted egg yolk and covered with a rich dark sauce, and sambal fried rice. The dishes, however, were rather outstanding and very economically priced. The drunken chicken was served at a good chilled temperature and was liquor-laced meat was delicious. The sambal fried rice also followed the same note, simple and delicious with a good wok-hei flavour.


Crab and Duck Claypot

On our return visit, we came in a larger party and sampled more of the menu. Other specialities that they recommend was their crab and duck claypot, which soup tasted like a less salty version of a salted vegetable duck soup, but with a touch of sweetness from the crab, deep fried eggplant and fish wrapped in bean skin, deep fried as well. And as with out first visit, the food was still good and the bill was still easy on the pocket.

Sum's Somewhere in Sembawang

Sum’s Kitchen & Hong Kong Roasted Meat
3 Jalan Legundi
Tel: 67572118



The roasted duck meat here is juicy and perfumed with aromatic traces of the fire and crowned with a layer of fat and crisp skin. Alongside the customary plum sauce, they offer pounded chillies and a ginger and spring onion concoction that lifts the taste of the meat.



Other than the roasted meats, this slightly off the beaten path humble family restaurant offers other dishes that will feed and nourish the family without breaking the bank. We went as a group of 3, so I can’t tell you much about all the dishes. I, however, have an irrepressible desire to order dishes that seem odd or things that I have not tasted before and in this restaurant, I was introduced to Hong Kong-styled fried squid with prawn paste. Despite their repeated warnings that the dish very pungent, I refused to be fazed and ordered it anyway (bring it on!). Pungent, yes but delightfully so: it had the same heady aromatics of ha cheong kai (prawn paste chicken), but was at no point overpowering.

Depending on where you live, it might be bit of a drive, but there were enough merits in the meal for me to make the distance again.

Guan Hin Restaurant

Guan Hin Restaurant
Blk 34 Whampoa West #01-01
Tel: 62983179



After reading umami and ivan’s account of their makankaki’s anniversary at Guan Hin, I felt it was almost obligatory for me as a Teochew to pay it a visit. As I stepped into the restaurant, I realized this place wasn’t as new and unfamiliar. I’ve actually been here and used to frequent it with my grandparents years ago. I don’t have much memory of the food except for what we did with the food. As a table of restless and irreverent grandchildren, we raced our quail’s eggs under the lazy susan and squashed them into a flatten mess once we were bored of our egg race.
Nothing much as changed or updated and still packs a healthy crowd of families and extended families on Sunday nights. Still using the reddish-pinking oriental and dragon melamine plates, this place really is old school with no real signs of modernization. Has the menu changed since my quail egg racing days? I’m guessing not.



The food was standard and really reasonable. There were, however, two highlights in my meal. The first was my favourite dish of the night, char kway teow with chai poh that was simple and delicious from the wok hei and the preserved radish morsels. My peasant food choice over chwee kueh. The second was my first taste of pig tendon, which was stir-fried with sea cucumber and an assortment of vegetables. Like most tendons, on its own there isn’t too much flavour, but what is to be savoured its gelatinous texture and its ability to soak up flavours of its accompanying ingredients. Along with that we had a standard steamed fish that passed the fresh test, hei zuo (prawn balls) that were bordering on bad, vegetables that were gloriously fried in lard and ti poh, and the good old teochew classics of braised goose and orh nee.

In addition to the standards dish, there are the more elaborate dishes that require an advance order such as their suckling pig, which is labouriously roasted over charcoal at the back of their kitchen. And of course if you can persuade the boss or perhaps speak in fluent teochew and convince the boss that you are one of their people, you might be able to serve you the cold crab delicacy. And its all very reasonably priced.

Yanqing’s Shanghai Kitchen

Yanqing’s Shanghai Kitchen
791 Bukit Timah Road #01-01
Tel: 64632989




Traditional stewed meat in earthen pot with steam buns

First and foremost, I have never been to Shanghai so I don’t know how authentic Shanghainese food taste like. The common response I receive when I ask about the food from people who have been to Shanghai is, “oh it’s very oily and very salty.” Even the owner, Yangqing, agrees to this fact and has set out to dish out tasty home-styled Shanghainese food that both reminisce of her home city with a modern and healthier-reduced oil and salt approach.

Other than the husband and wife team of Wang Yanqing and Wang Li, head chef Jin Hao used to cook at Ye Shanghai, lending some weighty credibility of authenticity. The prominent taste in Shanghainese cuisine as I found out through my meal, however, is still an overtone of saltiness. Not an over powering saltiness, but a rather distinctive savoury taste that is bold and complex. This distinctive taste is achieved through the delicate balance of soy sauce and sugar, and the cooking methods such as “red cooking”, where meats are braised in a combination of soy sauce, sugar, spices and wine.


crispy radish

We started off with a few cold nibbles of cold drunken chicken, crispy radish and cold tofu with century eggs, which were all well executed. The most surprising of the three would be the crispy radish that might be more accurately termed as crunchy radish, was crunchy and had a good savoury feel, which is what I guess you can term as umami.

Following that, our onslaught of dishes included some house specialities such as bean curd with fresh crab meat, traditional stewed meat in earthen pot and steam buns, traditional Shanghainese fish soup with snow vegetables and bean skin and stir-fried Shanghai mustard greens. The traditional dish of stewed meat was “red-cooked”, breaking down any form of tough muscle tissue and infusing flavour into the alternating layers of sweet flesh and fat and the fish soup was milky and scented with Shao Xing wine.

And to finish off, like the Shanghainese, we had our dim sum--the ubiquitous xiao long bao of steam pork dumplings with fresh prawns and fragrant sesame pancake with meat floss--at the end of the meal.

All in all, the food is good though a little pricey and the service unfortunately is almost a disaster. The service was rather pushy about their specials, caused us to over order and left us with an assembly of dirty plates around our table.

Pork Chop!

Tian Tian Hainanese Curry Rice
Hock Lian Hin Eating House
Blk 116 Bukit Merah View #01-253
Closed on Alternate Tuesdays



Hainanese pork chops. Dusted with a fluffy coat of breadcrumbs, the end result is a crisp casing that protects a succulent slice of pork inside. Straight out of the hot oil, the crunchy pieces of pork of first cut into thin strips and then dressed with a mixture of savoury sauces such as curry sauce and a soy sauce based sauce.

I think fusion food has taken place longer than we have figured. The Hainanese chefs that served the British the past were masters at marrying local and foreign flavours and created a range of Chinese-styled western food. One creation in particular that I really like is the Hainanese pork chops.







What better way to enjoy this locally concocted dish than at a kopitiam (coffee shop), with plates of lavishly multi-curry covered rice. This stall take their curries seriously, I watched them as they plated out rice. The lady in charge of the rice and curry station first scoops out the rice then lowers her ladles into all the different pots of curries in front of her in varying proportions. How the curries differ, the proportions or the sequence that they should be ladled on, still eludes me. I reckon I would have to dine here everyday for a month before they would be willing to share with me some Hainanese family secrets, or they might simply remained tight-lipped. Although we ordered a whole load of dishes alongside the pork chops, the pork chops are the superstar, it was the only thing I remembered eating from that meal. It is so good that I got tired of simultaneously eating and keeping my eye on the rapidly depleting slices of pork chops on our communal plate of that I went back to the stall and ordered another plate. When they asked me what size I wanted, “small or large?” needless to say I promptly said, “large, please”.

The Sturgeon Quest

Sha Tin Kitchen
511 Geylang Road (off Lorong 27A)
Tel: 6747-2483



We set out on a quest to eat the sturgeon fish. The simple reason is, if the sturgeon as one of the most valued fishes in the world for its caviar producing nature, surely the flesh of the fish could not be bitter or terrible tasting. A while back we read a review about this slightly off the beaten road kitchen that served up some good family food and the egg-licious producing sturgeon fish.

This slightly non-descript kitchen sit along the long Geylang Road competing for attention alongside all the other fantastic food nooks around this area. This place has its own followings packing a full house on the weekend; it would be wise to make a reservation before making the trip.

There is a sense of humour in the menu that I appreciated, with an almost irreverent dish name like crouching tiger, hidden dragon, (lobster meat cooked with egg white and served on a potato nest) I simply could not resist ordering. Unfortunately, the dish sounded more exciting that it was, the lobster egg white mixture tasted a starchy and I could not quite detect the lobster at all. For the sturgeon dish, we opted for sturgeon stir-fried with eggplant. Thankfully this did not disappoint; the sturgeon fillets were first deep fried to create a crisp texture and the flesh of the fish was firm and sweet. However, other than that, the other dishes were not too extraordinary. The sturgeon adventure was a success, but I do not think I’ll be making another trip down here.

* Read colin’s from Only Slightly Pretentious Food review of Sha Tin Kitchen here, he dishes out better advice on what’s good here.

I Heart Crystal Jade

Crystal Jade Golden Palace
Paragon, #05-22
Tel: 6734-6866

Other than the sometimes tedious long queues, I really love Crystal Jade. Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao or Crystal Jade Kitchen usually the names that surfaces when I have a craving for noodles. Despite its ever extending Chinese restaurant empire, where we have witnessed The Crystal Jade group set up shop in most shopping areas of Singapore and slowly taken shop space on almost every floor or Ngee Ann City, making their food more easily available for the masses, the standard of the food has remained consistent.

My last visit to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao was similar to my other return visits. Without having to flip the menu, I usually grab the pencil and start ticking off my usual “set menu” that I have, zha jiang mian, xiao long bao and crispy eel. I personally prefer the food here, in particularly the zhar jiang mian and xiao long bao, to Ding Tai Fung. The crispy eel, is a must have, crispy and coated with the sweetish sauce, it is simply irresistible. Other dishes that I like here are the double-boiled chicken soup, the consommé is light and flavourful, very simple, very elegant; the prawns with salted egg yolk, the salted egg yolk covering is very rich, so do not order this if you are eating by yourself; and then finish off with the soufflé with red bean and banana filling. In my recent visit, I tried other things on the menu that I would order again: la mian with shallot oil, the fragrant shallot oil laces the noodles, it looks pale, but the flavour that the noodles and shallot oil pack is rather fantastic; and kuo shui ji (salivating chicken), the moist chicken parts were dressed with crunchy garlic bits, crushed peanuts and chilli oil. Lunch that afternoon was as always, satisfying.




We recently visited the higher tiered Crystal Jade restaurant, Crystal Jade Golden Palace, where they offer a mix of fine Cantonese and Teochew food cuisine. Unlike the more informal Crystal Jade Kitchen and La Mian Xiao Long Bao joints, Golden Palace is posh. The food is finer, even the regular dim sum items tasted better and more refined. The menu is extensive with the expensive options of sea cucumber delights, abalone indulgences, BBQ grilled quail or lamb shoulder, and Teochew dishes such as Teochew marinated octopus, pig ears, pig knuckles, trotters, duck or pigs tongue. We were there on a tighter budget and so no sea treasures of abalone or sea cucumber for me.

On our order chit consisted of minced meat congee with baby oyster and minced meat, goose meat, baked prawns with salted yolk, braised 4 vegetables with ham, stewed braised brisket and orh nee. The congee was out of this world good. My food associations with congee and porridge are of me being ill and weak, but this was something else. The rice used must have been something like a basmati or something along those lines, long grained and cooked till they retained a slight bite as they bobbed around in the broth with the oysters and minced meat. The baked prawns with salted yolk is much like the one that they serve at La Mian Xiao Long Bao, but the prawns are larger and executed with more finesse, the crust is crisper and the sauce is not as thick overwhelming. The braised vegetables were subtly favoured by the slow braising in the broth and what I think is Yunnan ham. In general, it was a great lunch; the food was excellent and the service staff are gracious and efficient. This is currently my favourite Crystal Jade.

More Teochew Dining

Huat Kee Teochew Restaurant
74 Amoy Street
Singapore 069893
Tel: 6423-4747

Ever since we stepped into Liang Kee (At Beo Cresent), my dad the true blue Teochew would constantly crave to go back there on a fortnightly basis. Eager to try something different, we started to search for other Teochew fix alternatives, and so here we are at Huat Kee.

The restaurant is located at Amoy street, which makes it a prime choice for many business lunches for Chinese businessmen and other business dealings. Although the restaurant’s signage reads Teochew Restaurant Huat Kee (Since 1998), in actual fact, this culinary history of this restaurant started in 1969 and 1998 is only a reflection of their time at the current Amoy Street address. We entered into the crowded double storied restaurant and were instantly worried that we were not going to get a table since we did not call to make a reservation, but we pushed our dad to the forefront and get him to charm the staff with his Teochew. Seeing how we were their “ka kee niang”, they managed to sit our family upstairs among a sea of reserved tables.


Steamed fish, Teochew Style

The food is traditional teochew and was good enough for my teochew father to consider bringing my teochew grandma, so, I can boldly say, it is authentic and pretty damn good. The first dish to arrive was our vegetables, Kai Lan stir fried with dried sole. The wok hei-ed lard flavoured vegetables were amazingly aromatic, green and crunchy. Following which we had the classic teochew goose meat and the prawn paste rolls. The goose meat was slightly tougher than I expected, but the prawn paste rolls, were good. The fried kway teow that came next was my favourite dish of the night. The sprinkling of chai poh in the noodles, gave it extra crunch and texture as well as a salty tangy flavour. Then came the plat du resistance, the ikan karua tail steamed teochew style – steamed to with preserved plums, tomatoes, ginger and preserved vegetables to create a subtle flavoured broth and retain the fish natural sweetness – the fish was fresh and sweet and the broth was delicate and clean that focused the attention on the natural flavours of the fish. To end it all off, we had portions of orh nee with pumpkin puree and ginko nuts. The warm comforting sticky paste, was thankfully not pumped up with too much sugar, but was wonderful to enjoy. To send you off, they serve you with a serving of ti guan yin tea to make you feel a little better about all the possible bad elements that you might have consumed during the course of your meal, not too bad eh?

Pay: $20-$30 a person

One Man's Bee Hoon Craving led me to Pu Tien

Pu Tien Restaurant
127-129 Kitchener Road
Singapore 208514
Tel: 62956358

The first time I sampled this simple but scrumptious plate of Fried Hing Wa Bee Hoon, I was came here as a captive eater. After a couple of Friday-after-work-drinks, we were hungry for some grub and so we made our way to the car in search of some dinner. On our way to the car, we had tossed around a few suggestions: burgers at Carl’s juniors, crabs or as our designated driver suggested, this memorable bee hoon that he had at a restaurant at Kitchener Road. We all piled into a pretty small car, and while I sat at the back seat, with my body contorted and my face almost pressed up against the window, we threw up a few more suggestions, only to be shot down by our friend who was behind the wheel, “No! We are eating bee hoon!” As the captive passengers of the car, we were basically held captive and powerless in deciding on our dinner destination, so while we drove to this Bee Hoon promise land, we continued to murmur in the car about our various other possible destinations and warning of the repercussions if this bee hoon was going to taste terrible.


Fried Hing Wa Bee Hoon

For all that hype, the bee hoon was not as mind blowing as I thought it would have been. Nonetheless, it was still good, very lightly fried with condiments such as peanuts and seaweed. The food here is home style rather than the fancy delicate Cantonese restaurant cuisine, but executed rather well. In my two visit to Pu Tien, there have been a mix of hits and misses with the food, here’s the account of what I have tried from the menu.

The Fried Hing Wa Bee Hoon is a must have, since it was the Bee Hoon nazi that brought us here in the first place. The drunken cockles are absolutely wonderful, fresh, cleaned and marinated with a sweetish garlic sauce; you’ll risk hepatitis for this dish. The other dish that we had on our return visit was steamed prawns in Bamboo Shoot. The prawns were fat and juicy and the broth naturally sweetened and flavoured by the prawn juices. A few other hits on the menu were self-made bean curd (sic), which was soft, silky and had its own delicate flavour; deep fried chicken with garlic that was crisp, juicy and topped with crispy garlic chips and curry leaves; and the deep fried squirrel fish with gravy. The squirrel fish is a little like sweet and sour fish, but better, and the dish is named after the form the firm takes after being deep fried, rather than having any real affinity to the squirrel family. Having tasted those dishes, I can safely say that most things on the menu are alright, if you remember that they are serving restaurant home styled food, but stay away from the kai lan fried bean curd skin, which tasted terribly floury and insipid.

The best part, dinner here would not set you back too much. A budget of $15 a person would feed you adequately.

* Can someone tell me more about Hing Wa cuisine other than the fact that it is from a minority dialect group in Pu Tien, Fuijian?

Canton Wok's New Home

Canton Wok by Chef Kang
382 Joo Chiat Road
Tel: 6285 6919

This man keeps moving! Now situated in an old Peranakan bungalow, this place seems more fitting of the innovative Chinese cuisine that Chef Kang serves. In its old shell at Serangoon Central, parking was less of a hassle, but the setting and the food were out of sync – elderly women were fanning themselves with their makeshift or home packed fans in between dishes as some tables were stuck in an enclave in the void deck devoid of an wind flow. With the new location, that has changed! No need for the makeshift fan anymore! With the new compound, came its own parking space and an attendant, air-conditioned dining room and a large kitchen for chef Kang to perform his magic.



Nosh: The food is still as mouthwatering as it used to be. We must have been suffering from withdrawal syndrome from Chef Kang’s dishes as we over ordered. The lunch started with the serving of mocha pork ribs. They serve two types of pork ribs, one with a sweet fruit sauce and the other with the mocha sauce. I’ve tried both and prefer the mocha ribs for the rich syrupy mocha sauce that it comes with. The ribs are crispy and the predominant chocolate flavour in the mocha sauce is absolutely seductive. The next dish to arrive was the bacon prawn roll mayo cream. The prawns were wrapped with slices of fatty bacon and deep fried, creating a crunchy, smoky and sweet morsel that was made even richer by the gentle dressing of mayonnaise. The last of the deep fried delights to arrive was the eggplant with pork floss. It was as good as I remembered it to be. Now that we were done with the crunchy dishes, next came the winter melon soup, served in its own shell and filled with soup treasures of shiitake mushrooms, dried abalone, melon shreds and ham, it had gusto and a clean taste.

With already four dishes for the four diners, the lunch was not done. The steamy bowl of special lobster ee-fu noodles arrived. The lobster was a little overdone, but the ee-fu noodles were swimming in a rich hot butter sauce. The sauce was so simple, but luxurious as they felt like velvet strands as slid down my throat. Next up was the steamed crab with glutinous rice and garlic, the crab was well endowed with roe, which we mixed up with the glutinous rice and garlic, it was chewy, aromatic and slightly pungent with the garlic.

I hope Chef Kang is staying put in his new home. If he does move again, someone please send me his new address.

Pay: $20 a person

Service: They are not the friendliest bunch, but they get the job done efficiently.

Imperial Herbal Restaurant: yin and yang, where the west will never meet the east.

Imperial Herbal Restaurant

3rd Floor Metropole Hotel
41 Seah Street
Singapore 188396
Tel: 63370491

I’m Chinese and I think this is one of our philosophies on food:
We the Chinese people, we eat weird things.
We the Chinese people, we like to eat weird things.
We the Chinese people, we love and take pride in eating weird things.
We the Chinese people, we constantly look for weirder things to eat.

This place is something. It’s Chinese for lack of a better word. It’s a pretty fun place to come if you are in the mood to spend some money (about S$30-S$50 per person) and to eat random things that would balance out your yin and yang. Some things on the menu have these fancy pansy names after being translated that I had no idea what it was so maybe someone who is more proficient in the language might be able to help me out.

Example one: Quick Fried Egg White with Dried Scallop, Polygonatum and Ladybell Root served in a potato nest.

Example two: Double-Boiled Fresh Sea-Coconuts, Aloevera with Osmanthus-flower and Candied Sweet Potato and Taro.

Are you as lost at me? NO FEAR, the service staff if pretty good, friendly and helpful. They would be happy to rattle off dishes for you to try as well.


Quick Fried Egg White with Dried Scallop, Polygonatum and Ladybell Root served in a potato nest.

We had the quick fried egg (see example 1)/S$4 per piece. A must try. It’s very good. The crispy texture of the potato next it topped off with the very delicate light egg white which is has the dried scallop embedded within it that makes it’s a great balance. I however haven’t figured out what Polygonatum and Ladybell root is.

A second dish that I would recommend is the imperial Chicken with 8 precious herbs. This is priced at S$30. Unfortunately for us, they were sold out so we had to settle for a less herby experience and we went with the deep fried chicken with 4 treasures. I located 3 treasures: sesame, walnuts and pine nuts, I’m still wondering what the last one is.

Along with that we had some eel sautéed with garlic and baked lamb ribs with wolfberries. Very, very interesting. This restaurant is not for the fainthearted or the unadventurous, you have to be CHINESE-ish and YOU MUST WANT TO EAT STRANGE THINGS. Other things that they serve here are ox tendon, deer, ostrich, frog’s legs and other normal things like vegetables, seafood and meat. I guess if you are ballsy enough, you could also try the Panax ginseng deer-penis wine or seahorse deer antler wine. Ordinary is strange here and strange is ordinary.

The Humble Homely Hakka

Plum Village Restaurant
16 Jalan Leban
Singapore 577554
Tel: 4589005

This place serves up some good home-style Hakka food. The service and the place is also really rustic and homely. I have been to this restaurant since I started eating solid foods, and I have fond memories of having dinner here with my grandparents on Sunday evenings. It has been about a year and a half since we’ve been back there as a family so going back there today was nostalgic. It was especially so when the lady who has been working in the restaurant for many many many years remembered us! It was almost like going back in time with the no-frills deco, service staff and the families that pour into the relatively small restaurant with their noisy chatter.


Salted Chicken

The food is good. It has always been and still is. I think for me that was one of the most interesting aspects of the restaurant. People talk about their comfort grub, the food here is no grub, but there is a lot of comfort in it. 15 years later and the dishes are still wonderful, everything is as it was. Sometimes I think going there is like stepping back into a time machine, it’s simple, it’s warm, it’s nice. Its not too expensive too, we had dinner for 4 for about S$55, where we had salted chicken, some vegetable with garlic, pork ribs and Song He Tau steamed in blackbean sauce. For me, its nostalgia personified. And anyone who knows my eating habits, I’m not a big fan of the Chinese restaurant scene or rice, so I guess this is some good old Hakka soul food.