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

Rojak: Freshly Fried You Tiao Rojak!

With iwatch_ueat and SCS Butter


Imagine freshly fried You Char Kway made into rojak! That would be something wouldn't it? It would be especially special for those of us who really enjoy just You Char Kway rojak without all the other vegetables and fruits. When smart alerted me to this particular stall in Macpherson, I simply had to find out if freshly fried You Char Kway is better than toasted You Char Kway when it is tossed into rojak.



This is a sleepy little stall in a sleepy part of Singapore especially in the afternoons. So the lady needed to fire up the oil in order to make some You Char Kway for us. Amazingly the You Char Kway is still 30 cents each here and a plate of rojak just $2.

The You Char Kway was super crispy and warm but unfortunately the Prawn Paste and Ground Peanuts were not quite up to expectations. A good plate of rojak which really could have been great. 3.75/5

Conclusion

Try it for the novelty of having freshly fried You Char Kway rojak that is really cheap. However, I am still undecided if freshly fried You Char Kway really makes a better rojak than toasted You Char Kway. The only way to find out is to find another stall somewhere that does the same thing but with a sauce with more kick!

Rojak
Circuit Road Blk 79A Food Centre
#01-522
11am to 12mn
Closed Wed and Thursday

Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee: Real Kolo Mee at Coffeeshop prices!

With iwatch_ueat and SCS Butter

Sarawak Kolo Mee $3 (Big)

What I really enjoy about Sarawak Kolo Mee is the noodles itself and the savoury minced meat sauce that goes with it. In fact, I like these frizzy QQ noodles so much that I wonder why there aren't many more hawkers selling them?

Anyway, the last time I blogged about Sarawak Kolo Mee was the Yummy Wonton Mee stall at the Tampines Round Market. However, that one was a Singaporeanised version of the Kolo Mee and lacked the meat sauce. This time round I found a true blue (I am told) Sarawak Kolo Mee run by a couple that are real Sarawakeans. I found out that they actually make their own noodles at the factory! It's funny, when I asked them about how they knew how to make the noodles, the answer they gave made it look as if EVERY Sarawakean actually knows how to make their own kolo mee! It's like saying every Hainanese knows how to make chicken rice and every Hokkien can cook Hokkien Mee!



Whatever it is, the noodles were excellent and the combination of the Minced Meat Sauce with the noodles was even better. It would have been perfect if they had better char siew and the fried dumplings had more stuffing. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Authentic Sarawak Kolo Mee at hawker prices! Well worth a trip. Usually sold out by 2pm, so make sure you get there early. The shop is right at the back of the coffeeshop itself and easily missed.

Sarawak Kuching Laksa, Kolo Mee
Sing Li Coffeshop
177 Macpherson Road
8am t0 2pm Mon-Fri

Recommended by SCS Butter

Yong Lai Fa Ji: Sliced Fish Head Soup!

With iwatch_ueat and smart

Fish Soup $3

Smart tells me that he visits this particular fish soup at least twice a month although he would not say it is the best in Singapore. It has the combination of being "one of the best" and being "close to home". So as a result, he was willing to sacrifice a bit of ooomph for convenience.

Macpherson estate is one of the oldest parts of Singapore, so the food here is still pretty cheap. The food centre is still very much in its original condition, so I suspect that the "Gow'ment" will probably be renovating it soon. Being such an old place, there were lots of stalls that looked like they served really good stuff that was still not too "sanitized". You know what I mean right? Somehow food that is too clean does not taste as robust as food that may have an element of risk in it. Now, I am not advocating that we should all throw caution to the wind. Just merely stating an observation. Lots of people would agree that the food in JB is much tastier than Singapore and that the best Hawker foods are often found in rustic places rather then spotless spots.

The soup here is indeed very good. The fish is fresh and they are quite generous with the amount of fish. I especially liked the Ti Poh (Fried Sole Fish) which was very "Pang" (Savoury). They make everything themselves here including the Ti Poh and the Ikan Bilis (Fried Anchovies) and the soup is made from boiling fish bones and chicken for at least 8 hours. They also add bittergourd in the soup. Tasty and at the same time good for your cholesterol levels! 4.25/5


Fish Head Noodles $4

I am not one for Fish Head, but smart is. This Fish Head noodle soup is his fortnightly "must eat" dish. The interesting thing about it is that they use the dried egg noodles to cook the dish. These noodles have a unique texture and tastes quite savoury. They are also very generous with the chunks of Batang Fish Head and the soup is sweeter than the normal sliced fish soup. Smart rates it a 4.5/5.

Conclusion

Very good sliced fish soup and real value for money. My only complain is that they only give one or two pieces of the excellent Ti Poh!

Yong Lai Fa Ji Cooked Food
Macpherson Food Centre
79A Circuit Road
5am to 9pm
Closed Sun and Pub Hol