With Fashionfoodie,Cactuskit, Jencooks, Wahcow, Toothfairy and BossConan
Now, this Teochew Kitchen was recommended by Fashionfoodie who, if you all remember, is one of our Teochew Ah Hias who really loves his Peh Dou Her. So when he started going on about the Braised Duck and Tua Terng (Large intestines) here, I could feel a strong Swatow wind blowing me towards Changi Village. Changi Village is one of those last few places in Singapore that still has that "outback" charm. When I was a kid, Changi used to be the end of the earth. A day out at Changi beach was a big thing and almost like going on a road trip to Malaysia. But then along came Changi Airport and suddenly a lot of the mystery of Changi was lost. But Changi Village itself has still got a bit of that "ulu" flavour and a great place to go for supper. And if you are hankering for some hot Teochew Porridge on a cold rainy evening, you'd be happy to know that a new Teochew Kitchen has just opened there to transport you to Swatow.
This place was opened by a couple of Teochew Ah Hias who wanted to bring the concept of Swatow dining to Singapore. So when you walk into the restaurant itself, you will see the food being displayed like what they are in Swatow (or China in general). They even went to the extent of hiring two chefs from Swatow to be in charge of the food there. The restaurant has two sections, an aircon area with private rooms and an Al Fresco area. The best thing is that you can actually come here and have a choice of whether you want to eat simple Teochew Porridge for a few bucks a head or go for a banquet of Teochew favourites like steamed shark's head and Orh Nee.
Salted Egg Roll $12 for 8
Our first dish was something new for me. The salted egg rolls are made from dried persimmons wrapped in a crispy dough made from salted egg yolks. Somehow they struck me as something very typically Teochew as we do like to mix sweet with salty flavours. Just take the Teochew Bak Chang for example, which characteristically has a ball of sweet bean paste in it. I don't think it is something for everyone which is why it is not a popular Bak Chang. But for this Teochew Ah Hia, I found it quite pleasing. 4/5
Cold Crabs $20 per Crab (small)
The cold crabs are served with a bit of vinegar here instead of sweet plum sauce. I find it as difficult to rave about cold crabs as I do about sashimi, since you don't really "cook" the dish so the comments are limited to how fresh the produce is. So okay, will it make a big difference if I said the crabs were fresh, very fresh or very very fresh? I mean, how much fresher can a crab get since they are all live crabs? For me cold crabs are simply crabs which are steamed and put in a fridge. Of course they have to be full of roe or sperm, but other than getting a good supplier, is there any other secret in the preparation of cold crabs? 4/5
Braised Platter $18
Everyone was quite pleased with the braised platter, especially Fashionfoodie who highly recomended this dish. The braising sauce is very nice and balanced and the duck was tender and flavourful. Those who like "Tua Terng" (large intestine) would be very pleased with the Tua Terng here as it doesn't have any smell and the texture was very good. 4.25/5
Pork Aspic $15
Fans of Pork Aspic will be happy to see the photo of this fast dissappearing dish! Though Mom never purposely made this dish at home, I remember digging the jelly out of a Tupperware of overnight Braised Pork as a kid. I guess that was where the idea for the dish originated from. I haven't tasted enough Pork Aspic to tell you if this one is a good one, but I would just say that I am not a fan yet. Much prefer to eat Mom's cold Lor Bak! 3.5/5
Shark Head $5 per kg
Steamed shark head is very much like Sea Cucumber in that it is essentially a tasteless gooey substance that has the ability to absorb the flavours of the sauce it is cooked in. Actually the texture of soft collagen is very similar to pork fat so it really is quite shiok when it slides down your throat. The sauce is made from Chai Poh and little cubes of Pork Lard, so you can just imagine how shiok it is! 4/5
Conclusion
I think a lot of people are looking for a place to go for a nice bowl of Teochew porridge and being in Changi Village, the "ulu" atmosphere does add to the whole experience. This is a good place to go with the family to enjoy a few typically Teochew dishes and decide if you would like to burn a hole in your pocket or keep your pants intact.
Changi Teochew Kitchen Blk 5 Changi Village Road #01-2--1 S500005 65465482 Open for lunch, dinner and supper Recommended by Fashionfoodie
Here's another one of those stalls that you better be quick to taste because the original hawker is already past 72 and even though he still looks like a "Lao Yankee", and behaves like one, he himself admits that at most he has 10 years of Mee Pok Tak left in him. Actually, he still looks quite good for a 72 year old. When I asked him why he wears a long sleeved shirt while he cooks his Mee Pok, he simply replied, "Cos I want to look good!" Talking about the subject of aging, I know for most of our readers, hitting the eighth decade might still be quite a long time away. For us who are hitting middle age, it is like "Oh my, I am more than half way there, and the 2nd half is going to go quicker than the first half". I once heard a preacher (An Anglican Bishop in his 70's) say that every morning when he wakes up he goes, "Ay! I am still around!". It is almost as if after you cross the life expectancy age (78 for men, 82.8 for women), every day is a bonus. Are there anyone here that fall into this category?
Anyway, if you do have the fortune of passing the life expectancy age, then it really does give you the passport to do whatever you want, right? I mean, who cares if your Doctor tells you to stop smoking? "Ay, Doc, been smoking for 50 years and my bus still arrive at the interchange. You asking me to stop now?" Well, if you are in that category, then when it comes to food, I guess you can also just indulge in a bit of Mee Pok Tar which has a chilli made with good old Pork Lard.
Mr Liang proudly tells me that his chilli is made from Pork Lard, Buah Keluak, Hae Bee and Dried Chilli. For a person who always orders Mee Pok Tar mai Hiam (no chilli), I can tell you that this is one stall that I would ask for extra chilli. You see the main problem I have with Chilli is that most stalls just want to make their chilli hot hot. However, the chilli here is not overly spicy but the flavour is oh so addictive that you can just sit there and just pick on it with your chopsticks.
The other "champion" item is the Fish Dumplings (Her Giao) which Mr Liang still proudly makes himself. The slightly gooey texture of the meat filling is very good and it is one of the most memorable Her Giao that I have had.
Too bad the Mee Pok itself was not as QQ as I would like it to be. Otherwise it would have scored a higher rating. 4.25/5
Conclusion
Very good bowl of Mee Pok Tar and you get quite a big bowl for $3! Do yourself a favour and order a bowl of Giao Soup and try the chilli especially if you are the type who don't usually take chilli. It might just make you change your mind.
Mr Liang, 72 and still wants to look good!
Ah Hor Teochew Kway Teow Mee 12 Verdun Road Bet Sam Leong and Syed Alwi Roads 7am to 4pm Wed closed 81274249 Mr Liang Recommended by ice. Read her review here
Swa Gardens is one of those old world restaurants that are still faithfully churning out old favourites in the good old fashion way while the rest of Singapore keeps looking for novelty. From the good old aluminium glass doors to the conference chairs which have housed generations of dust mites, this authentic little Teochew restaurant continues to preserve the Teochew culture for a future generation of Singaporeans who don't even know what it means to be a red bottomed "Kah Cherng Ang Ang" (Red Buttocks - A classic Teochew phrase) Teochew. Yes, this sort of old establishment is my kind of place and thanks to sumosumo who suggested this eatery, we all got to spend a few hours together savouring cuisine which our grandfathers used to enjoy.
Teochew Cold Crabs
There isn't a more Teochew dish than cold crabs. My father used to tell me that the only way to eat crab was simply steamed. This is especially so when the crab is full of roe. Frying such excellent crabs in pepper or even worse, chilli sauce would be a plain waste of the roe. I guess it was akin to cooking caviar in curry!
Some people might think, "So what's the big deal? I could do this at home!" Well the big deal is that these people can actually get their hands on some really good crabs and they know how to choose the best ones for steaming. And if you don't think that is a big deal, then just consider that anyone can also put a chicken into hot water to make the White Chicken and yet how many of us can actually do it properly? Still go out and eat it right?
Anyway the Crabs that night were excellent. As Teochews would say, very "Chngi (fresh)" and and "Toi" (solid), full of the crab roe which is great if your doctor has just advised you that you need to raise your cholesterol levels! 4.25/5
Braised Goose
Another Teochew classic, Braised Goose if not done right can come out tough and dry as cardboard. We were discussing about the fact that the geese in Hong Kong were so much fatter and flavoursome than those in Singapore and that it could be something to do with the colder weather up north. Anyway the Braised Goose was very good that night. The meat was tender and the loh was very "pang" (savoury) and we thorougly enjoyed it. 4.25/5
Oyster Omelette
We conducted a vote for the favourite dish that night and the Oyster Omelette was one of the top three dishes. This is in effect a very simple dish of fresh oysters fried with eggs, but it was executed perfectly. The eggs were so wonderfully fluffy and flavourful that it made me realize how taken for granted the humble egg is. 4.5/5
Liver Rolls
I used to think that the only liver I ever liked was foie gras and pate. But after that night, I am adding the liver rolls into the short list. In fact, it was so good we didn't even think it had liver in it. We were all just enjoying the savoury rolls without realizing we were eating liver. If you don't like liver and are suffering from anaemia, this might be your answer to a source of iron. 4/5
Steamed Pomfret
The other star that night was the Pomfret, a fish that the Teochews prize more than any other fish. Come to think of it, I am not sure if any of the other dialect groups like this fish as much as we do? The only way that Pomfret is to be prepared -- when you have the most "Chngiest" (freshest) fish -- is to steam it with just a little sour plum and tomato. Any more and you won't get to enjoy the freshnest of the fish. It takes a lot of skill to steam such a big Pomfret perfectly so that it doesn't get overcooked and toughen up. Steamed Pomfret doesn't get any better than this! 4.5/5
Chye Poh Kway Teow
This ugly looking dish is probably food that my peasant forefathers used to eat after a hard day's work at the farm. A simple dish made from three of the cheapest ingredients of Chye Poh (preserved radish), Kway Teow (rice pasta) and chopped greens, it was the way the chef infused the smoky flavour of the wok into the Kway Teow that was magic. 4/5
Orh Nee (Yam paste)
Orh nee (yam paste) is one of Singapore's top three desserts as shown in our recent dessert poll. However, the sad fact is that there isn't a lot of places that does a really good Orh Nee. Traditional Teochew Orh Nee comes with caramelized pumpkin, lard and NO coconut milk. I really don't know how the coconut milk idea came about, I don't like it at all. The Orh Nee here is very good and was just a relief that they still do it the traditional way here albeit they probably have substituted vegetable oil for the lard. 4.25/5
Conclusion
It was great to meet up with everyone and especially some of the new kakis that have joined our blog and forum community recently. The food was great and this time round we have even started grooming the next generation of foodies by having a table for the kids. It was also quite amazing to host three friends from Down Under who were here on holidays and have signed up for the makan session while overseas! We even had a whole table of friends from Jurong who haven't even heard about the blog! I wonder if they will start reading it after that night?
Special thanks to sumosumo and khim for organizing the evening and look forward to seeing you at the next one!
There was an excess of funds as we collected a little bit more to cover GST and tips. We gave a $50 tip to the staff and the leftover $196 was donated to the Myanmar Cyclone Fund.
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
Just a quick update on Lao Zhong Zhong's new location.
I was there last week. Maybe it is just psychological, but I felt that it wasn't as awesome as when they were back in the old place. I think psychologically I am programmed to think that food served from an old coffeeshop tend to taste nicer then food from a modern food court.
Anyway the Ngor Hiang was still quite good and definitely better than the commonly available factory manufactured variety. 4.25/5
Conclusion
Even though not as awesome, they still remain in my list of places to visit for my Ngor Hiang fix.
Did you realise that most of the hawker food that we are familiar with are less than a century old? It's true! A few of our most famous heritage stalls can trace their roots back to around the early 1900's. That makes it about 3 or 4 generations from then till now. There are a few very famous names which have span 3 or 4 generations and inevitably they would have created some sibling rivalry along the way. Names like Beach Road Prawn Noodle and Rochor Bean Curd immediately come to mind.
Then of course there is the famous Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow which is the subject of our discussion today. Yes, the man who made famous the Teochew style Beef Kway Teow bestowed the business to his 4th son, Anthony because he did not do so well in school. But later on the youngest son also wanted a piece of the "Hock Lam" name. So the only legitimate owner of the Hock Lam franchise is the one at China St whereas the "Popular" Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow at Purvis street is considered the illegitimate one though both are brothers and thus share in the family recipe.
But that is not all, the patriarch, Mr Tan Chin Sia also had a daughter who also decided to go into the Beef Kway Teow business, but she started selling it at Empress Place and called hers Empress Place Beef Kway Teow instead. It did very well, but unfortunately had to close down during the MadCow epidemic in the late eighties. Fortunately for us, the Brand was resurrected again in few years ago when her son decided to bring back the familiar Beef Kway Teow that he used to eat at his grandfather's stall.
So much for that little bit of Beef Kway Teow history, back to a more tasty subject.
Have you ever wondered why Beef Kway Teow is called Kway Teow even though most of the time you eat it with thick bee hoon? Well, there are really two types of Beef Kway Teow in the market, the Hainanese style and the Teochew Style. The familiar one with the thick bee hoon and thick sticky gravy is in fact Hainanese style. According to David, there are very few stalls apart from his that sells true blue Teochew style beef kway teow. True Teochew beef kway teow is never served with thick bee hoon and there is never any thick gravy. David said that his Grandfather will turn in his grave if he realised what had happened to his Hock Lam St beef kway teow.
Instead, Teochew style beef kway teow uses normal kway teow and the dry version is served with just a dash of sesame oil, soy sauce and chilli. Now I was skeptical at first, but with my first mouthful of the kway teow, I realised what I have been missing. The kway teow was indeed very fragrant and the slices of beef were cooked medium and were very tender. Unexpectedly good! My favourite was the cooked beef and the tendons which were very "pang" and had an uncomplicated beefy flavour. The soup was also sweet and robust which David attributes to having the bones simmer in the soup for over 2 days. 4.5/5
Conclusion
I tend to believe that Teochew beef kway teow was originally served this way because of the fact that kway teow is used and also that the Teochews in general prefer most of their food to be "cheng" (not heavy). So the sticky gravy I think is more likely to be Hainanese in origin. Any food historians amongst our readers who can shed more light on this?
Empress Place Beef Kway Teow LTN Eating House 936 East Coast Road 11am to 11pm daily Recommended by Damien
There's no doubt about it. Teochew porridge is comfort food especially if you are a Teochew Ah Hia. And even more so if you are a sick Teochew Ah Hia. Our resident Teochew Ah Hia, Damien was just recovering from a cold that day so he insisted that he needs to take some Teochew porridge from one of his regular stalls at Maxwell. Knowing Damien, this Teochew porridge's standard must be quite good.
Most of the dishes he ordered were the staple steamed squid, handmade fishcakes, braised pork belly. They were all very good but the one that really caught my attention that day was the Sambal Shark's meat. This was the first time I am eating this and was pleasantly surprised and just how tasty shark's meat can be. This is the kind of dish that goes really well with plain porridge. It coats your mouth with all the tasty goodness that just begs to be washed down with piping hot porridge. 4.25/5
I just wonder: If shark's meat is so nice, why is it that not many more people actually sell it?
Conclusion
Considering how cold the weather has been, I am sure that many are yearning for a nice piping hot bowl of porridge and here is certainly one place where you can go and get your Teochew Porridge fix.
Teochew Rice and Porridge Stall 98 Maxwell Road Food Centre 10.30am to 8.30pm
Now this is a dish you don't often get to see nowadays. (Actually I don't think it was ever that common). I admit that this was the first time that I was introduced to this Teochew Dish myself. It is yet another nail in the coffin of my self delusional status as a true blue Teochew Ah Hia.
It is rather interesting, but this Pork Trotter Jelly (or Pork Aspic as some call it) reminds me of some of the stuff that you can get from the Cold Meats section of your Butchery. The reason that this dish is not often seen is, I presume, the amount of time and effort it takes to make the dish. Pork Trotters are stewed for at least 8 hours to turn the collagen into gelatin. The meat is then left overnight to set and then left in the fridge for another whole day. So all in all, it takes at least 2 days to prepare the dish. Of course, if you want to take some short cuts, you could add cornstarch or gelatin as some purportedly do. But this third generation Teochew couple still insists on doing it the traditional way without the additives.
If you like to eat the jelly of white chicken, then you are going to love this dish. It goes with a very special chilli sauce which they make with Blue Ginger (Lengkuas). The texture is excellent and the jelly is so clear you can see through it easily (I am told that is one of the ways to tell if it was made right). Tastewise, however, I thought that it could have had a bit more oomph. 4.25/5
The thing about Teochew food is the simplicity of the dishes which places the emphasis on the freshness of the ingredients. The shark's meat is simply boiled in water to cook it and served with a plum/peanut sauce. You simply cannot get away with using second rate fish. I am sure there will be people who would rave about this dish, but it failed to wake up the "tiger" in this half past six Teochew Ah Hia. 4/5
If you think that you can simply prepare this dish at home, then you are seriously mistaken. Well, you could maybe get hold of some fresh shark meat, but you would be hard pressed trying to get hold of some plum sauce that is as good as this one. This plum sauce is so good that you have to pay an extra 20 cents for each additional plate. But there is good reason for it. This couple actually make the plum sauce themselves from preserved plums. But that's not all. The plums have to be aged at least 2 to 3 years before being turned into plum sauce. That means that they have a continual 3 year stock of preserved plums at their home! Now, if you ask me, I'd rather just pay 20 cents more to get my plum sauce fix!
Conclusion
Traditional Teochew food that is quickly disappearing from our hawker food scene. For this particular stall, this will be the end of the line after three generations when the couple retires. So better go try some before it goes the way of the Dodo.
Lao Liang Pork Trotter Jelly Stall 37, Jalan Berseh Food Centre 11am to 3pm Closed on Mondays
With FashionFoodie, smart, liverpool, tag, iwatch_ueat and damien
Today was the day I found out I did not qualify to be a True Blue Teochew Ah Hia! Oh, don't misunderstand me. I am pure bred. Both sets of Grandparents came direct from Swatow. However, I failed the ultimate test of the Teochew Ah Hia. I failed to appreciate freshly steamed Peh Dou Her (Rabbit Fish).
My idea of a perfect Teochew porridge lunch was porridge with stuff like Chye Poh (preserved veg) Omelette, Braised Pork, Sliced Lup Cheong (Chinese sausages) and Braised peanuts. But I found out that that only qualifies me to be an entry level Teochew Ah Hia. The True Blue, Hard Core, Fair Dinkum, No Play Play Teochew Ah Hia loves stuff like steamed Peh Dou Her, steamed mullet and steamed baby squid dipped in Tau Jnior (fermented bean sauce) and chilli.
Peh Dou Her (Rabbit Fish) $4 each
Peh Dou Her is especially prized during the Chinese New Year period when they are about half the size and full of roe. Teochew Ah Hias like Fashionfoodie tell me that the stomach is bitter and when taken with the roe, it is supposed to bring you to the heavenly Swatow. (Area where the Teochews come from)
Here is where I failed. I never did like all the steamed fish that my parents love. In fact it was the fishiness of fish like Peh Dou Her that put me off steamed fish for most of my younger life. But I was game to see if my tastebuds are indeed as Teochew as I thought. Perhaps, as I get older, I might actually like fishy fish?
Not.
Even as the Teochew Ah Hias are attacking the fish with gusto, I found the fish to be too fishy for me. I tried my best but only finished a few mouthfuls. I guess it really is an acquired taste. So, are there many Peh Dou Her afficianados out there?
My rating would be 2.5/5 whereas the other guys rate it 4.5/5
Similarly with the steamed squid. My first bite of it was ok. But it wasn't something I would rave about. So I asked Fashiofoodie again just how to appreciate the dish. He told me that not many people can actually steam it until it was just so soft and tender. Ok. My rating 3/5, his rating 4.5/5.
I was told the beauty of these baby squids is that they are full of roe. Smart especially liked it and kept raving about it. Again for me, it was plain steamed squid. I still prefer it deeped fried till crispy with black sweet sauce. My rating 3/5, Smart's 4.5/5
Conclusion
So will you pass the True Blue Teochew Ah Hia test? My three Teochew Ah Hia friends certainly passed with flying colours. That's not to say that people of other dialect groups would not like Peh Dou Her, it's just that if you claim to be a Teochew Ah Hia, you should pass the Peh Dou Her test. Agree or not?
Bukit Merah View Economic Teochew Porridge #01-377/379 115 Bukit Merah View 10am to 7pm Closed on Sunday Recommended by FashionFoodie
With Tag, Carnineviand, iwatch_ueat and Bashful Hunter
If there is one thing the Teochews are not well known for is Roasted Duck. We are more famous for our Braised Duck. So when this Teochew Ah Hia told me that his Char Siew and Roast Duck is Teochew Style it threw me absolutely off balance.
So what is so special about Teochew style Roast Meat? I am seriously wondering if you can find this type of Char Siew if you went to Swatow today! Did this man invent his own style of Roast Meat or does this style of Char Siew really exist in Swatow? Will some Teochew Ah Zhek (uncle) please let us know?
The stallowner explained that Teochews love sweet things. (Think Orh Nee and Teochew Bak Chang which has sweet bean paste inside) So the Char Siew is much sweeter then usual. He shared that his marinade has got bean paste and malt in it. Certainly the sauce that he liberally pours over the rice is unique. It was pretty lumpy and was quite sweet which suited my palate very well.
Undoubtedly the Char Siew here is the star of the show. Don't be alarmed, he does serve leaner cuts, but when asked which bits are the best bits, he joyfully cut up the sample shown in the picture. Oooooh, I feel my tongue tingling and my coronary vessels stiffening up at the same time! There is nothing more sinful and shiok than burnt fat with caramelised sugar! 4.5/5
Both Sio Bak and Roast Duck here are competent but not as outstanding as the Char Siew. So I will give it a 4/5 and say no more.
Conclusion
Have to add Teochew Style Char Siew into your Char Siew resume, don't you think? Worth travelling all the way from Tampines for.
Lau Phua Chay Roasted Duck Alexandra Village Hawker Centre Stall 01-20 11am to 7pm Saturday closed
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Changi Teochew Kitchen
