Selera Restaurant Curry Puffs: Will the real Rex Curry Puff please stand up?

This stall has shifted

You all have heard about the famous Rex Curry Puffs right? You know of course, that there really isn't a stall called Rex Curry Puffs.  Rex was actually the name of a cinema which in its heyday was a name that kids would scream with joy whenever daddy or mummy mentions it.  Those were the days before DVDs, before VCDs and even before videotapes.  So you only got to watch movies in cinemas when it was airing or you would have to wait for a year of two before it appeared on TV. So, going to cinemas, like going to a fast food restaurant, was a real treat.  That was the golden age of movies (for me) where names like Rex, Odeon, Capitol, Lido and Cathay conjured up grand opera like cinemas and when the most popular cinema snack was the Kachang Putih presented in cones complete with a snippet of yesterday's news.

Cafe de Hong Kong: The Search for Fried Rice Paradise

Review and photos by Joao

Roasted Crispy Chicken 

I lived in Melbourne, Australia during my university days and it was during my time there that I discovered my favorite flavor of fried rice. It was (and still is) served at this place on Elizabeth Street called Rose Garden BBQ Shop. Casual dining, family-owned, home-cooked Hong Kong style cuisine. If you happen to be in Melbourne city, it's a place worth checking out. One of the many dishes on their menu is mui choy nup si chow fun — Mei Cai (梅菜) and Shredded Duck Fried Rice. I can't speak Cantonese, but I'm told that the right intonation of the syllable "si" makes all the difference between shredded duck meat and duck feces. Order this in half-past-six Cantonese at your own peril. I usually just point at the menu.

Fu Shi Traditional Roasted: There is a future for Hawker Food yet!

This Stall is Temporarily Closed

Char Siew $30 per kg

We are always lamenting the dismal state of our hawker food as more and more stalls have come to serve generic hawker fare at clinical food courts that only provide sustenance without soul.  But once in a while, I see a glimmer of hope.  For as long as there are hawker stalls owned and operated by passionate hawkers, there is opportunity for a hawker food revival.

This glimmer of hope is evident on the 2nd floor of the Shunfu market, in a stall that looks like every other hawker stall. This one boasts a perpetual queue even though it is still unadorned with the usual media endorsement.  This is no heritage hawker and there is no secret recipe that has been passed down through three generations.  Behind the gravy spattered glass is just this ex-taxi driver who loves food and decided give up his taxi three years ago to open up a Char Siew and Sio Bak stall because he loves to eat Char Siew and Sio Bak, and sometimes, Roast Duck.

The kakis have been discussing about this particular stall in our forum which has garnered as much attention as a shoal of Koi fighting over a handful of chicken pellets. So naturally, I had to find out what the fuss is all about, especially when they are discussing Char Siew and Sio Bak, dishes which rank quite high on my oomphometer.


Sio Bak $30 per kg

A lot of Sio Bak nowadays lack soul, but this one makes you feel like you are in a Gospel Choir in America's deep South.    Have we got crispy rind Sister?  Amen!  Have we got juicy, tender, melt in your mouth meat, Bruther?  Amen!  Have we got fats that have been rendered soft and marinade that has penetrated right through the meat, people?  Ooohhhh Hallelujah!

Jokes aside, the Sio Bak here will satisfy.  It can't really compete against the cubed Sio Bak you find at a fine Cantonese restaurant, but you get more pig for your ten bucks.  I you need to do is to bring along your own bottle of special reserve cognac mustard! There are two things that sets this Sio Bak apart from a lot of others.  Firstly, as I mentioned before, the fats here have been rendered.  What happens is that the pork is roasted slowly first to allow the fats to melt, then rested before a second roast to turn the skin into the crackling we are familiar with. The other thing is that they use fermented bean curd (Nam Yu) in the marinade which is what is traditionally done. (and a lot of other stalls omit)  This adds an extra dimension to the flavour.  Some might find the meat a little to salty, but when eaten with rice, it is just nice. 4.25/5

The Char Siew here will also make you shout "Hallelujah!"  This is not your usual reddish brown coloured, piece of dead meat.  No, it's alive!  And it dances and teases you from behind the glass panel by looking like its been dipped into a bottle of honey several times during the roasting process. They have done it so well that even the lean version is juicy and tender.  But it is not just tender, it has bounce which is the characteristic of collar meat that has not been overcooked.  But of course, you know me, when it comes to Char Siew, it's pig's armpit (Bu Jian Tian) all the way. Nothing like having a bit of caramelized fat to chew on! When you really have that need for meat, this will hit the spot! (But get there early when it is just out of the oven)  4.6/5

 

Roast Duck $32 per bird

Our makan kaki Damien loves the Roast Duck here.  I thought that it was cooked really well, the meat was tender, but I found the flavour still a little too gamey and would have preferred more of that five spice flavour in the meat.  My favourite plum sauce was also missing.  But at $38 per duck, it is really good value and one of the better roast ducks I have eaten.  4.25/5

The Ex-Taxi Driver Hawkerpreneur who loves his food

Conclusion

It  is really good to see that there is a new generation of hawkers who are rising up to the challenge of serving up hawker food with passion!   I think the critical thing is to make sure they remain stall owners rather than being employed by a Food Court to serve up generic dishes prepared in a central kitchen.  We need to keep hawkerpreneurship alive and well, and when that happens, we will continue to enjoy great food at affordable prices.

Fu Shi Traditional Roasted
Blk 320 Shunfu Road Hawker Centre
#02-25
8.30am to 1.30pm
Closed on Mon - Tues
92378157


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Canon-ieat Food Photography Workshop

Photos by Cliff and Ieat

It seems that Food Photography is getting rather popular.  When we started the Food Photography workshops a few years ago, we were hard pressed to get 30 participants.  Nowadays, our workshops are filled up in just over a day or so.  It is indeed a worldwide phenomenon as more and more people take photos of the food they eat as a way of chronicling their lives.   But a photo is not good enough, it must be a photo that will cause stomachs to rumble, saliva to drool and friends to start cursing you for messing with their physiology in the middle of the night.

Original Serangoon Hokkien Mee: The Cripple Hokkien Mee Man's legacy

How does a Hawker achieve legendary status?  Well, firstly your food must be good and secondly it helps when you have a distinguishing feature.  In the case of Serangoon Hokkien Mee, the the fact that the man frying the noodles is also crippled has made him a legend in local Hawker lore.

OTTO Ristorante: They say the Pastas here are great!

Hokkaido scallop carpaccio with saffron vinaigrette and black Taggia olives powder $28

My last Italian meal at another well known Italian restaurant was quite a disaster.  Well, to be fair, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't great.  To me the key to any great restaurant is the chef,  no matter if he comes from Italy, France or China, if they are passionate about their food, it will show.  If they can't cook a risotto to the right creaminess (more accurately starchiness) and the lava cake does not erupt when you cut into it, then it is not even worth mentioning.

So I came to OTTO with a sense of trepidation but I am glad to report that OTTO has lived up to its reputation of serving really great pastas and I found Chef Michele Pavanello to be someone who really loves food in general and passionate about Italian food in particular.  He is yet another European who has succumb to the lure of our Singaporean women and chicken rice and settled down to make Singapore his home.  Well done girls! (And Chicken Rice hawkers)

Chef Michele understands that we Singaporeans like bold flavours.  After all, his own favourite Singapore dish is Laksa, so he knows that our threshold for reaching the "Oooommmph" is rather high.  That Oommphh showed up in many of the dishes we had that night, but we have to start with something a little light before we get there.

The first dish was an Hokkaido scallop carpaccio which he had  drizzled with a saffron vinaigrette.  At first glace I thought that the black granules were caviar, but they turned out to be a powder made from ground dehydrated olives. The scallops were fresh and went well with the vinaigrette but I had a problem with the Alfafa sprouts whose flavour dominated the palate.  The black olive powder was interesting but the flavour was too subtle. Would have been great if it were really caviar!  3.5/5

Spaghetti with sea urchin and grey mullet bottarga $30

Most people tell me that the pastas here are great and they are right.  We tried two pasta dishes and they were both excellent.  The texture of the pastas were perfect and they were sauced perfectly.

The first was a spaghetti with sea urchin and grey mullet bottarga. If you like strong flavours like foie gras, crab roe and salted eggs, you will definitely like this.  Chef Michele uses uni which have been shipped from Tsukiji market.  The Uni lends a nice creamy sauce with a hint of fishiness which was not overpowering.  Bottarga, which is dried mullet roe gives the dish another umami punch, very much like a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, except with a accent of the sea. 4.25/5

Tagliatelle with truffle scented lamb ragout

I would highly recommend the Tagliatelle with lamb ragout if you are looking for a hearty, robust dish which is so tasty that you would probably end up eating too much and feel uncomfortably full.  The lamb ragout was done in such a way that it wasn't too gamey and it could probably have been passed off as beef or oxtail.  The homemade tagliatelle is velvety tender and works wonderfully with this sauce.  4.5/5

Baked European royal sea bream with saffron sauteed clam $38

A real fish foodie will be able to tell you exactly what type of fish you are eating and where it comes from just by its taste profile.  I am, unfortunately, not at that level.  But in general, if the fish is fatty, you can guess that it comes from the cold waters of the more temperate regions.  So it is with this Sea Bream.  We have the local variety and the Mediterranean variety and the reason their dish of Baked European Royal Sea Bream is priced at $38 is precisely because the fish is airflown from the Mediterranean.  The fish was nice, slightly oily and full of flavour, which you would love if you like that fishy flavour of fish.  I am not a big fan of fish like spanish mackeral so this isn't a dish I would order again.  The clam sauce was very nice though and went well with the fish.  3.5/5

Crispy Suckling Pig lacquered with "black locust" tree honey and aged balsamic vinegar $48

The Crispy Suckling Pig is the one meat dish that everyone associates OTTO with and it is one dish which I would highly recommend for anyone who has a few calories to spare.  The texture of the suckling pig is near perfect.  The skin is really crispy and when you bite into it, the flavours of the rendered fat would coat your palate with porcine perfection.  In my books, this the best way to appreciate the natural taste of pork.

In order to achieve this, Chef Michele slow cooks the suckling pig first before finishing it in a hot oven to crisp the rind.  The meat is great, but I would have preferred something a little more citrussy instead of baby spinach leaves to add a zing to balance out the the heaviness of the pork.  Nevertheless, the pork was heavenly. 4.5/5

Haitian vanilla creme brulee served with Vincotto marinated berries $14

There are some recipes that never go out of fashion and Creme Brulee is one of them.  It is one of those classic desserts that is so perfect that you really don't need to go modifying it.  I am sure there must be lots of fans like me who love it, so much so that you can even write a whole book on it!

Creme Brulee literally means "burnt cream" in French and is basically an egg custard flavoured with vanilla and topped with caramelized sugar. It might sound simple, but to make a cream brulee that is smooth, flavourful and have a glassy layer of caramelized sugar that shatters when you tuck into it requires some skill.  I would have been happy with just the Creme Brulee sans berries as I felt it was a little too tart for me.  However, the Creme Brulee was expertly done and it was something I savoured slowly to prolong the enjoyment.  4.25/5

Conclusion

Ask around about OTTO and many people will tell you that their pastas are excellent, and I find myself joining the ranks of the "many people".  The prices are a little on the high side, but you do get what you pay for.  If you are going for a meat dish, the suckling pig would be the one I recommend.

OTTO Ristorante
28 Maxwell Road,
Red Dot Traffic Building
Open for lunch and dinner
Closed Sundays
62276819
www.ottoristorante.com.sg
This review was done as part of a media tasting event

Teck Sing Restoran: Paper Baked Chicken

Teck Sing Paper Baked Chicken RM14

If you want to be an expert in JB food, you need more than just a good palate and a sense of adventure.  You need to have guts as well as a sense that you are so tough that no one would want to mess around with you type attitude.  My friend, SCS Butter is just such a man and when I go into JB with him, I feel safe.

As such, I have started blogging about some of his favourite JB foods.  He has been raving about this particular restaurant which sells Paper Wrapped Chicken which according to him is the tastiest thing under heaven after his own Braised Duck at Teochew Muay.

Singapore's Top Ten Food Centres Poll: And the Winner is......

Old Airport Road Food Centre!

Altogether 2742 foodies have spoken and the answer is loud and clear.  Old Airport Road Food Centre is the overwhelming favourite amongst the ieat community with 48.7% of the votes!

It was a close fight between Maxwell and Chomp Chomp for second place and throughout the month of voting, the positions shifted many times.  In the end Maxwell edged out Chomp Chomp by 25% to 23.4% to clinch the silver medal.

Fourth and fifth were also a close fight.  At the beginning of voting, Chinatown was well in the top three, but in the end, it was relegated to fifth position at 18.1% with Tiong Bahru just ahead in fourth at 18.5%.

So here are Top Ten Food Centers in Singapore!

1.  Old Airport Road Food Centre 48.7%
2.  Maxwell Road Food Centre 25%
3.  Chomp Chomp 23.4%
4.  Tiong Bahru Food Centre 18.5%
5.  Chinatown (Smith Street) Food Centre 18.1%
6.  East Coast Lagoon Food Centre 12.8%
7.  Hong Lim Food Centre 12%
8.  Whampoa Food Centre 10.4%
9.  Changi Village Food Centre 10.2%
10. Ghim Moh Food Centre 8.6%

Thanks to everyone who voted!

Restaurant Ten: Taste Good, Feel Good

Egg white with dried scallops and morel mushrooms in Potato baskets

As Chinese, we have been brought up to be aware of the medicinal values of the food we eat.  Whether some foods are "Warm" or "Cold" and that chicken should be avoided when one is having a cough and soy sauce is a no-no when one is suffering from chicken pox. Although there are some things that most of us do attest to, like getting a sore throat if one eats too much durians, I feel, like most people, that these are stuff of hearsay, which are difficult to substantiate most of the time, but unwise to ignore completely.

Sopporo Snacks House: Sandakan the Seafood Paradise! And so Cheap!

Sapporo Snacks House does not serve Japanese food, it does not even serve snacks, but boy is their seafood good!  The reason it is called Sapporo Snacks House is because the current owners bought over this shop from the previous owner who was selling Japanese Ice Cream and never bothered to change it.  But heck, that doesn't stop the queues of people from lining up outside the shop for a meal there.

The sight which would immediately catch your attention is the BBQ hotplate that is on the pavement outside the shop.  Here you find the Seafood BBQ man BBQing all manner of Seafood without realising that we are facing an oil crisis.  I guess news about Trans fat has not yet trickled down to this part of the world.  Then again, they are really supporting the local industry since one of the main exports of Sandakan, apart from Seafood, is palm oil.

Noodle Place: Hong Kong King Kong Ping Pong Ball Wantons

Wanton Mee $7.50++

People rave about the Wanton Mee in Hong Kong.  So when I visited Hong Kong the last time, I made sure I had a bowl there.  I came back wondering what the fuss was all about?  I felt that our version was still better.  But the problem was that I did not eat at one of the more famous Wanton Mee place, so perhaps I was still missing something.

So when Damien told me that the executive Chef at Mak's Wanton Mee is now cooking up the Wanton Mee at Noodle Place, I felt the need to see if the Wanton Mee there would change my mind about Hong Kong style Wanton Mee.  According to our makan kaki, PChong, Mak's Wanton Mee is about as good as it gets in Hong Kong, so perhaps I would gain Wanton Mee enlightenment here.

Putien Restaurant: Heng Hwa Cuisine

Review by Joao, Photos by ieat

Fried "Hing Wa" Beehoon


Among the Chinese in Singapore, the Hing Wa ethnic group is one of the smaller and lesser known ones. I must confess, prior to writing this post I had little knowledge of the Hing Wa people or their cuisine. Who are the Hing Wa? They are the people group who speak the Puxian dialect and reside in the Fujian province — mainly in and around the Putian and Xianyou. If you’re like me, you’ve probably never been to Fujian province, but have heard the name Putian before. That’s probably because of the Pu Tien chain of restaurants. As it turns out, Putian is also the name of a city in Fujian that’s infamous for its high-end knockoff shoe factories. That’s all well and good, but what do they eat there?

Mirabelle Patisserie: Kopi and Croissants anyone?

This stall is closed

Croissant $1.50

Where in the world can you eat an authentic French croissant with a cup of Kopi for less than $3?

Mackenzie Road, that's where.

Located just diagonally across from the former Rex Cinema is this tiny little French Patisserie which serves one of the best Croissants in Singapore and some might say, JB and Batam.

They don't have space for you to sit down to have a cup of coffee with the croissants.  So if you get there just when the croissants come out of the oven, what you need to do is to quickly buy one and plonk yourself down in the kopitiam just opposite Rex Cinema, order a cup of Kopi and try to imagine that you are sitting in a French Cafe somewhere in Paris.

Mei Tian Yuen Coffeeshop: Do you like Soft Boil Eggs?

A pair of perfectly cooked soft boiled eggs which accompaniments, coins are optional

You can't get any closer to a classic Singaporean breakfast than a pair of soft boiled eggs served in a saucer dressed with dark soy sauce and a dash of pepper.  Break the yolk and mix it all up, slurp it all down in one breath, wipe up the excess with some fresh bread and wash it all down with a cup of kopi.  Ahhhhhh.....  you have just swallowed 426mg of cholesterol (recommended daily intake is 300mg).

Join us this Saturday for Teh and Kopi and help educate the kids in Sandakan!

As you know, many of our readers who have ordered their T Shirts will be dropping by this Saturday to collect them and have a cup of Kopi.  But I would also like to extend the invitation to everyone else to come join us at this informal Tea.  Liverpool has very generously volunteered to donate the proceeds from the entire afternoon to charity, so you can get involved by coming down to and have a cup of  Kopi and tryLiverpool's new item, the Cinnamon, Sugar, Butter Brioche! 

Venue:  Good Morning Nanyang Cafe,108 Robinson Road
Date: Saturday 9 October 2010
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Park at Robinson Centre opp the cafe.  $2 per entry after 1pm

This is an open house, so no registration required, just drop by!  I look forward to seeing you there!

ieat Sandakan Makan Mission 2010 Report

Trip Report by Holydrummer

Dedicated to the brave volunteers, teachers & children in Sandakan.


Our team presenting our cheque to Goducate

To my wonderful companions on the journey
Leslie, Lisa, Wee Kiat, Shirley, Ryan, Jimmy, Irene, Nicholas, Huiwen, Estee, Sheylara, Kay, Amylia, Veronica, Pastor Victor & Dr. Paul Choo.

The greater community of ieatishootipost had toiled tirelessly over the past year to raise funds through the charity makan sessions and donations from our readers.  So first we want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who have who contributed to aid the cause of Goducate.  We also want to acknowledge MCHAsia for matching our contribution dollar for dollar.

As we have managed to hit our target of $22K for the van, the ieat Sandakan Makan Mission was a natural progression; a culmination of our combined efforts which was finally bearing fruit. After seeing how I have been acquainted only on the peripheral sidelines of the campaign - wondering why we did what we did & who we did it for - I definitely developed an interest & inclination to learn more about the work of Goducate.

Biscuitking: I feel like a kid again!

If you are feeling a little down, then a visit to biscuitking might just be what you need to lift your spirits.

There was a time on our sunny little island when KFC was only existent in Malaysia and a visit to MacDonald's was an occasional treat for doing well in the exams.  It was during this "dark age" that I spent my formative years swinging on banyan trees and playing football in tadpole infested ankle high water in the school field.  In those days, recess time meant a trip to the tuckshop for 30 cents of Char Kway Teow, followed by a 10 cent glass of sweeten drink and then over to the tit bit stall to buy some Haw Flakes, Satay Fish or Kachang Puteh wrapped in newspaper for between five to ten cents.