Seng Hock: The Butterfly Fritter: You Char Kway’s lesser known sibling!
I've been re-awakened to the simple pleasures of the butterfly fritter (beh hei ji) lately. I have always enjoyed them, but they have never really shared the same limelight has their older sibling, the youtiao. I guess it's because youtiao is much more versatile, as it appears in other dishes like rojak, pork porridge and tau suan whereas, the butterfly fritter is a standalone snack.
Did you know that there are not one, but two famous Hill Street char kway teow stalls? The more well known one is located at Bedok which has been taken over by the son of the original hawker. The other one, which doesn't get as much publicity, is located at Chinatown Complex Food Centre.
The stall was started by Mr Sim’s grandfather who sold bak chor mee from a push cart along the streets of Chai Chee years ago when it was still a real kampung. Mr Sim himself has already been helming the stall for 32 years!
Most of the “roasted chicken” sold at our hawker centres are not actually roasted but deep fried or at least bathed in hot oil in order to produce that beautiful, bronzed skin color! I actually prefer roasted chicken to white chicken and if given a choice, I would choose it over white chicken anytime! […]
Time flies! Nov 8, 2006 was when I first published my story about Joo Chiat Prawn Mee while they were still at 15 Crane Road. At the time I had just picked up a 2nd hand Canon 500D and was starting to develop my own style of street food photography. There were only a handful of food blogs then and no Instagram or Facebook and the only way of finding out where the best prawn mee are was to look at forums or ask your friends!
I must admit that lor mee has always been on my B list of things to eat. It wasn’t a dish which my parents were particularly fond of, so I never got to eat much of it growing up. But lately I have been experiencing a lor mee renaissance. I re-discovered how delicious lor mee […]
White House Teochew Porridge: Ultimate Comfort food!
Teochew porridge is my ultimate comfort food and I am sure it is for many Singaporeans too! Just imagine sitting down a few salty, spicy, sweet dishes washed down with a bowl of piping hot porridge! It's the ultimate remedy for a rainy day!
Good Eats and Hidden Gems: Alexandra Village Industrial Estate Food Trail
I am doing a series of food trails into the industrial estates to uncover good eats that might have escaped your foodie radar. I think there is a general idea that food centres located in industrial areas cater mainly for workers in the estate so most of us won't think about venturing into an industrial estate just to find food.
Hwa Xing Bak Kut Teh: #OurHawkerCulture Pork Bone Tea!
The word "culture" can be defined as "the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society" If you are still wondering if our hawker culture is indeed so unique that it should be recognized by UNESCO, then come with me to Yuhua hawker centre and then to Pek Sin Choon tea merchants to explore the relationship between pork bone soup and gongfu tea.
Mei Ji Fishball Noodles: #OurHawkerCulture The Kampung Spirit!
The kampung spirit is still alive and well in our hawker centres! I met with Philip Tan recently who has been selling fishball noodles at Bukit Merah Food Centre since 1980 and he related some fascinating stories of how the hawkers, about half of whom have been there for almost four decades, behave almost like one big extended family.
Do you all remember the ice cream man who would go around the neighbourhood ringing his bell? “Cling cling, cling cling ……” Everyone will know the ice cream man was around and us kids will start clamouring for ice cream. But what is a housewife to do when you live in a flat with three […]
Tiong Bahru Lien Fa Shui Jing Pau (Teochew Crystal Dumplings) :Last of the Artisans
This unassuming little hawker stall at Alexandra village food centre is probably the last of its kind in Singapore that is still selling Teochew crystal dumplings or what is we Teochews call chwee jia bao. What characterises these dumplings is the chewy, see through skin which is made from tapioca flour. The skin is rather […]
