Food Paradise?

Is Singapore a Food Paradise? Yes and no. In terms of the widest variety, a resounding yes! In terms of the highest quality, partly yes and in some parts - no. While we do have some top restaurants and many other good ones, the street fare and hawker is a dying breed. Now you know why Professor Tommy Koh is concerned. These days, the food and ingredients are centrally and factory-sourced. To make more profit, they sting on ingredients or could it be due to higher rental fees? You can walk into any shops in Hong Kong for wan ton noodles or milk tea and you will still get tasty food with good quality because no Hong Kongers would want to patronise it if they ain't good.

They say that Singapore is a food paradise. In the old days, only those who could do some good dishes well would parade their food as hawkers - be it mee rebus, laksa or prawn noodle. Our hawker fare with its rich heritage borne of need and culture is still there but the previous generation's skills has not been passed on such that Professor Tommy Koh asked that we preserved them or even offer courses for chef. How to when every ingredient is sourced from the same factory or supplier. Nobody makes their own peanuts or shallot, chili or anything else anymore. Let me run you through some places I have been recently.

My grandmother would buy me a stick of fish balls of "ngoh hiang" dripping with sweet sauce whenever we walked past a "Yong Tau Fu" or "Niana Tou Fu" stall near the old home when I was very small. I only liked these two things as the rest do not seemed to be for children. You can name quite a few like those at Beach Road or Tanjong Pagar but for the convenience of those who live near me, here's one at Upper Serangoon Road.

Bagus - Yong Tau Fu

Though it may cost slightly dearer than the market stalls, it has a wide selection and the food is fresh. On top of these, you are spoilt for choice how you want it prepared - Hakka, Tom Yam, Ampang, traditional dry or soup. You can have Cuttle Fish with Kang Kong and other stuffs. I do not understand why they use Bagus. Is that Hakka with some loaded meaning?

Shokudo - Japanese

Shokudo in Japanese means...I don't know what it means but should be well known by many. They have a nice concept. Get a card when you get in. They have all the different sections of Japanese cuisine and each time you order something they swipe your card to register your spending. If you go in a group you can obviously try more things but if you have been there awhile and you know your Japanese food you will soon settle down very quickly to what you want. I must say the udon is quite good.

My favourite has always been the desserts section. Remember desserts spelt backwards is stressed. You have to have some relief. There is something about Japanese Green Tea ice cream with Red Beans that can make me forget things for awhile. What better way than with a crepe. The other for me to die for or to sell state secrets is rum and raisins. Unfortunately, this time they went out of stock. I did not go ballistic. I went bananas.

Ikea

If I say I go to Ikea for lunch, you may think my staple food is furniture or some kind of Do-It-Yourself. It started out small eons ago as a resting place for your shopping breaks but now they are full-fledged for food. The poached Salmon is pretty decent, chicken wings are not bad and well the Swedish beef balls are quite awesome. You can get some and DIY at home if you like.

The cheesecake is a delightful finishing touch to your meal and the apple pie except for its cinnamon taste somewhat reminded me of Troika who in the old days delivered the best apple pie of all time. Period. This one looked Troika-ish but tasted alright.

Xiao Xuan Feng

Since Crystal Jade changed their menu, I've missed their awesome Chilli Beef La Mian. So, I came across this one at Hougang Mall which I have previously tried but didn't get a great impression as I could not remember. This time, they seemed to have improved. The La Mian quality was better, even the soup stock tasted good. The Xiao Long Pao was fresh and juicy and didn't disappoint.

The pan-fried Pork Dumpling was surprising nice and the most surprising was the Hor Fun. In the old days, most zi char (stir-fried) stalls could do Hor Fun with "Wok Hei" (wok's breath) even if they are not that tasty. The wok hei determines the "fun" in the "hor". Hor fun without wok hei is a plain waste of time. I first discovered a very good one in Balestier at Boon Tong Kee but it seems the chef may have changed and I have since stop going there. It used to be very good with very strong wok hei taste which means a master in controlling the fire and heat.

It was so skilfully done that the flat rice noodle were not blackened. Jumbo Seafood has good hor fun but I only do it at the NRSCC golf club. Back to this amazing hor fun discovery. This one has fiery wok hei. You could feel the searing heat under your tongue. Lovely! It comes with fresh ingredients of scallops, fish and prawns for $8. Yummy!









 

 

Bread

Way before bread could talk, we have the ta...da.... humble bread shop. They will slice away the skins for you and slice them like a pro with a long knife. These are the bakers who have men getting bread from them to distribute and sell mostly on their bicycles with a huge wooden box behind where they store their magarine, jam and peanut butter. This is one of the last few shops standing, the other I know is at Whampoa. Oh, how I love the old stuffs. Music of Bread and the lovely voice of David Gates : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mflw8-BZdV0

This is how they look on closer inspection.

We must remember that these trades were strong in our daily lives in those times where "mata cheng teh kor" (police were wearing shorts). The very talented Sting (Police) knew if you Do Do Do they will Da Da Da you. The picture circa 1964 confirmed it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v2GDbEmjGE&playnext=1&videos=JlQnV-4RkUo&feature=artistob

...and they actually used these vans to distribute from the shops for delivery of their bread. This is the bread vehicle (roti chia) which as we know it today is called the MPV (mian pao van) and with no bread to carry they now carry people and a bit high class.

Hock Lam Beef Noodle

Everybody should know this one as the original one was in town. His daughter quit the bank to sell beef noodles. Of late, they only opened at this stall from Thursday?Friday at certain times and then the weekends. It's good.

Look at the pix below. Yong Tau Fu is net to Domino's, Hock Lam Beef is next to the Bagus YTF and the Bread shop is next. You can kill three birds with one stone.

Hiang Soon Otar

This is a favoruite of mine. Whenever I have to get Otar I will get it from here. The spices and the fish blends very well and it is more spicy than others. You can call in advance if your order is large and you don't want to wait too long.

When here, you are already at Jalan Kayu, where there are many other food stalls and next to the Otar stall you will find Jane's Cake where they have fabulous durian and chocolate cakes. More on that later but why are they so many food stalls and restaurants in such a small country.

Are we eating too much? You can decide on that later, let us try the last one here.

This Bread Mana?

Where (mana in malay) is this bread? It says Barcook - whatever that means but it is like manna from heaven. Don't know about you but I am a bread man. I love its simplicity and versatility. If you like me love bread and love cheese, oh dear, you are in trouble. This is best consumed the very moment you got it while it is still warm from the oven. You'll go Gaga then Ooh-la-la: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38tvJQMSeno

A couple of bites and the cheese would oozes out. It tasted like rum and raisin to me. Fortunately, I don't have any state secrets to sell.

Are you in paradise? Must be continued.....