Endangered Species - Food
Venezuela, Dominica, Lebanon, New Caledonia and Guatemala visited my blog to cross the century mark, with Guatemala being the 104 country to have done so. Maybe I should do it like Changi Airport and sponsor some Venezuela Miss World to Singapore since they were the 100th country to have done so.
I used to save money to buy an Apple Song Book for 101 songs as a teenager. Today an iPod is usually given to the youngsters and it could carry thousands of songs in it. The irony of life is often, as we progress, we actually regress. If you drop your cell phone into the sh*t hole while texting or tweeting your friends "shitting in office now" you won't even remember any number of your friends. When people ask for for phone number, I tell them "sorry, I won't know as I do not call myself".
I have said it before, lots of good hawker food will all disappear in the next 5-10 years. It is not just gut feeling but I have actually spoken to real hawkers. The below are some types of food and operators facing extinction and may have to be a protected species.
A long time ago, at Toa Payoh Blk 73, there was a wanton noodle stall that made wanton noodle just like this stall which is now famous and popular.
There is something special about the gravy and chili sauce but for $5 a plate with a few thin strands of char siew (BBQ pork) and only two wanton, it is a hefty price to pay. Worse than this is the queue.
At Upper Serangoon Road, the old six mile market was no more. Besides that old market in the past, it used to house some fabulous food where you can grab all at one go. The popular Nam Sing Fried Hokkien Mee has gone to Old Airport Road. There was a very good Mee Rebus stall which sold a plate for only $0.70c at the time. They have such a huge pot of gravy one must be careful not to fall into it but I do not know where they are now. There was also a famous Muah Chee stall and then satay. People used to ask me if I were a member of any club and I used to tell them "Satay Club". It was a wonderful place at the old Esplanade with Fatman Satay and all the rest.
At Blk 212, Hougang St 21 you will find Poh Kee Satay. Sounds like Porky Pig and Merrie Melodies -
They used to be a the six mile market. I read that the lady boss will be giving up the business soon in this year.
The satay is good - succulent and tasty but the lady boss can be grumpy at times. Maybe she is very stressed but she is the same all over the years. So her satay has been as consistent as she has been.
It is hard to find good satay gravy. This is even harder to find as her peanut sauce comes with a dash of fresh pineapple jam.
Satay is a wonderful food as it is always so easy to eat and a comfort food where people of all races, young or old will like. It is a common denominator.
Further down to the end there is this Western Food stall that used to be from Hougang Ave 5. They serve more than decent food especially their chicken chop fried rice.
Fresh chicken, good gravy and well done fried rice.
Over at Queen Street, you will find the same thing happening to this hawker stall every morning. A Queue of at least 15-20 people at all times but it moves quite fast.
The texture of their "chee cheong fun" is different and taste better than most. They just don't make them the same way anymore. That's why people queue here.
The porridge is always piping hot and very tasty! 花生粥。Lovely!
The fried vermicelli is simple and with chili sauce added is just so simple to eat. Combined the three together and it is a very potent mix guaranteed to satisfy and give you a great start to any day. All these for $0.80c each.
I have watched this guy serving from young and now grown old but yet do not know his name. What a shame! There was no chance for conversation as he goes about his job seriously.
Katong Laksa is well-known to all Singaporeans. I leave their history to other sources but this is just a revisit for me. I tried one very popular one and while it is still pretty good, the place is being run by foreign workers. Besides Katong, Roxy at East Coast and the one at Sungei Road are pretty good.
Sugar Cane juice is popular with Singaporeans. Despite reports of contamination when left unattended at stalls, some sugar cane juice stalls are still flourishing. It depends on where you are but at Changi Village there are many. Do you like yours plain with just sugar cane juice or with lemon added. Lemon has a strong taste that overpowers the sugar cane taste. In many places today, they do not have any sugar cane stalls.
Teh Tarik is a wonderful concoction. There is nothing like good tea especially teh tarik or teh halia (ginger). When I first had my cuppa from this stall, he was just a very young man learning from his father or uncle. Now at Rafee's Corner at Amoy Street, he still makes them very well.
Watching your tea being pulled is quite a sight to behold. The end result is it is still hot/warm but a little easier to drink and a well pulled tea comes with a good head like a well-poured beer.
If you haven't had one for a long time, it is time. It never goes wrong.
I never remembered the name but my office was once very near here. They told me it is now not as good as before but I find that their Lor Mee is still special. Their ingredients are good with quality in their fish, pork and other ingredients.
This Lor Mee at Amoy Street has been around a long time too. Add more vinegar and throw in red cut chili to slurp dry the bowl. The name sounded like a martial arts clan.
Teochew folks love their ducks braised. They used to be at Kovan (Yio Chu Kang Road) and now relocated to Y2000 coffee shop and beer garden along Upper Serangoon Road. Light and delicious and they do go well with beer. I know some of you guys just love duck wings. You will chew and tear off the meat and spit out the bones.
Rahim's was from the same place with Ah Xiao and came along to Y2000. Besides the nice Malay style satay, they are well known for their mee rebus. Pay a little more and you'll gt shredded chicken. They top up their mee rebus with some satay gravy.
In the name of development, we are tearing down too many buildings and places. One day, we will have no trace of our childhood and you will think you came from apes. Each time an old market or hawker centre got a makeover, prices go up and some of the older generation and original hawkers hang up their woks. I hope they will leave Hong Lim (at Fook Hai Building) market and food centre alone for these are among the last few of the Mohicans. The food stalls here are original, authentic and there are many good ones here like the famous Outram Char Kway Teow and more like the Curry Chicken Noodle. There are two and both are very good. Some will say that the one on the ground floor is better and so on.
But I love my curry and the one with the shorter queue when both are almost as good will do. Potato with tender chicken and curry drowning the noodles need no invitation. The curry here has a nice balance.
At the other end the old man here beckoned. He invited me to try his Hokkien Prawn Mee. Normally, I'll just take it with prawns but I ventured to ask him if his pork ribs were tender and soft? (even some Bak Kut Teh stalls has pork ribs which are too hard) and his reply was a guarantee and assurance. He said that if they were not tender and soft I could return them.
He was right and the quality of the soup immediately got me into time travel mode. Gong back in time that is.
And these powerful stuffs to add to your soup or for a dip with the crunchy prawns made the trip there worthwhile.
There are many popular and award winning food stalls. Your choices are plenty. There is something for everyone. Like this fishball, meatball and fishcake noodle stall.
The trick about fishball and meatball is simple. It is not factory-made but rather home-made. It is in the texture.
Asians love their "mochi" or as we call it "muah chee" made from glutinuus rice. This is the next generation as his father used to helmed that famous stall at the Upper Serangoon six mile market. That used to be a long queue as his dad would slowly and meticulously pinched the the muah chee in small bite size pieces and dipped each piece into a small pot with oil and shallot in it so that the shallot would stick to them.
They are then thrown into a big tray of grinded peanut and rolled to give you the delicious plate of muah chee. Find them at Hougang Ave 8 Blk 644 now.
Let's move on to Changi Village. The place has an old town feel about it where people are unhurried. Jackie's a popular seafood tze char at one corner but the real action is in inside. From nasi lemak to nasi bryani and satay, you get to have some pretty good chinese food too. I like this Fried Hokkien Mee here. The other fabulous ones are, Nam Sing (Old Airport), Come Daily (Toa Payoh) and Kim's (along Eunos).
Let's move on to Changi Village. The place has an old town feel about it where people are unhurried. Jackie's a popular seafood tze char at one corner but the real action is in inside. From nasi lemak to nasi bryani and satay, you get to have some pretty good chinese food too. I like this Fried Hokkien Mee here. The other fabulous ones are, Nam Sing (Old Airport), Come Daily (Toa Payoh) and Kim's (along Eunos).
But this one is special. It is very tasty without being overbearing with lard or others.
In this day and age, it is getting harder to find your fried noodles in lopeh leaf for take away. It keeps the food warm and fragrant and is environmentally friendly. We should have more of this.
Some carrot cake stalls just fry theirs white or black. A few may offer both types but there are some today who can offer you both white and black in a plate. How do you like yours? Or does it depend on the time of day? This one at Changi Village is good.
I know this guy who does his carrot cake very well at Tanjong Pagar. He may be the last of the Mohican. Old school type.
His comes with loaded with sprinkle of spring onions. Spring onions make the carrot cake or you mee pok dry taste much better.
Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak has been around for years made famous from their Adam Road stall and previously helmed by Haji Hassan and you will always find a line waiting patiently for their order. I would also cater from them from time to time but Haji Hassan has since passed on and his son Malek has taken over.
Thank goodness for that for their nasi lemak is special as they use only long grain Basmati rice which is noted for its fragrance, aroma and delicate flavour. Of course what is nasi lemak without solid chili.
I read that Professor Tommy Koh has this same worry and is trying to keep the original tradition of our hawkers going. I wish him and us success. Our economy needs it. We need to keep going. That's all folks.
Comments