Covid has caused unprecedented death, pain and suffering around the world. Economies have been ravaged. Societies and a simple and normal way of life have been severely affected. Freedom of meeting family and friends or going to work have been totally disrupted. Even eating out at restaurants, food courts and coffee shops amid the warm and humid weather here with family, friends and strangers which we often take for granted were done for. Everywhere, the sights of tables and chair stacked away are disheartening. Business closures and hawkers waiting for customers have been a most painful episode. We can only hope for things to get better.
That was why I have not been talking about food. This time I wish to share with you this food stall which a good friend recommended to me perhaps like a couple of years ago but I never took the time to visit at its original location at a coffee shop below the old Rochor HDB. As Rochor was being designated for renewal they have since moved on.
They are liver specialist. When I visited, they don't check my liver. I check out theirs. I was told that their soup and liver are excellent. So a few months back, I went a calling.
It is called Jin Xi Lai (Mui Siong) Minced Meat Noodle at Veerasamy Road.
You do not see a queue forming at all so you may think that this is your lucky day.
But no because after you order, they give you a buzzer as your queue number. That is when you realized that almost everybody there is waiting for their order. You will also realize that they tell everyone who orders that you have to wait for 45 minutes.
You know Chinese people eat all kinds of things especially in the old days. Maybe still quite the same now. Many believe that to be clever you have to eat pig's brain. I could see the link about the brain but pig's brain? When you were in school, some teachers may have called you pig brain but do you realize that pigs are one of the most intelligent animals? Why do you think they eat and sleep all day. So eating liver will give you healthier and stronger liver just as walnut (which looks like a brain) is good for your brain.
And since you have to wait for quite some time, fret not. You order something else. There is a popular Johor Road Porridge and also a very popular chicken wing rice stall as there was a long queue throughout the duration of my stay there. I believe this is similar to the original Carona Chicken of years ago at Funan Centre.
It is good that is why it is popular.
Back to my main topic and star of the show. The food was ready to be consumed after actually half an hour instead of 45 minutes. I think in case you say they are slow. QQ al dente noodles. Not too much noodle so I like.
I lifted the noodle up to show you that noodles are best eaten immediately when served because the noodles are seasoned with lard, oil and sauces so that each strand is laced and slippery but when you da bao back it gets dried up when it cools.
Here I present to you a drone's view of the sumptuous soup. Lots of ingredients with fish ball, fish cake and lots of minced meat. Minced meat makes the soup sweeter .
This is the "Gold Standard" of liver here. Many hawkers do not cook the right way. Some cooked the meat or liver first and then cook it again to warm it before serving and that is a big no no. Others cut the liver in thin slices and often resulted in it being overcooked. It simply has to be cooked the right way and cut the right size and it must be extra fresh. Just look at the size of each slice of liver, the colour and the texture.
The liver are not just large but very thick as well. They are crunchy to the bite and tender and juicy inside. There are at least five huge slices. That was what I came for. Liver in a pool of soup. YNWA!
Maybe if I were to measure it, it could look like this! Willie Nelson knew it when he sang You Are Always In My Mind.
I can tell you that as far as I know, there is not one better with liver than this in Singapore. Once you have tried this, there is no other that you need to eat from except out of convenience. They are the liver specialist. The King! There is no turning back.
It reminded me of my childhood days. Many young people may not know it. Those days way before Deliveroo, Food Panda, Grab, or Tik Tok, we already have noodle delivery direct from the push cart hawker. They sent a man going around blocks of apartments with this bamboo tok tok to receive your orders and later deliver to your house. However, we can hardly afford liver so usually just fish ball with minced meat soup. This is what it sounds like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be5g7Q-Xp2s
Finally, if you live near or not too away far from Veerasamy Road, okay even far away please help to patronize the stall. They deserve to be around for a long time yet. So too the many others. Just do not tell the Michelin people.
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