Singapore Hawkers: Discovered: Kok Kee Wanton Noodle

Backtracking to a few months ago, my colleague and I were on our way to Mustafa Shopping Centre after work when we decided to head to Lavender Food Square to eat the famous Wanton Mee (Dumpling Noodles). Wanton Mee is basically noodles with Char Siew (Sweetened Roast Pork) and pork dumplings (wanton). Usually done dry either with dark sauce only or with sauce and Ketchup.  I had heard so much about this stall from my uncle and I passed by the place many times but I never ever stepped in to try until that night. You can easily find this stall by the long queue of people waiting for Aunty and Uncle to serve them.

My colleague waited in line while I moved around the food court to find an empty table. Having found seats, I decided to order a plate of fried carrot cake to supplement our dinner and even after the fried carrot cake arrived, I waited quite a while more before my friend made it back to the table with the plates of wan ton mee in tow. Fast food this is NOT! Here's what I got:

 The noodles were covered in an unusually orange-reddish sauce and were complemented by few slices of char siew and a few wantons.

Taste Verdict: Noodles were nice and springy, Char Siew was mediocre, Chilli was nice and the sweetish-sour gravy surprisingly goes very well with the whole package. Unfortunately, you can't eat this and expect to be full. I've categorised this as Jia Song (Hokkien/Teochew for eat to savour the taste) definitely not Jia Ba (Hokkien/Teochew for eat to be full)

Price: S$3.50  (Just found out they raised it to S$4!! Now it's definitely daylight robbery)

Where: 380 Jalan Besar, #01-06 Lavender Food Square

Operating Hours: 12noon – 2.00am (Closed every 3 weeks on Weds & Thu)

Over 660 views thus far plus my Keurig B40 coffee maker article is now published on oncoffeemakers.com!

A big thank you to my readers who find the time to read the posts on this site. I really hope you enjoyed what you have read so far and I promise to share more and more experiences with you :) 
If you like what you see, please click occasionally on the Ads on this site to support me. Thanks!!


On another plus note,  I received notification that a summarized article on my experience on Keurig B40 coffee maker that I submitted to oncoffeemakers.com was accepted and added to the site a few days ago. Thanks Ebenezer!
You can check it out below:

http://www.oncoffeemakers.com/keurig-b40-kcup-single-serve-coffee-maker-the-singapore-experience.html

If you have not visited oncoffeemakers.com before, it is a comprehensive website that discusses everything you would like to know about coffee and coffeemakers. Do check it out if you are a coffee aficionado!

Snack Scoop #2: Dirty Potato Chips

After the last discoveries on the snack shelves of NTUC fairprice, I have been circling them repeatedly to find more offers that you can take a bite out of. The latest discovery is a true revelation:

The name may put you off a little but there is nothing off about the taste.
Inside this 150g packet, you'll find thick chunks of kettle cooked potato chips like so

It says it's cooked in a peanut oil on the front of the packet. The result is a chunkier, crispier, tastier potato chip that makes you want to eat more and more. 
I've already tried Cracked Pepper and Sea-Salt, Sea Salt and Vinegar, Sour Cream and Onion and like them all and so do my colleagues. 


Taste Verdict: I give this my whole hearted recommendation. Forget Lays, Pringles et al. This brand is one of the best (if not the best) American potato chips I have ever tasted in quite a while. The chip is crunchy (some may feel it's hard but I like this and my teeth are fine) and the seasoning is quite uniformly distributed throughout the whole pack so it isn't so salty that you wonder if the salt is free where they come from.


Where to get it: NTUC Fairprice snack shelves (if it's not already gone) So, what are you waiting for? Fly to NTUC fairprice now!  


Price: S$2.50 per packet (usual price is S$4.25) for a short period because expiry date is in early Jun 2011. That doesn't bother me, it wouldn't last till then anyway.


Flavours: Sea Salt, Cracked Pepper and Sea Salt, Sea Salt and Vinegar, Sour Cream and Onion

DIY: Taiwan Instant Beef Noodles: Probably the best instant beef noodles in the world

As a departure from posts on hawker food, I decided to write about comfort food which is close to my heart : Instant noodles! To be more specific: instant beef noodles from Taiwan. What's so great about instant noodles from Taiwan you might ask? 
My first exposure to Taiwan began in 1996 when I was posted to Taiwan for a month for overseas training in the army. We weren't allowed to roam out of the camp so our only source of food (other than that served in the cafeteria) was the supermarket in the army camp. It was there that I came across instant bowl noodles with real meat (not the freeze dried crap you get in most bowl noodles) in the package. Fast forward to 2011, I recently came back from my honeymoon in Taiwan with the packet variation (same content but without the styrofoam bowl) of the beef noodles. You can fit more of these into your luggage than the bowls.
Here's what the packet looks like: 

 You can get them singly or in packs of 3. What's inside the packet? 

Clockwise from left: Noodles, Soup stock powder (purple pack), Chilli paste (the transparent pack with the reddish brown goo) and last but not least, the red foil pouch which contains the actual beef.
Step by Step guide showing how easy it is to cook these noodles:
1. Heat water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil, then put in the noodles

 The next few steps (2 to 4) do not have to happen in any particular order. 
2. Add chilli to the bowl (add according to taste or omit if you can't take it spicy)

 3.Add the stock powder to the bowl

4. Open the red packet which contains the beef and add it to the bowl

5. Now that all the ingredients have been added, make sure the noodles in the saucepan have loosened up and are cooked (usually about 2 to 3 minutes). Then pour the noodles and hot water into the bowl and stir the mixture to make sure the powder and chilli are evenly mixed into the soup. Lo and behold, you have a thing of beauty!

*The styrofoam bowl version is prepared differently: You first open the bowl cover halfway, empty the chilli and soup stock powder onto the noodles then add the boiling water(500ml) to the noodles in the bowl. Then you close the cover and place the beef pouch on top of the bowl. The logic is the heat from below the cover will heat the meat in the pouch. After 3 minutes, open the pouch of beef and add it to the noodles. Mix well and enjoy!

** I prepared the noodles differently here as I didn't have a bowl to gauge the 500ml of water. The trick is not to add too much water as the soup will be too watered down and tasteless so I controlled the amount of water I poured back into the bowl to ensure the soup was just right.

Taste Verdict: Still tastes very much like how I remember it. Soup is peppery even without the chilli paste. The beef is soft and tender but is less than what they used to give. Still a killer combination! My mom and youngest sis can attest to that. They polished off 2 packets each in a week and chided me for not getting more.

Other similar packets that I bought back:
A different brand of Beef noodles: 

Yup, you read right, they got pork too. Kong Ba Noodles

Another type of pork noodles

Each packet costs less than S$3 and can be found in any convenience store and supermarket in Taiwan. They have a maximum shelf life of up to 6 months (please check the expiry date on the packet). The bowl versions are very popular "dine-in" food at the local convenience stores like 7 Eleven and Family Mart.
Unfortunately, you can't get these easily in Singapore. They used to bring in the bowl versions in the 90s but they have been banned from import for the last decade or so. I just found out that the ban of meat products from Taiwan is due to a FMD (Foot Mouth Disease) outbreak that happened in there. See below link for full article: 
AVA:Foot and Mouth Disease Outbreak in Taiwan
NTUC Fairprice does sell the bowl versions with eel (S$3.50 per bowl) but I'm not a big fan of eel. So for the time being, these will remain elusive unless you are willing to pay close to S$4 per bowl from people (you can google for it) who are selling what they got back from Taiwan or trouble a colleague or family member to lug back a few cartons for you. 


Forbidden fruit does taste sweeter!

Groceries: Bargain Spotting @ Valu$ Bargain - updates!

I re-visited the Valu$ shop at Serangoon North and found 2 more bargains that you can sink your teeth into, especially if you are a biscuit aficionado. 

Mcvities Digestives- Original

This classic tastes especially good when you dip it into a cup of hot coffee or Milo. Unfortunately, they don't have the milk or dark chocolate coated versions. These packs are made in the UK. At a reasonable price of S$2.50 per pack or $4.50 for 2 packs, what's not to like?

Price : S$2.50 per pack / $4.50 for 2 packs

  
Walkers Shortbread
If you absolutely love butter biscuits and shortbread, you would definitely be familiar with this. What makes these Scottish biscuits so good? The answer is Butter, Butter and more butter. Yup, buttery goodness that crumbles in your mouth and it goes well with coffee or tea. Haven't tried a Scottish biscuit I haven't liked yet. 

Price: S$2.50 for a pack of 8 biscuits.


And that's a wrap! Apologies for the irregular updates, been busy with the day job. Still have lots more to share, so please check back regularly. Till next time, Munch on!!! 

Singapore Hawkers: Uncovered: Kim Kim Cooked Food (Nasi Lemak & Economic Bee Hoon)

Since I shifted to Ang Mo Kio (I had previously been in Lorong Ah Soo for the last 26 years) a few months back, I've been learning things about my new surroundings every day and a major part of this is the discovery of the better hawker stalls in the nearby market and coffee shops. I will try to feature lesser known stalls that I find deserve your attention. 
Today, the subject of my post is a stall which recently came into my radar, Kim Kim Cooked Food. This stall which sells *Nasi Lemak (Rice cooked in Coconut milk and served with a variety of dishes) and Economic Bee Hoon to cater to the breakfast crowd, especially to the aunties and uncles doing their marketing at the wet market/hawker centre. It is located in Teck Ghee Court Food centre which also features Eng Kee Bak Kut Teh which I had featured in an earlier post. My lovely wife had pointed this stall out to me as my mother in law had previously bought a packet of noodles from them.

How do you find the stall? Easy! Just follow the queue. It is normal to see a  queue in front of this stall. This time I decided to get a packet just before I made my way to the office. Luckily there were only four people in front of me so I didn't have to wait very long. Here's a peek at the types of dishes they sell:

There is a decent variety of dishes to go with your favourite choice of carbohydrates. Choose from Nasi Lemak rice, Fried Bee Hoon, Fried Kway Teow (white flat strips of rice noodle) or Fried Noodles. Then mix and match the dishes you want to add. The stall is fronted by the uncle (whom you see in the above photos) and the auntie behind who concentrates on churning out fresh batches of food that run out. That day, I stuck to my usual which was a packet of Bee Hoon, a sunny side up egg, a chicken wing and some cabbage. 

The Bee Hoon was quite tasty and served piping hot. The cabbage was not overly soft and had a bit of crunch to it. The egg, although not visually very appealing, was not overcooked and had a lovely, drippy yolk. The chicken wing was coated with a crispy flour coating and was a decent accompaniment to the noodles. The red sambal chilli was excellent and boasted a sweet, spicy, slighty salty flavour and you can taste the belachan in it. It went really well with the noodles (and it goes really well with Nasi Lemak rice too). I find that the food served here is always hot and fresh, which means their turnover is pretty good. You can try your own combination of Staples and side dishes and see what works well for you.

So what's the great appeal of this stall ? What makes this stall stand out from the other nasi lemak / economic bee hoon stalls in the area?  I believe it is a combination of great tasting food served hot and reasonable prices that draws people back for more. So if ever you're in the neighbourhood, why not give it a try? and if uncle ever asks, tell him I sent you :)    


Taste Verdict: Tasty Bee Hoon. Cabbage was done just right, Sunny side up egg with liquid yolk centre which I like. The Red Sambal chilli boasts a sweet, spicy, slighty salty flavour with more than a hint of belachan.  


Price: $2.50 for a packet of Bee Hoon, a sunny side up egg, a chicken wing and some cabbage which is quite reasonable in this time of rising prices. 


Where: Kim Kim Cooked Food,
Blk 341 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
#01-29 Teck Ghee Court Food Centre S564341
Closed on Mondays


*Nasi Lemak is malay for "Fat Rice". It is so named because the rice is cooked with Coconut Milk to give it a rich flavour and pandan leaf is added in the cooking process to give it extra fragrance. There are generally 2 kinds offered here in Singapore, the Malay and Chinese versions. 

Site Updates: Talk to me, I ain't gonna bite!

Hi,
in order to encourage more two way communication between me and you, my readers, I just added a CBox tag board "Appetising Talkback", the yellow box to the right side of the blog. Please feel free to leave any comments, ask any questions, leave any feedback or even if you just want to say Hi, you are more than welcome to do so. Thanks to those who have been reading, I hope you like what you see. I promise to an more posts regularly. Thanks and see ya :)

Singapore Hawkers: Eng Kee Bak Kut Teh (Ang Mo Kio)

Bak Kut Teh from the Hokkien dialect literally translates to "Pork Bone Tea". Pork ribs simmered in a peppery broth and usually accompanied by rice. There are 2 main types of Bak Kut Teh based on 2 different chinese dialects in Singapore. The "Teochew" style is represented in a light coloured broth while the "Hokkien" style stands out with its dark coloured broth.
One of the better known stalls in the north of Singapore is Eng Kee Bak Kut Teh. It's located in Blk 341 Teck Ghee Court Hawker Centre. The stall is facing Bishan Park along the main road of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and looks like so: 


My colleagues and I went there during lunch mid-week to get our Bak Kut Teh (BKT) fix. Here's what we ordered:

Now let's focus on the individual dishes:
1) Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Soup):

There was bite to the meat, yet it was quite tender and slipped easily off the bone. The soup was not overly peppered but was a tad salty this time. Just thinking how it would be even more excellent on a cold and rainy day.

2) Ter Ka (Pig Trotters):

Ter Ka in the Teochew and Hokkien dialects literally means Pig's Legs/Trotters. A common method to prepare trotters here is to braise it in dark soya sauce. What we have here is an excellent example of braised pig trotters done right. The meat is soft and tender, the skin is gelatin-like and evenly flavoured throughout.The gravy is extremely dark and although it is supposed to be salty, has a slightly sweet edge to it and goes very well with rice. This is the unanimous favourite among my lunch kakis. If the Bak Kut Teh is supposed to be the main star of the show, then this is the dark horse that stole the show and plaudits from the crowd. Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Definite Must Try :D

3) Salted Vegetables :

This variation of salted vegetables sometimes called Cai Buay (tail of the vegetable) is cooked till the vegees are extremely soft. Too much meat in one sitting can be overwhelming to some and this dish is your source of fibre here and brings greater balance to the meal (much like how Anakin Skywalker brought balance to the Force haha yah right). The version offered here doesn't really stand out but is not too salty and is a great accompaniment to the meal. You may also see this offered at Braised Duck, Kway Chap (Braised Pig innards) and Teochew Porridge stalls.

4) Yew Char Kway(Dough Fritters)

Yew Char Kway (Teochew / Hokkien) or Fried Dough Fritters or You Tiao(In Mandarin) are commonly taken during breakfast by itself or together with Soya Bean Curd (Dou Hua) or Rice Porridge. I know some people who dip it in Coffee too. The version featured here is nothing to shout about and is not crispy and a little too chewy. To be fair, if you want to get good Yew Char Kway, you have to get it from those who specialise in it. You can give this a miss unless you absolutely must have it with your soup.
The total damage for the 3 of us was S$27.50. The breakdown:
3 bowls of pork rib soup for S$18
1 bowl of pig trotters for S$5,
1 bowl of Salted Vegetables for S$1
2 portions of Dough Fritters for S$2
3 bowls of rice for $1.50
Which works out to be about S$9 per person. Not exactly a cheap meal but Bak Kut Teh is never cheap these days. To sum up, the Bak Kut Teh served here is food to warm the heart (and if you have too many pig trotters, to clog the heart as well).


Taste Verdict: Tasty and refreshing Bak Kut Teh soup with tender ribs, Excellent Braised Ter Ka (Pig trotters), when combined with Salted Vegetables and a bowl of rice make a winning combination!  


Prices: S$6 (per bowl of pork rib soup), 
S$5 (per portion of Pig trotters), 
S$1 (per portion of salted vegetables), 
S$1  (per portion of dough fritters)


Where: Eng Kee Bak Kut Teh
Blk 341 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, 
#01-04 Teck Ghee Court Market & Food Centre

Groceries: Bargain Spotting @ Valu$

After going to the Post Office to collect a package, I passed by the Valu$ (Value Dollar) shop in Ang Mo Kio central and decided to take a look. Valu$ is a chain of shops selling cheap groceries and items. If you aren't particularly picky about where your groceries are made, you have a large selection of food (biscuits,chocolates,chips,snacks etc) to pick from at this shop at very decent prices e.g. A pack of Arnott's Tim Tam biscuits (made in Indonesia) can be had for a mere S$1.25. But if you are the finicky kind, are there any items that are worth a look at these shops? I've sussed out some stuff that I find are great value. So let's begin, Shall we?

Post Selects Cereals (Made in USA)
Those of you who eat Breakfast cereals should be familiar with Post cereals from USA. I still vividly remember the Banana Nut Crunch Cereal Ad they used to show on TV. Well you can get a variety of Post Cereals here at only S$4.50 per pack.


As always, please check the expiry date on the right of the top flap of the box itself. The box I bought is valid till Nov 2011.
Some flavours Seen: Honey Bunches Of Oats, Trail Mix, Cranberry Almond Crunch, Maple Pecan Crunch. 
Price : S$4.50 per pack (Some supermarkets sell one pack for over S$5)


Lay's Stax Potato Chips (Made in USA) 
Get in touch with the inner munchie within you ! Next up is a favourite of mine, Lay's STAX Potato Chips. As opposed to always having Pringles Potato Chips, Lay's STAX is a great alternative and I used not to buy it often as it was usually more expensive than Pringles at the local supermarkets. So it is with great delight that I found this at a price that's quite a steal S$1.95 per can !! (compared to S$3.50 at some other supermarkets)
At Valu$ they offer 4 varieties: Original, Sour Cream & Onion, Mesquite Barbecue and Cheese (Most of which I find quite excellent)

Flavours Seen: Original, Sour Cream & Onion, Mesquite Barbecue and Cheese 
Price : S$1.95 per can (Priced at S$3.50 at other places)

Fox's Melts: Chocolate Viennese Biscuit (Made in the UK)
I love Biscuits that are made in the UK (Scotland, England etc) as they have this wonderful taste and quality that most other countries can't match. This is a great offering at a decent price. Buttery biscuits sandwiched with chocolate. Hmm..What's not to love?


Flavours: Chocolate Viennese

Price : S$2.95 per pack


Kit Kat Chocolate Wafers (Made in Germany)
This was a unique find as most of the Kit Kats we see in this part of the world are either from Malaysia, Japan, Australia or the UK.

So my curiosity was piqued and I bought this.
When I was paying, the cashier asked if I was gonna get 3 packs as it was cheaper, so I did.
Price : S$0.80 per pack ($2.00 for 3 packs) 


G7 Instant Coffee  (Made in Vietnam)
The last item in this post is not a European product but I believe it deserves to be featured. Coffee drinkers among you might know about how good Vietnam Coffee can be. Trung Nguyen, a well-known coffee producer in Vietnam is famous for their coffee which is prepared mostly using the vietnam traditional drip coffee maker but they also offer instant coffee products and this is arguably the most popular among the instant range:


Though it cannot hope to match the traditional coffee powder in taste, this instant 3 in 1 (Coffee, Milk and Sugar) coffee is a very aromatic and has a distinct smoky flavour which i have grown to like. 
I usually use 2 sachets when I want to drink from a mug.  Good alternative to other 3-in-1 coffees and cheaper than the Malaysian instant coffees. 
Price: $2.95 for a box of 20 sachets, $3.50 for a pack of 24 sachets  (Have seen it selling at more than S$5 at some supermarkets)


Whew, and that wraps it up for this post!
So what do you think of the website so far? Do you like the layout and the types of posts being written? Do you find the information useful? Do you have any suggestions to improve? I'd love to hear your feedback. Go on, don't be shy, leave comments or email me at gimj55@gmail.com so I can refine this to make it a better blog:) 

Fast Food Escapades: Broaster Chicken (or What's the matter, Colonel Sanders, you Chicken?)

Long gone are the days when Kentucky Fried Chicken (or KFC as they want to be known these days) used to "rule the roost" here on our fair shores. Back in its Heyday, KFC was THE place you went to eat Fried Chicken. Back then, when it was a restaurant where waitresses came to your table to take your order and they served the big pieces of chicken on proper white plates.
The newest kid on the block is Broaster Chicken, a new franchise (new, that is, to Singapore, it's been around since 1954) that set up an outlet in the spanking new Nex Mall in Serangoon Central (above Serangoon MRT). The store entrance :



Decked in Red, White and Blue, you should be able to tell where this franchise comes from (Hint it's not England, It's not France). Without further ado, let's take a look at the main reason why I'm here i.e. to try their fried chicken:


Ok in reality, no such set meal exists as they offer 2 piece and 4 piece set meals but not 3 piece meals (Go figure) so I had to pay separately (S$2.90) for an extra piece. Why did I order 3 pieces? To give you a better idea of perspective, here's my hand next to drumstick (and by no means, am I a person with big hands):


More Importantly how did it taste? The chicken meat was quite tender and there wasn't too much flour on the skin. I read somewhere on the net that these are pressure cooked (sounds similar to KFC original). It wasn't overly oily but it wasn't extremely crispy either. The chicken looked fresh as evidenced by the colour of the bones which was normal (dark coloured bones usually mean frozen chicken). I think the thin skin is closer to Arnold's Fried Chicken than to the other fried chicken joints (KFC, Popeye's, Texas). The only grouse I have is that they should use less salt in the flour/marinade as it is quite salty. 

The side orders(tater tots and coleslaw)


Decided to try something different and went with the Tater tots (additional S$1 top up) which are bite size hash browns which tasted pretty normal. The Coleslaw was soaked in a sweet creamy sauce, but alas a tad too sweet for my liking. 
Unlike other fried chicken joints, they offer a greater variety of food on the menu like pasta, buffalo wings and the fried turkey leg, which some say is quite huge, perhaps I'll check those out the next time I'm in the neighbourhood.


Taste Verdict: Above Average but they should ease up on the salt used in the chicken and sugar in the coleslaw. Chicken is fresher than what some of the competitors serve but pieces could be bigger. Also don't understand why they don't offer 3 piece meals?
Price : S$6.90 for a 2 piece meal, comes with a small drink and 2 sides. Some sides (tater tots, cheese fries) require a top up of $1. Additional piece of chicken charged at S$2.90
Where: Nex Mall, 23 Serangoon Central #B2-02/03/04 Singapore 556083 

Snack Scoop: Blast from the past * Crispy Chocolate with Rice crisps *

Lately, I was browsing the snack shelves in NTUC Fairprice supermarket (again!) and came across something I haven't eaten in decades. Crispy Rice Crisps Chocolate! For those not in the know, this was sold here long before Nestle Crunch reached Singaporean shores. The new packaging looks like so:


More pics of the chocolate itself

Packaging has changed slightly with the times (no blue dinosaur in the old days). Somehow to me, it's not just an ordinary chocolate but a bite of nostalgia that makes me reminisce about my younger days. In those days when Singapore wasn't that affluent and didn't have the huge range of chocolate and sweets we have these days. You could probably define it as 25 BC (25 years Before Candy-Empire). For me, several other sweets and snacks also defined that era in the eighties: Van Houten Milk Chocolate Bar (Thin chocolate bar with a yellow label, costs 20 cents), Kandos Chocolate (thin rectangle pieces with diamond shaped patterns wrapped in multi coloured labels that truthfully didn't taste good but we didn't have many choices in the old days), Ka Ka (20 cents pack of corn puffs that came in different flavours (i recall chicken, coconut and cocoa) that had a toy in the packet to entice us little kids. 


Taste Verdict : Still like the taste *LOL*, old habits die hard
Price: S$1.95 for a pack of 10 (100g), also available in larger pack and as a bigger bar (S$0.80)

Where to get: NTUC Fairprice and other supermarkets