Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen was a little hidden gem of a stall that specialises in Cantonese style tzichar.
Runned by an elderly couple, they officially open at 11 am but unofficially, they start taking orders at around 10.15 to 10.30 and are usually 'sold out' at around 11.15. They are closed at around 1 pm. Despite this, they attract a steady group of regulars.
I have made at least 3 attempts to dine at their stall but never succeeded due to various reasons 😂😂😂 the parents however loved their fish slices with ginger onion for its bold savoury flavours and fresh sliced fish!
On my latest attempt last Wednesday, the elderly couple was there cleaning up their stall because they have decided to give it up for good 😭😭😭
I have read abou "Mr Grumpy's" nasi ayam goreng in Lucky Plaza but never got down to trying it after reading about the long queues and his ahem reputation. That said, I did have a good laugh after reading that the owner has adopted the "Mr Grumpy" moniker for his Instagram.
I love a smashing good fried chicken and Fiie's definitely qualifies as one. The chicken meat is tender, juicy and nicely marinated with hints of ginger, lemongrass and turmeric. The thin crisp batter makes it easy to bite off the bone but for those who like the crispy crunch, there are generous crispy bits of fried batter sprinkled over the rice.
I will of course be back for more!
Runned by a mother and daughter, Pak Mandir is a mecca for excellent and affordable nasi lemak in the Yishun area.
There was a really long queue at Pak Mandor even on an early Sunday morning and some of the ingredients like the (legendary) begedil were sold out.
That said, the key to a good nasi lemak is the rice and Pak Mandor's version aced it. Ignoring the artificial looking bright green colour, the coconut and pandan infused rice was soft, fluffy, aromatic and savoury. It's one of the best I have had and all I need is the spicy and savoury samba chilli to go with it and the really really awesome ikan bills which they refuse to sell on its own but was shattering crisp and tasty!
Swensen's japanese katsu curry baked rice was a hit around the dining table.
The dish features a tender and juicy boneless chicken leg katsu fried to a golden brown crisp on Japanese rice, and covered in a layer of Japanese curry. It is then finished with furikake and pink ginger.
The katsu was enjoyable but the Japanese curry was undoubtedly the star of this dish. We liked that the curry was atypical and incorporated other spices in it. I do wish though that they had added cheese to this dish too but that's me being greedy!
Swensens has introduced new dishes to their range of baked rice!
Their shrimp doria baked rice features a bed of rice topped with three deep fried prawns covered with a creamy béchamel sauce infused with the sweetness of shrimps, and finished with a golden crust of mixed cheeses and a sprinkling of furikake.
The creamy béchamel sauce with the baked golden crust of mixed cheese was the best part of the dish for me. The rice was rather bland and the prawns rather dry.
Initially known as Waker Chicken, I don't think it would be wrong to say that Jade's Chicken was one of the early pioneers responsible for making Korean fried chicken known and accessible in the heartlands.
Jade has been run by a Korean family when they first started. Business was initially on the slow side when they first started but they soon caught the public imagination with a slew of media publicity. I used to be a regular customer but the queues and wait got so maddeningly long and frustrating that I pretty much didn't really bother. They got so popular that they expanded to various locations in kopitiam and hawker centres but the quality-wise, they could not match the OG. Not long after, the OG became known in its current form as Jade Chicken whilst the expansion outlets retained the Waker Chicken name.
The OG's Korean fried chicken was one of the best in Singapore when I last had it so I was really looking forward to having it. It's still good tbh but the standard seems to have slipped a little. The batter is still shattering crisp but the chicken's marination didn't seem to go through. The sauce also seems a little more diluted these days. Either that or they may have tweaked the recipe a little!
Jade's chicken is still enjoyable and the queue is a lot shorter now. I will definitely be back to support the ahjussi!
Ganjang Gejang is a type of jeotgal (or salted fermented seafood) in Korean cuisine. It is made by marinating fresh female crabs with roe in soy sauce and various spices. Whilst it is considered a delicacy in Korean cuisine, it is one of those dishes you either love or hate because it is difficult to eat can taste too raw, too salty or too spicy.
I am one of the former who love it for its sweet salty and savoury complex flavours but I have not had ganjang gejang outside of Korea because it is a time consuming dish to make and is difficult to export being raw seafood. Whilst it can be found in some Korean restaurants in Singapore, it is usually rather pricey (>$50).
We made the trip to Tteok Sang after reading about their ganjang gejang set which costs less than $20! Each set comes with 2 decent sized crabs, rice, seaweed and banchan. You can't eat this dish without getting your hands dirty so put on the plastic gloves provided and get cracking (literally).
There is no glam way of eating this dish - you break the crab at the joint and squeeze the gooey crab meat out or literally slurp it out of the shell. I personally found Tteok Sang's crabs a little too salty on its own so I recommend having it mixed with rice and some banchan in the shell and with the roe!
I personally find Tteok Sang's ganjang gejang a little too salty for my liking but mix it with rice and some banchan and it kinda balances out. That said, it serves as a good entry point for those who want to try this dish without breaking the bank.
We finished our meal at Tteok Sang with what else but kimbap!
Actually this was served by the good folks at Tteok Sang as what the Koreans would call 'service' dish (in short, complimentary of the restaurant). In Korea, the service dishes could sometimes be even better than what you ordered!
The kimbap here is actually quite good. It's packed full of ingredients and held its shape nicely. I can easily see myself getting a few on the go!
Tteok Sang also offers a wide range of mains such as ttukbaegi bulgogi, budaejjigae, gamjatang and sundubujjigae.
Their ttukbaegi bulgogi is a little on the sweet side but tasty with the sliced beef and glass noodles. The sliced beef was tender but the portions were kinda small considering the price.
Tteok Sang also serves a decent tonkatsu that is tender with a nice mix of fatty and lean meat. The batter is also thin and crispy.
Tteok Sang is a little hole in the wall eatery located on the ground floor of Aperia Mall that specialises in Korean street food.
They serve their food in green melamine plates similar to those used by Korean street food vendors during the 80s and 90s.
We started our meal off with Tteokbokki, a dish synonymous with Korean street food. Tteok Sang's rice cakes are chewy with a good bite. The sauce is sweet spicy and savoury but was a little too mild and light for my liking. I like it came with slices of eomuk (Korean fishcake) instead of having to order it on the side!
Dear Mum,
Can we please get these her giao for our CNY steamboat please.
Love,
The Hungry Fatty
P. S. Definitely better than Song Kee and comparable to LiXin's!
