Wanton Mee – Wan of Singapore’s Most Wanted!

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Hello Foodies! We see the return of last week’s Makan Kaki, Head Chef of Burnt Ends, Jake Kellie, who’s off to Western Australia this weekend to headline the Feast in the Forest at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape. We caught him just before his departure to recommend more makan and he offered up his favourite Wanton Mee stall at Hong Lim Food Centre, which sees relentlessly long lines at lunchtime. Of course, Singaporeans know that a long queue means good things at the end of the wait and Chef Jake is no exception – he’s willing to wait in line because their noodles are just that good! A typical visit to Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist sees Chef Jake start off with some crispy, tasty, deep-fried Wantons that are packed full of minced pork and shrimp.

To follow-up, he gets a bowl of dry Wanton Mee with Char Siew. He loves the fat, juicy parcels of boiled dumplings floating in soup, which he scoops into his noodles and mixes in with the sauce. This way, the soft, pillowy, boiled Wantons take on lots of flavour from the sauce mixture.

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Wonderful Wanton Noodles

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Today, our intrepid Makan Kaki Chef Shen Tan wants to take us for a delicious Wanton Mee lunch at Tekka Market. This food centre is famous for lots of delicious dishes, but it’s puzzling to Chef Shen why not many people know just how good this particular stall’s Wanton Noodles are! This couple there have been serving up Singapore-style Wanton Mee for about 20 years now, and it was Chef Shen’s mother who first brought her there to enjoy Chin Seng Cooked Food’s signature noodle dish.

Best of Boon Lay!

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This week, co-author of local food guide Eat. Muse. Love. Toh Mu Qin wants us to check out the many delicious things on offer at Boon Lay Food Village. There, you get all-day dining at its very best. You’ll be spoilt for choice from breakfast, to lunch, to dinner, to every other meal in between! Here are a few highlights of Mu Qin’s favourite things to eat there:

First of all, no Westie worth their salt wouldn’t be aware of Power Nasi Lemak (some say the best in all of Singapore), so let’s start here. This is one stall that takes pride in the quality of their food – freshly prepared ingredients, yummy flavours and everything kept piping hot. The deep-fried chicken is particularly good here – well-marinated, juicy and tender on the inside, shatteringly crisp and golden on the outside. The otak-otak (fish paste) is also a must-try, since it comes with a separate coconut milk sauce to drizzle over, cutting through the spice & adding to the creamy richness of the fish. The fried ikan billis & roasted peanuts are also worth mentioning, as is the sensational sambal chilli, which balances a mild sweetness with the heat of the chilli. Power Nasi Lemak is open till late, making it a perfect stop for dinner/ supper. In fact it’s usually open from 6.30am – 3.30am!!! Find it at #01-106.

And if you’re looking for something else to satisfy those dinner cravings, you might also want to try the stall serving up sizzling seafood on hotplates! Be warned – spicy to the max, but oh-so-good! Try the BBQ sting ray, sotong, lala and chilli kang kong at Sin Chew Huat Mei Xiang Hotplate Stingray #01-117.

If you happen to be at Boon Lay Food Village earlier in the day, Mu Qin also recommends the carrot cake or Wanton Mee for breakfast. The latter also comes with the option of stewed chicken feet and shitake mushrooms – yum! Check out Lian Yi Wanton Noodle at #01-161.

Final recommendation: Bak Kut Teh Bee Hoon in a claypot – simple, flavourful and comforting! Kam Hiang Food Stall is at #01-118.

TASTE:
BOON LAY PLACE FOOD VILLAGE
221A/B Boon Lay Place
S641221

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Local Delights and Buffet Tucked Away in Little India

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Going to the market is a fave pastime of Violet Oon‘s, but wet-marketing at Tekka can be quite a marathon endeavour and at the end of a hot, sweaty shopping trip, she is always on the look out for nearby places to cool-off and relax at. This week, Violet recommends an unexpected oasis in Little India that hasn’t been discovered by many as yet. A hidden gem of an urban hotel perched atop the Farrer Park MRT Station, called One Farrer Hotel & Spa.
This the perfect foil to the earthy hustle & bustle of Little India, a cool respite from the heat and a great place for round-the-clock dining at its restaurant, the aptly-named Escape. What’s wonderful is that Escape offers up truly 24-hour dining – breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between – from its extensive ala carte menu, featuring local delights like fried Hokkien Mee, chicken rice, wanton mee soup and beef hor fun, to its ‘Interactive Kitchen’ buffet at lunch and dinner times. Nine live cooking stations serve up a mouth-watering international array of Chinese, North Indian, Japanese, Western and local cuisines.

Check out the fresh seafood spread – sushi, sashimi, lobster, oysters and more! Other highly recommended dishes include the One Farrer Lobster Laksa (thick, rich, made with Maine Lobster & served with Homemade Otah) and the Durian Symphony (a durian mille feuille, kind of like a crepe rolled with gula melaka).
The cherry on top for Violet was really to discover that the executive chef, KK Kong, is none other than the young man who used to work for her in Takashimaya when he was 18 years old. Fast forward 20 years, Violet is delighted to see how far Chef Kong has come, planning these menus and creating wonderful meals for hotel guests and customers alike.
At Escape, you’ll find the food delicious and the ambiance quiet and relaxed. Add the attentive staff and you have a great place for the whole family to eat, anytime of the day.

TASTE:
Escape Restaurant And Lounge
One Farrer Hotel & Spa
1 Farrer Park Station Road
Open Daily 24 hours
Interactive Kitchen Buffet – Lunch 12 – 2.30pm
Interactive Kitchen Buffet – Dinner 6 – 10pm
Supper 10pm – 5am
All Day A La Carte Dining
Reservations: (+65) 6705 7828

Accept DeFeet – Chicken Feet, that is!

For those who aren’t squeamish (Denise is), CHICKEN FEET can bring such a simple, joyous pleasure out of eating. With today’s affluence and chichi dining options, Seetoh reckons the enjoyment of chicken feet is a lost art, that’s why this week, we highlight the slippery, gelatinous, addictiveness of what aficionados call  Phoenix Claws or fung chao.

There is a, quite literally, FAMOUS wanton mee stall that serves up plate after plate of tasty QQ noodles with char siew, boiled and fried wantons in a silky umami sauce, but truly, the highlight  there is the deep-fried, then stewed chicken feet – it comes thick, juicy, softly textured yet firm.

You have to meet lady boss Linda, who boils the chicken feet first, so that they absorb the stock and puff up a little, then deep-fries the feet so that they tighten back up and lock in the texture and flavour! Next, she stews the feet very gently, without stirring or moving the pot, so that the feet stay gloriously intact – no skin breakage, no loose digits! You can take your time to chew – the skin slides right off as you work on it with your mouth – part of the fun is spitting out the knobbly little digits one by one, like bullets!

Add a thick, salty-sweet earthy sauce with whole shiitake mushrooms to the soft, gooey, gorgeous feet and your eyes will soon be rolling backwards in your sockets from the taste & texture explosion. It’s enough to convince Denise to try some chicken feet!

Don’t wait already! Hurry, go and indulge at:
Da Jie Famous Wanton Mee
209 Jalan Besar (Sam Leong Road)
Open 7am-2.30pm daily (Closed on Sundays & PHs)

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Roasted Meats Rule!

If you want to sink your teeth into something juicy, meaty, yet crispy, you’ve got to try the roasted delights this husband and wife team offer…

Roasted pork belly or Siew Yoke, as the Cantonese call it, is the top seller at this stall, which sees snaking queues and sells out by 11am. The pork belly here is roasted to perfection – not too fatty yet still very juicy, with a crackling skin that is biscuit-crunchy like keropok! So please get there early and join the line for your fix of crispy roast pork.

If you get there too late though, not all is lost – their next best thing is the Char Siew, which comes nicely caramelised and depending on the cut of meat used for the day, full of moreish texture. Their “glass-style” char siew is a sinful winner, so-called because of its appearance – so fatty that it looks like glass! When it comes to flavour, you simply can’t beat fat!

Fu Shi Traditional Roast Meat & Wanton Mee
Shunfu Food Mart
Blk 320 Shunfu Road
#02-25
Open: 8am – 1.30pm (Closed Mon & Tues)

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For All Your Wanton Desires…

This week, we must pay tribute to the late Mr Ng Ba Eng, the man who gave us the famous Eng’s Wanton Mee.
For the uninitiated, Eng’s is known, first and foremost, for their  rude chilli that takes no prisoners and slaps you in the face with its fiery fierceness. Then to soothe your singed tastebuds, they give you the copious, crunchy self- servings of lard. The wantons are little fist-chaped bundles of fatty, cartilagenoues minced meat for texture and flavour. Mr Ng may have left us, but happily, his legacy lives on with the next generation and you can still enjoy these awesome wanton noodles at:

Eng’s Noodles House
287 Tanjong Katong Road
Singapore 437070
Open daily 11am – 9pm

But besides Eng’s brand of spicy noodles, there is another milder version that will surely evoke warm, fuzzy memories of old Singapore. This is what Seetoh calls a distinctly Singapore-style wanton mee and certainly one of his true blue childhood favourites: Wanton mee with Ketchup! Though a rare sight these days, you can still find this tangy-sweet treat at Stirling Road.

Operating out of a humble little stall for the last 20-something years, Chun Ji’s owner has been producing bowl after bowl of deliciously springy noodles coated in his lovingly thick sauce (a concoction of oyster sauce and shallot oil), made extra special with that dollop of ketchup. It’s the sharp tang of the ketchup that cuts through the thick sauce and balances things perfectly. The Char Siew here is also to die for because it’s made fresh in a turbo broiler. Only a few pieces of meat are made each time to preserve that straight-from-the-grill fresh flavour.

Chun Ji Wanton Noodles
Blk 164 Stirling Road
#01-1200
Meng Hup  Eating House
Open Daily 8am – 2pm except weds.

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