Chinese-Singaporean Food (2): Crab with Salted Egg Yolk, etc.

September 7, 2007: A and I thought hard on where to take his rather un-localized Japanese friend for dinner. We both agreed on the cze char place on Upper Bukit Timah Road, Forture Seafood, simply because of its variety and casualness.

His friend came in his best Aquascutum long-sleeve shirt. It wasn't that out of place at this eat-out because some white customers came properly dressed in black night attire, though not overwhelming kind of dinner outfit.

We asked what he would like, and the reply was "boiled crab with ice" -doesn't that sound like Hokkaido hairy crab? We replied, "Oh... sorry, there's no such crab dish here. There're others..." He said, "No chilli crab or pepper crab for me, please". So we settled on the crab with salted egg yolk - which Makansutra recommends.

This crab dish was not that well-done as I expected it to be. It was not as dry as it should be - like the shrimps in salted egg yolk at Imperial Treasure (Marina Square). Though it was not dripping with oil, you can tell it's been fried in oil.

Forture's shrimps in cereal- my favourite local dish- is one of those easily available and affordable excellent versions, though. It's very drained in oil and one can't tell whether it's been fried or not. However, I've also tasted the version whereby the shrimp shells are kept intact-and the shrimps certainly turn out tastier.

We've had a lot that evening. The sheng mian (literally, raw noodles which are crispy instead) was very good. The vegetables with scallop was also fantastic - and I only wished there was lesser oil.

The oyster omelette was unforgettable as well- the egg was soft and the oysters small but plump and succulent. They are better than those at Newton's Circus.

At last, we ordered desserts, but oops, there weren't any. Sorry, we told our guest. Whatabout an ice-cream somewhere else along Bukit Timah? He chose "chatting" as his dessert and seemed quite pleased with conversation rather than with food.
(* 24 April 2011: We suspect a heavy dosage of MSG is used at the stall. We did have to clear our throats several times after each meal.)

Chinese-Singaporean Cuisine (1): Seafood "Sar Hor Fun"

September 13, 2007: Time flies. And it seems that I've hardly completed any of my papers. This afternoon at 15:00 hrs, I went to the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies for a seminar on "Vietnam: Challenges of Growth and Globalization".

I'd make some quick entries here. The challenge for me right now is to get my paper on this Chinese community written and done with. Time is running out. Let's see...September 5 was the night I'd dinner alone because A went across the border.

We haven't got over our cravings for cze char yet, and I thought on which dish I'd miss in Beijing? (I thought of Beijing because I'd be there next week). The dish would be sar hor fun with seafood. This smooth noodle dish is Cantonese; it's got to be steaming wok mei (the fragrance of the wok) before it could be deemed passable. It's hard to describe what this fragrance is. Apparently to achieve it, the wok has got to be hot and fuming and the ingredients swirled very swiftly around it. The other thing is never to scrub the wok clean with detergent. Splashes of boiling water over it before commencing cooking is the key.

My Hong Kong friend, with whom I had dinner at the East Coast Jumbo Seafood last year, commented that the sar hor fun that she was eating in Singapore at that time did not have the charred fragrance (wok mei). I would agree perhaps; but a characteristic that would differentiate the sar hor fun here and that of Hong Kong is the pickled green chillies -- they resemble Mexican pickles, but taste a hemisphere different. Also, the heavenly scent of the obei leaf (dried bark of the palm) that we use to wrap this noodle in sometimes does not seem to be replicable elsewhere.

Anyway I paired this sar hor fun with Penfold's Semillon-Chardonnay and what delightful combination! I'd recommend Penfold's Semillon-Chardonnay over Rosemount's. I think the "depth" factor matches the lingering fragrance of the noodle, even if it didn't originate from the wok, but in the slippery rice strands.