Yong Tau Foo with a twist

Yong Tau Foo is probably one of those dishes people would order if they wanted to have healthier food outside.

If that is the case, then you probably wouldn't order from this Yong Tau Foo stall.

Fu Lin Tou Fu Yuen serves up a Yong Tau Foo that is, I must say, a one of a kind in Singapore - for starters, I've never seen another Yong Tau Foo stall like Fu Lin's! The ingredients are all deep fried (so even if you choose things like chilli stuffed with fish paste, it'll end up being unhealthy because it is deep fried before being served to you). However, I'm really not complaining - deep frying the ingredients before serving them really does bring out that smoky fragrance so when you eat it, it does taste alot better! (On that note, this Yong Tau Foo is best eaten in moderation!)


Fu Lin Tou Fu Yuen

On to the second special thing about Fu Lin's Yong Tau Foo. Unlike other stalls that serve the soup or dried version of Yong Tau Foo, Fu Lin only serves its Yong Tau Foo one way: drenched with a soy-based thick brown sauce that has minced chicken and chopped mushroom in it. The sauce is wonderfully robust and goes extremely well with the fresh-tasting pieces of Yong Tau Foo.


Deep fried Yong Tau Foo goodness - only at Fu Lin

And if you are wondering what noodles to choose to go with your Yong Tau Foo, Fu Lin only gives you one choice: thick bee hoon. Not that its customers complain about the lack of choice though. The pairing of thick bee hoon with Yong Tau Foo really works! The bee hoon is flash-boiled and therefore, has a very pleasing springy texture. Fu Lin serves the bee hoon topped with a good dose of the same thick brown sauce they pour over the Yong Tau Foo ingredients. This jazzes up the plain bee hoon and gives it a really good kick. 4.2/5


Thick bee hoon drenched in a thick soy-based sauce ($1 per bowl)

You'll be quite spoilt for choice here at Fu Lin's when it comes to choosing the ingredients you want. While there are the usual (but nonetheless delicious) Yong Tau Foo suspects like stuffed chilli and brinjal with fish paste, there are also some more unusual ingredients like chicken cheese sausage (it may sound strange as a Yong Tau Foo ingredient, but it does work out quite well!)


Array of ingredients for you to choose from

Fu Lin's dishes do not contain pork and lard. However, one of their signature must-try ingredients is the fried wonton (fried dumpling). Wonton without pork? You betcha! Fu Lin's wonton is stuffed with a smooth and fresh fish paste, and is a welcome departure from the usual pork stuffing found in most wontons. The crispy wontons are fried to a tantalising hue of gold and is one ingredient I never fail to pick each time I eat at Fu Lin's. 4.5/5

Special mention also has to be given to Fu Lin's fiery hot chilli mixture. Don't let the dull red appearance of this chilli sauce fool you. It really is tear-inducingly spicy but oh-so-irresistable! Once you dunk a piece of Yong Tau Foo in it, I promise you'll be hooked.


At $4.50 a serving (inclusive of one bowl of bee hoon and 6 different Yong Tau Foo ingredients), Fu Lin is tasty yet affordable

Fu Lin is indeed a breath of fresh air in the predictable Yong Tau Foo scene. Its Yong Tau Foo is well worth a try not only because of the innovative and unique way it serves this dish, but also because it tastes truly scrumptious.

Address:
Fu Lin Tou Fu Yuen - 721, East Coast Road (in the Siglap area)
Open from 10am - 8.30pm daily
Tel: 6446 2363 (Call in advance for takeaway orders)

Branch: 19 Amoy Street
Tel: 6423 1911

Dinner tonight

Today was one those rare days that my mum wasn't home to cook, so my dad decided to ta pow (take away) dinner from the newly renovated Old Airport Road Hawker Centre.

Now, the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre is known as a food mecca of sorts, because you can find a whole host of famous makan there, like wanton mee, char kuey teow, kway chap, rojak and not forgetting the legendary Nam Sing Hokkien mee. I haven't had the chance to visit the hawker centre since its facelift, so it was with much delight when my dad annouced that he would be taking dinner orders for food from the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre.

I hurriedly announced that I wanted the Hokkien mee ($3) of course!

I'm glad to announce that the Hokkien mee is still very good even after the hawker centre is renovated! (We all know that the cleaner the hawker centre, the less tasty the food is...kinda strange but true, isn't it?) Well, the noodles were well-flavoured and absorbed the flavourful seafood/pork stock well, though I've to admit it was a tad soggy by the time dad got home with the noodles. The prawns were fresh while the fiery hot sambal was damn shiok! Really gave the Hokkien mee a good kick. 4/5

But I think if I were to eat it there and then when the noodles are freshly fried, it would taste even better.

I now leave you with pictures of my very satisfying dinner... (before I wolfed everything down that is)







Address:
Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee - Old Airport Road Food Centre #01-32
Open from 7am to about 8pm or when everything is sold out

Oishii to Waraku!

Japanese food is probably one of the most popular and widely consumed types of cuisine here in Singapore. In fact, I don't think I've ever met someone who doesn't like Japanese food! There is just something about biting into a perfectly crisp, breaded piece of juicy tonkatsu (pork cutlet), or a thick slice of fresh, raw salmon. Mmmm.

Unfortunately, good Japanese food does come at a price. While there are the myriad Japanese food chains around town that serve up cheap Japanese fare (but oftentimes at the expense of quality), sometimes when that really bad crave for Japanese pops up, all you need is some really solid, authentic Japanese food.

But cheap Japanese food seems somewhat like a dichotomy. Until you discover the Waraku chain of restaurants that is.

While it is not exactly cheap like the abovementioned Japanese food chains you find around town, the price you pay for is definitely reasonable for the quality and portion of food you get. The owner of the Waraku chain himself is a native of Japan, so he brings to his restaurants that extra authentic touch and ensures that the high Japanese service standards are practised in-house too.

The Waraku menu is mind-bogglingly comprehensive, and you won't be faulted for taking too long to make your choice because everything looks marvellously appetising.

One thing I frequently order at Waraku is the Ebiten Maki ($9.80). Served on an elegant long dish, this prawn tempura sushi looks as divine as it tastes. The tempura is fried to an appetising shade of gold and is served with a spot of creamy Japanese mayonnaise and savoury fish roe. The prawns are succulent and taste slightly sweet - testament of its freshness - and paired together with the nicely moist sushi rice, each mouthful is guaranteed to send you to culinary heaven. 4.5/5

Ebiten Maki

Japanese curry is something I have a big weakness for. Not that I dislike the Singaporean version of curry, but sometimes, you just want something less fiery and more subtle. The Katsu Curry ($12.80 for a large portion) at Waraku is perfect on all counts. I would be contented just having the rice - which has a nice chewy texture - together with the mild curry that is altogether sweet, spicy and savoury. However, the real star of the show is the tonkatsu, which remained succulent despite being fried to a tantalising brown. 4.2/5


Katsu Curry

Noodles are another favourite of mine. There is just something about slurping long strands of noodles that makes a meal very satisfying, which is why I ordered the Hiyashi Udon Tempuramori ($14). Before you dismiss this as just your usual udon with tempura, it is only right that you should know Waraku are so stringent about their food standards that even their udon is imported from Japan. The real deal? You bet.

These udon noodles were nothing like I tasted before - its texture was so wonderfully chewy and smooth compared to the flat-tasting udon you get in other restaurants. The dipping sauce was light and not too salty, which complemented the delicate udon well. I liked that the udon came topped with shredded seaweed and bonito flakes (dried smoked fish flakes), as it lent the noodles richness. The mixed tempura (consisting of prawns and vegetables) on the other hand were beautifully done. The batter was light and the ingredients, fresh. With these two essential elements in place, it was difficult for the tempura not to be mouth-wateringly delicious. 4.5/5


Hiyashi Udon Tempuramori

Ever since I discovered Waraku, I have been a frequent patron of the restaurant for the simple fact that it serves up no-nonsense Japanese food at very reasonable prices. The service is excellent as well (The manager of the Katong branch I frequent is Japanese herself), which makes the whole dining experience even more enjoyable. Judging by how the seven year-old Waraku chain runs on full houses on most nights, it seems that many agree with me that Waraku is the place to have authentic Japanese cuisine without having to burn your pocket.

Address:
Waraku (Katong branch): 86 East Coast Road BLK B #01-11/12/13 Katong Village
Open from 11.30am - 11pm (last order 10.30pm) daily
Tel: 6344 8280
Website: http://www.waraku.com.sg/

Other Waraku branches:
Central (Tel: 6327 8860)
Marina Square (Tel: 6883 1123)
East Coast (Tel: 6242 1123)
Orchard (Tel: 6721 1123)

Hawker delight!

Hawker centres are so underrated. They serve up cheap and good food that all Singaporeans can identify with and when most of us return back to Singapore from a long trip abroad, the first dish that we want to eat is, more often than not, something from a hawker centre. Be it fried carrot cake, char kuey teow, fishball noodles (with more chilli and vinegar please!), satay or oyster omelette - and the list goes on - all of us have a favourite hawker dish that we are obsessed with. Therefore, it is only right that in honour of the wonderful food that our humble hawker centres have been dishing out thoughrout the years, that Eat East's very first food review shall be on hawker fare.

Two dishes that I am particularly partial to are bak chor mee (minced meat noodles) and oyster omelette, more commonly known as or luak. And I personally feel that some of best bak chor mee and oyster omelette on this island can be found in Fengshan Market & Food Centre in Bedok.


foreground: bak chor mee. background: oyster omelette

For starters, there are two bak chor mee stalls standing side by side in Fengshan Market. I usually go for the dried version ($2.50) which only Seng Hiang Food Stall serves. Tossed in a robust chilli mixture that has bits of dried shrimp added for extra flavour and bits of aromatic crispy lard, the egg noodles immediately take on a life of its own. The stall owner also cooks the noodles al dente so it is springy to the bite. Those who cannot take spiciness can go for Seng Hiang's soup version, though I think that if you want a real kick, the dried version is the way to go.


Seng Hiang Food Stall

The real star of the show however, is the soup. Pork balls and minced pork are added in the flavourful soup that has been lovingly brewed with pork bones and other spices. This results in the soup being wholesome and chock-full of porky goodness. Garnished with chopped spring onions and a dash of fried onion oil, it is difficult not to want to slurp the whole bowl of fragrant broth down. 4.2/5

Oyster omelette is also another dish that never fails to perk my olfactory senses up. There is just something about the scent of eggs, sweet potato starch and juicy oysters being fried together on a hot pan that makes this dish such a winner. In my opinion, a good or luak is one that is has nicely crisp bits and yet is moist enough (ie: not overcooked). There must also be a subtle oyster flavour (if there is an overwhelming oyster smell, it means that the oysters probably aren't fresh!) and the fragrant fish sauce must flavour the eggs and crispy sweet potato starch thoroughly.


Zhen Zong Wu Luo Bei Hao Jian (there isn't an English name) satisfies my criteria on all counts. Although they serve other dishes like fried Hokkien mee, char kuey teow and carrot cake, the oyster omelette (from $3) is the numero uno dish. The or luak is wonderfully savoury smelling while the oysters are just the right size - not too big. When dunked into the tangy chilli dip and eaten with the flavoursome fried egg and crispy starch, it is difficult not to feel like you are in hawker food heaven. 4/5



Zhen Zong Wu Luo Bei Hao Jian (too busy eating so I forgot to snap a shot of the stall. Picture from http://mrs-sheng.blogspot.com/, titled "suppers again" posted on August 26, 2007)

Address:
1. Seng Hiang Food Stall - Blk 85, Bedok North Rd, Feng Shan Market & Food Centre, #01-08
Open from 6pm-4am daily

2. Zhen Zong Wu Luo Bei Hao Jian Blk 85, Bedok North Rd, Feng Shan Market & Food Centre, #01-51
Open from 6pm till late daily

Eat East - the inaugural post

It is no secret that some of the best foods in town can be found in our island's East side. Why, you may wonder? Well, some say it's because the best cooks live there, others say the the East has always been a hotbed for restaurants to set up shop. I say I really don't care why as long as the food's good.

Like any Singaporean, when it comes to food, my mantra is: "Got good food, will travel." Residing in the West does not stop me from paying my weekly pilgrimage to the East to hunt for shiok makan*.

So welcome onboard Eat East and get your forks out as we get ready to go on a culinary tour to sniff out the best bites from the East.

*shiok makan: great food in Singlish