Monday, October 2, 2017

China Street Fritters : Hokkien-style Ngor Hiong & Guan Chang

This stall was started by the late Mr Ng Eng Tuan before World War II as a zinc-roofed hawker stall by the roadside at China Street, where the China Square Central is now. The stall is then taken over by Mr Ng Kok Eng and Mr Ng Kok Hua with his wife. This stall has been awarded the Heritage Hawker Stall award that recognized stalls that have been serving good hawker fare for more than 50 years. They serve Hokkien-style Ngor Hiong as opposed to the Ngor Hiang, which is in Cantonese. Ngor Hiong is actually a minced pork roll seasoned with 5-spice powder which the dish is named after and rolled over a beancurd skin. It is always served together with Guan Chang, the Chinese sausage made by squeezing the lean pork into the pig's intestines. It is a must-have with the Ngor Hiong, that is exactly what 五香贯肠 means on their signboard. It is also often seen on the signboard of the other stalls that are serving it.


Mr Ng Kok Eng was situated outside the stall to take the orders before handed it to Mr Ng Kok Hua to gather the items, deep-fried it then chopped it up and presented them on the plate before his wife took over. She will be serving it to the customers by placing them on the tray and collecting the payment.


Mr Ng Kok Eng, he pointed to the book that was left open on the page where their stall was featured and said, "Our 4 key items are egg slice, guan chang, ter kwa roll (pork liver roll) and ngor hiong. The century egg, deep-fried beancurd and fried homemade fishball are the additional items." They are still handmade these items using the decades' old recipe unlike most of the other stalls that are serving those made by the machine. 



I decided to go with just the signature items with a plate of bee hoon. He asked, "Do you want the century egg, tau kwa and fishball too?" He then continued, "Since there are 2 of you, do you want 2 pieces of each item?" I replied, "No. We already had something to eat earlier so a bit too full now." Uncle just marked down those items that we ordered on the order chit and handed a number to me. He then attended to the next customer right after me. I asked for the permission to take some pictures, he replied, "Just feel free to take. Many tourists are taking pictures or videos of our stall."


The Pork Liver Roll is a personal favorite, it had a unique texture which I liked. The Ngor Hiong was surprisingly tasty with a well-balanced 5-spice flavor and fried to a perfect crispiness. The Guan Chang did not have any surprises but was much softer than some of those that I had eaten. The egg slice is the highlight, this is something that you do not usually get it elsewhere. It is chopped into smaller pieces then deep-fried to the desired crispiness.


Their bee hoon is fried in Hokkien-style with just bean sprouts and dark soya sauce. 


It was served with 2 different sauces, the gooey sweet potato flour dipping sauce with its light and sweet flavor as well as the plain chili sauce made with chili powder, vinegar, and salt. 


It is good to just focus on quality than on the quantity, though they offer just a few items, those are amongst the better ones that I had tasted. Eat it while you can as there is likely no one to take over the stall when they retired, just like many of those older hawkers. There is also another stall in the same food centre serving the traditional Hokkien-style Ngor Hiong, Guan Chang and an assortment of fried fritters.


CHINA STREET FRITTERS
1 Kadayanallur Street #01-64 Maxwell Food Centre SINGAPORE 069184
Operating Hours: 12.00 pm to 8.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)

2 comments:

  1. Have you tried the one at TPY Lorong 8 hawker center? The bee hoon is very fragrant.

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  2. Sin Sin Prawn Crackers? I have yet to try but will do so when I am there again. Thanks for the recommendation.

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