The Chinese Kitchen : Taste of Taiwan

Chen Shucheng (陈澍城), 72, after launching Teochew City, his Teochew restaurant,  he then partnered chef Austen Ong, 51 to start a stall in the S-11 coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio central serving contemporary Taiwanese food. Chef Ong previously worked as chef de cuisine at Grand Hyatt Singapore for 16 years before opening The Chinese Kitchen, a modern Chinese restaurant at Cavan Road in October 2017.

Their aim is to offer restaurant standard food at hawker prices. Chef Ong tasted a lot of recipes to come out with the menu which includes 8 set meals, priced under $10. The 8 sets are Passion Fruit Sweet & Sour Pork, Pearl Rice ($6.80), Grilled Salmon Fish Fillet, Mild Spicy Coriander Sauce, Pearl Rice ($9.80), Pan-seared Beef Sirloin, Orange Juice Pineapple Sauce, Pearl Rice ($9.80), Grilled Lemongrass Chicken, Green Chilli Marmalade Pearl Rice ($6.80), Soft Shell Crab, Thai Garlicky Dip, Lu Rou Fan ($9.80), Miso Lu Rou Fan ($4.50), 13 Spices Crisp-Fried Tofu, Lu Rou Fan ($5.80) and Miso-Chilli-Garlic Organic Okra & Mushroom, Lu Rou Fan ($6.80). Chef Ong will be based at the stall for the time being while he is looking to hire and train a new chef. 

I ordered the Soft Shell Crab with Lu Rou Fan that served with the Thai Garlicky Dip. There is a number on the receipt and it is served according to that number. The set consists of a braised egg with a small side of kimchi and preserved cucumber as well as a bowl of soup. The braised pork is braised with Japanese red miso paste instead of the usual Chinese fermented bean sauce. It is more savory and not as sweet as the Lu Rou Fan found in Taiwan. It would be nice if a bigger portion of braised pork is given as I left with a lot of rice after the first few mouthfuls. The short-grained pear rice was cooked to a fluffy texture. 

The soft shell crab was perfectly fried to the desired crispiness and it remained so till the very last bite. It is nice to eat it on its own. The Thai Garlicky Dip is not spicy, not as garlicky as it was overwhelmed by the sourness and tanginess from the plum sauce and lime juice. It did not really go well with the fried soft shell crab. 

The braised egg tasted quite bland, did not have much of the soya sauce and 5-spice powder that supposed to be a part of the marinade as mentioned during their interview with the 8 DAYS Magazine. I would rather have more preserved cucumber then kimchi as it seemed quite out of place and did not go too well with the set. They might want to consider replacing it with salted vegetable or even braised cabbage. 

The creamy soup somewhat reminded me of the broth for ramen, there was kombu in it. 

Other than the Miso Lu Rou Fan at $4.50, the rest of the sets are priced on the high side and not as pocket-friendly. It might be a challenge for such a stall to actually survive in the heartland. 

THE CHINESE KITCHEN : TASTE OF TAIWAN

Block 711 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 S-11 Coffee Shop SINGAPORE 560711

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 9.00 pm (Sun to Thu) / 11.00 am to 9.30 pm (Fri & Sat)

Mei Meng Taiwan Delicacy : the first 大肠包小肠 in Singapore

Zen Tan, 30s, the owner, started this stall in January 2018. I was the only customer when I went for early lunch. Zen seated at the table in front of his stall and stood up immediately when he saw me. I asked, "Are you a Taiwanese?", which he replied, "No." That is quite obvious actually as he does not speak with the Taiwanese accent. There are currently only 2 items on the menu, 卤肉饭 ($3.80), humble Braised Pork Rice, and 大肠包小肠 ($6.60), a popular street snack. I decided to try both. I have been a big fan of the Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice and it got me really excited when I got to know about this stall in Ang Mo Kio, they are located in a coffee shop near Mayflower Food Centre. 

Zen was telling me that he is in the midst of launching some braised items. He said, "These braised items are just like those that can be found at the night markets throughout Taiwan." He mentioned that he tried the 卤肉饭 at Macpherson and in AMK Hub before starting this stall. He said, "An elderly couple at Tainan taught me how to cook 卤肉饭." I asked, "What were you doing before starting this stall?" He said, "I was in the construction industry." He continued to say, "My friends were surprised when I decided to set up this stall as they did not expect it."

While eating, he came over and asked, "How was it?" I replied, "It is not saltish enough." He said, "I adjusted the level of saltiness a little as most of the customers find it to be too salty." I also mentioned that the rice was a bit too mushy. He said, "I am already using good quality rice and if I go any better then I would be left with little benefits." It is a common challenge amongst the hawkers to stay competitive by keeping the costs low. 

I said, "It would be nice if there is more flavor from fried shallots." He shared that the elderly couple was really patient when they taught him how to fry the shallots. I mentioned, "There is a popular stall at Seah Im Food Centre serving 卤肉饭. I think you should give it a try as their 卤肉饭 is the closest to what I had eaten in Taiwan."

When preparing the 大肠包小肠, he said, "You would not be able to get this in Singapore other than here. I handmade those glutinous rice rolls and it is very time-consuming. I have to be here as early as 6 am to get it going."  He asked whether I want to have it cut into smaller pieces. I replied, "No. I am taking pictures." He made an effort to wrap it nicely in the wrapper before handed it to me. 

I only tried 大肠包小肠 once at Feng Jia Night Market in Taichung but it was not quite memorable. I mentioned to Zen that the price seemed a bit on the high side. The grilled glutinous rice roll was sliced at the centre, it was topped with ground peanuts, salted vegetable, shredded carrot and slices of cucumber before placing the grilled Taiwanese-style hot dog on it then garnished with coriander. You could choose to have it plain, or with sauces. As mentioned by Zen, this is likely to be the only one that you could get in Singapore. 

Zen is still in the midst of perfecting the taste for both items. We should give him more time to work on that. Nonetheless, it is heartening to see a new hawker in doing his part to preserving our hawker culture.

MEI MENG TAIWAN DELICACY

Block 159 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 SINGAPORE 560159

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 8.00 pm (Daily)