Chef Chik : Cantonese-style dishes at hawker price

Chef Chik Ka Chung, came from Hong Kong in the 90s to work as a Cantonese chef in different hotels including as an Executive Chef at Wan Hao Cantonese restaurant in Marriot Tang Plaza Hotel before starting this hawker stall with his wife in 2012. He is concentrating on Cantonese-style cooking like the double-boiled soups, claypot rice, and steamed dishes as well as some off-menu items depending on what he gets from the wet market. 

We ordered the Claypot Sausage Chicken Rice ($8), Black Fungus Steamed Chicken ($8), Salted Fish Pork Patty ($3.50) and Lotus Root Dried Oyster Pork Ribs Soup ($4.50) with a small bowl of rice. 

The Claypot Sausage Chicken Rice is done using gas instead of a charcoal fire, it was still aromatic with a nice crispy crust right below the rice. It was served with ingredients like Chinese sausage, liver sausage, cured pork belly, salted fish, chicken, and bok choy. It tasted quite similar to those that I had eaten in Hong Kong. 

The Black Fungus Steamed Chicken is a comforting dish. The chicken was tender and smooth doused in soy sauce, served together with soft black fungus and topped with chopped spring onions. I enjoyed eating this and it went well with rice. My dining companion did not like it as much though. 

Salted Fish Pork Patty tasted homely and that is the reason why I ordered a bowl of rice. The meat was finely chopped to have better textural contrast. The only taste of salted fish was from that small piece placed on top of the patty. My dining companion said, "I mashed the salted fish to mix it with the minced meat for more flavor. The choice of fattier meat has given it a softer texture."

The Lotus Root Dried Oyster Pork Ribs Soup was a pleasant surprise. My dining companion started looking for the dried oyster and there were 2 in total. It reminded me of those double-boiled soups that I had in Hong Kong. 

The dried oyster is not a common ingredient to be found in these soups offer by the hawker stalls here. It usually have a deeper, stronger and earthy flavor and not to everyone's taste but it has given it an extra flavor and not as monotonous as compared to most of the others. 

We were during lunch on Friday but the waiting time was a short one.

CHEF CHIK

14 Haig Road #01-36 Haig Road Food Centre SINGAPORE 430014

Operating Hours: 12.00 pm to 7.30 pm (Closed on Sundays and Mondays)/

Hong Kong Yummy Soup : healthier soup choices

This stall was awarded a Bib Gourmand distinction in the MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2018. The owners are a Cantonese couple originated from Hong Kong. The awareness of healthy eating has brought forth the demand for such healthy soups and that was further proven by the long queue in front of the stall waiting for it to be ready at 12 pm.

The menu only consists of 6 types of soups : Spareribs Soup with Lotus Root ($3.50), Spareribs Soup with Winter Melon ($3.50), Brazilian Mushroom Soup with Snow Fungus ($4.50), Spareribs Soup with Mushroom ($3.50), Cordyceps Flower Soup with Chicken ($4.50) and Night-blooming Cereus Spareribs Soup ($3.50). There are also Steamed Pork Ribs ($3.50) and Pumpkin Steamed Minced Meat ($3.00) as a side order, rice is $0.50 per serving. The soups are made from scratch with no MSG together with specially selected ingredients that have different health benefits like replenishing nutrients, acting as a detox cleanser or removing the effects of humidity. I joined in and waited for about 15 minutes to order Brazillian Mushroom Soup with Snow Fungus and Spareribs Soup with Mushroom together with a bowl of rice. 

Spareribs Soup with Mushroom was light but full of ingredients like different types of mushroom, carrot chunks and spareribs. The texture of the spareribs was so tender. My dining companion said, "There is a strong yet refreshing mushroom flavor." 

The Brazillian Mushroom Soup with Snow Fungus is supposed to be good for the ladies and it is also good for the skin too. There was a chicken drumstick with Brazillian cap mushroom, white fungus, red date added to the soup. The soup tasted healthy and lightly flavored but the chicken drumstick was not soft enough yet. 

My dining companion said, "Their soups are different from the other stalls. They are one of the hawker stalls that are worthy of the Bib Gourmand distinction."

HONG KONG YUMMY SOUP

Block 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1 #01-51 Alexandra Village Food Centre SINGAPORE 151120

Operating Hours: 12.00 pm to 8.30 pm (Closed on Saturdays & Sundays)

Hong Kong Stewed Soup . Zhong Zai Fan : is there a change of ownership?

I was there on a rainy Sunday, the coffee shop was not as crowded as expected at about 1 pm. I usually ordered from this particular stall manned by a couple originated from Hong Kong. There are different types of stewed soup and steamed rice on their menu. I decided to go with Preserved Vegetable Braised Pork Rice ($3.50), Salted Fish Steamed Pork Rice ($3.50) and Watercress Soup with Pork Ribs ($4.00).

The Preserved Vegetable Braised Pork Rice that has always been a personal favorite that I often order. I ever told the friendly auntie that, "Your Preserved Vegetable Braised Pork Rice is one of the best that I have ever eaten." She replied in a distinct Hong Kong accent Mandarin, "It has been steamed for many hours to have that kind of softness and flavor." It was disappointing this time, the first ever since I started eating at this stall more than a decade ago. 

The texture of the braised pork was not as soft as it used to be. There was a notable chewiness and not as flavorful. The blanched vegetable tasted bitter. It did not help even when I tried to pour soya sauce over it and tried eating it with the red cut chilli so I left it uneaten.

The Salted Fish Steamed Pork Rice was better. Those pieces of sliced meat were steamed together with shredded ginger together with the rice. The texture of the meat was tender and tasted quite flavorful. Somehow, it was not as good as I remember.

The Watercress Soup with Pork Ribs consists of a few pieces of rather tough pork ribs. 

Is there a change of ownership? I did not see the familiar auntie at the stall there.

HONG KONG STEWED SOUP .  ZHONG ZAI FAN

Block 925 Yishun Central 1 #01-249 SINGAPORE 760925

Operating Hours: 10.00 am to 8.00 pm (Closed on Saturdays)

Cantonese Double-boiled Soup . Steamed Fish : good value for money

We were there on a Sunday for a late lunch. I wanted to order the Preserved Vegetable Braised Pork Steamed Rice ($3.30) but it was sold out. I decided to go with Salted Fish Steamed Minced Meat ($6), Sliced Fish Steamed Egg ($6) and Si Chuan Vegetable Stewed Pork Ribs Soup ($3.50) to go along with 2 bowls of rice at 0.50 cents each. I pointed to the table right in front of the stall when I was asked where do I sit. I waited for about 10 minutes before it was served. 

Salted Fish Steamed Minced Meat ($6). My dining companion commented that the texture was a bit too soft and not too much taste of salted fish in it. There was a piece of salted fish right at the corner though. The minced meat was of a generous portion for the price, garnished with chopped spring onions, coriander, and fried shallots. 

Sliced Fish Steamed Egg ($6). We prefer this to Salted Fish Steamed Minced Meat. The texture of the steamed egg was smooth and soft. I did not expect the sliced fish to go so well with it. It was served with light soy sauce and garnished with chopped spring onions as well as dried shallots. 

Si Chuan Vegetable Stewed Pork Ribs Soup ($3.50) was a good choice too. It consists of a few pieces of preserved vegetable with few chunks of pork ribs, slices of tomato and red dates. It was unexpectedly flavorful with nicely cooked pork ribs. 

This stall is definitely worth a try if you are here for lunch, not fanciful but homely and satisfying.

CANTONESE DOUBLE-BOILED SOUP . STEAMED FISH

69 Geylang Bahru #01-27 Geylang Bahru Food Centre SINGAPORE 330069

王老五 Chicken King at Jalan Batu Food Centre

While waiting to order at Belirub, we walked around and looking for something else to eat first at this quiet food centre in Mountbatten. And, we took notice of this stall as it has a catching stall name. The meaning of 王老五 in English is "Bachelor", which means "a man who is not and has never married" and that followed by "Chicken King" right after. They must be of a certain standard to have that kind of confidence to declare themselves as "Chicken King". The stall is located at the corner of the first row and this seemed to be a popular stall as most tables around there have ordered from them. They are supposed to be famous for their chicken rice though there are also duck, char siew and sio bak on their menu. There was another customer in front of me at that time. I decided to go with a quarter of the roasted chicken with rice and old cucumber pork ribs soup. And, I paid $13.50 in total. 

The old cucumber pork ribs soup was intensely flavored and rather comforting. It is of pretty good value for just $3.50 with generous pieces of old cucumber and pork ribs in it. This is something that is worth going back for.

The quarter chicken was in quite a big portion but the taste somehow just did not manage to leave an impression. Though the stall name is Chicken King, its taste is still far to be stood out amongst the other chicken rice stalls to be called the king.

The rice was nicely cooked to a grainy texture, not too greasy and rather flavorful. The chilli did not taste too memorable so much so that I have forgotten how it actually tastes. This stall is worth the try if you happen to be here and is looking for a filling lunch.

王老五 CHICKEN KING

4A Jalan Batu #01-28 Jalan Batu Food Centre SINGAPORE 432004
Operating Hours: 8.00 am to 10.00 pm (Daily)

Lotus Root with Pork Ribs Soup.

Wanting a simple dinner and i thought i should check this stall out for the first time. Most of the customers were placing their orders for the signature claypot rice. They ordered and left their table number then proceeded to wait at their tables. It indicated that the claypot rice is cooked only upon order. A certain amount of waiting time is anticipated then. I decided to go ahead to order their steamed soup to have it along with rice. Steamed soup  and rice are expected to be of self-service though.

I wanted their Lotus Root with Pork Ribs Soup for $3 and a bowl of rice for 0.50 cents.

A good portion of piping hot Lotus Root with Pork Ribs Soup was served in a metal container. The taste of soup was good though not fantastic. The time during the cooking process might have been compromised as the soup did not have the intensified taste of lotus root and peanuts. 

There was a good amount of slices of lotus root and quite a few pieces of meaty pork ribs in the soup.

The thickly sliced lotus roots were not overly mushy but firm in texture. The peanuts were not too soft with a certain bit of remaining crunchiness. I do wish to have more peanuts in the soup though. The texture of pork ribs was unexpectedly soft. It was done well to give it the desired softness with a minimum level of chewiness. It was so soft that it actually pulled away from the bone effortlessly. The bowl of rice that served along with the steamed soup has got the likable texture of fluffiness and moistness.

It was an enjoyable dinner nonetheless. 

CHUAN TONG SHA BAO FAN

Block 75 Toa Payoh Lorong 5

#01-32 Toa Payoh Lorong 5 Food Centre

SINGAPORE 310075