Gobbling Germans' Gibberish

The woman and I love congee in the morning since we had been to Hong Kong. With a nice tea or coffee it gets you started quite nicely but does not fill you up in a way that makes you want to take a nap again.

We only had congee once in SG so we decided to get some more and since we had a cooking course later on, we decided to scour a very nearby Food Centre for a congee stand. We had researched but to our dismay, the one we were hoping for was closed, so we looked on and were lucky…just a few stalls away was another one, apparently some chain (one that does not bother writing anything in English on their sign…). I am sure the things on the apron of the figure are chinese…for me they read like “FATE” 😉

Unknown Congee Stall in Maxwell Food Centre

Unfortunately, the nice lady who cooked and delivered the food did not speak english very well. So ordering “Mixed Pork Congee” and “Minced Pork Congee” was not the best idea I ever had, but it worked in the end. She pointed to a heated box beside the counter and showed me a helping of chicken feet and one of some pork…she tried to explain it to me but i simply ordered both since they looked nice. The congee was cooked on a large gas flame and each helping had its own aluminum pot. I haven’t seen such things since I watched my grandmother cook stuff that “should not mix”. It took a bit of time but then the piping hot congee was served, topped with spring oninons, some presevered vegetables and a raw egg.

Mixed Pork/Minced Pork Congee, Chicken Feet and Undefined Pork

The second congee in Singapore was just a good as the first, this time we had to stir it real well to get the egg mixed with the congee. It had a real nice texture and the pork helpings were generous, well cooked and had their own, fine taste even without the staple soy sauce which another patron used. I used a bit of chili in mine and it went well with the taste of the different pork meats in my bowl. The woman was equally satisified with the taste.

The chicken feet and the pork “stuff” have to be judged seperately. I am a fan of chicken feet and had them in HK, Frankfurt and now in Singapore…whenever I can get them, I try to have them in all variations. These were ok, well seasoned and well cooked but not as good as those in HK or Frankfurt. The Pork meat (on bones) was an entirely different matter. The liquid in which they swam gave the meat a very nice pork taste, the meat was tender and tasted so good, I would have ordered another helping if I had not been quite full from the congee.

The two congees cost us S$8 and the sides S$3 each, which is more than fair for the amount and the quality. We surely will try to visit that one once more.

Again the woman and I got hungry and this time we did not take any chances. We had noticed a little, almost hidden food “centre” downstairs right next to Orchard Road (“M73 .. your food haven”) and despite the fact that most people there seemed to sit there and drink beer (an expensive pasttime in Singapore…) at the time, we decided to give it a try.

The entire “centre” has 4 or 5 stalls some of which sell “muslim food”. We were boring again and chose chicken rice from the stall right next to the stairs.

Chicken Rice

Despite the fact that the rice was slightly firm to the bite (which i do not mind), both the chicken and the rice were tasting fresh and the chicken was well cooked. Seasoning was not the strong point of the cook though, but that was remedied by the usual chili sauce, which was either home made or a very yummy tasting ready made one. So basically, should we get hungry near that place, we will surely go there but we will not expect greatness, just normal food.

The damage was S$10 for both of us since we decided against a beer for who-knows-how-much.

It was still a little too early for dinner but there was room for some sweet treats, so we decided to try Tong Heng on South Bridge Rd and sample the famous egg tarts.

We were not quite sure what to expect since we knew combinations like salted egg yolk and lostus paste from mooncakes. And since Chinese seem to have a very creative approach to the notion of ‘cake’ or ‘tart’ we half expected some savoury piece of pork inside. But no, these egg tarts were indeed a pastry and they were rather nice. The inside was sweet and soft, the shortcrust brittle and slightly salted, which gave a nice contrast.

We added 2 other pastries that we saw in the shop: ‘gold pieces’ — round shortbreads, which looked pretty but tasted a little flat and a sesame shortcake that turned out to be filled with poppy paste and went well with a cup of tea.

We had been under the impression that Singapore would provide us with food at any hour. So we made the mistake of not checking the opening times of restaurants at all..

So we hung out near Marina Bay after 10pm and got hungry. This posed a problem, since apparently any restaurants within range were closed or would be closed by 11pm.

Finally we walked to Telok Ayer Market (or Lau Pa Sat), noticed that there were open stalls yet and we decided to visit “The Beef House Homemade Beefball Noodles”. After a bit of thinking, we ordered Beef Ball Bee Hoon Soup and Tender Beef Thick Bee Hoon Dry.

Beef Ball Bee Hoon Soup + Tender Beef Thick Bee Hoon Dry

Both dishes looked plain but smelled good and despite the late hour (and the thick sauce looking “well aged”), both also tasted very good. The Soup base of the Bee Hoon Soup was a bit plain but this was offset nicely by the well seasoned beef balls.

The thick Bee Hoon Dry contained not-so-tender beef strips which I did not mind, the thick gravy having a very nice beef taste. It reminded me a little of a classic german stew.

Both dishes contained fresh tasting and well cooked noodles…we both decided to give the Market another try for sure. All that for S$10…not shabby at all.

The next visit was a bit earlier than the last time, so a few more stalls were open. This time, we decided to eat at “Seng Kee Local Delights”.

The woman got the Carrotcake Combo and I got the Fried Kway Teow.

Carrot Cake Combo

Fried Kway Teow

The woman and I differ greatly this time, which does not happen often when it comes to food.

I found my dish lacking, it was greasy — as it should be — but there were none of the tastes I would have hoped for. Basically it tasted like slightly fried noodles stirred in some sweetish, non-salt soy sauce and then thickend. Once I added a few dashes of chili sauce, it was a bit redeemed since with that condiment, it turned into a half-decent fried noodle dish.

The woman was all over the carrot cakes and liked them very much, the “white” variety more than the “black”. They were fresh and had a pleasant taste to them…her opinion not mine. I tried them as well and again, I could only get something out of them after adding a bit of sambal.

This will not be my favourite stall…but the woman will surely visit it again if only for the cakes. The entire damage was S$11.

After that, the woman had a craving for a sweet dessert, so we walked to the “cold dessert” stall and she ordered “Almond bean curd with lon gan”

Almond bean curd with lon gan

I did not try it but the woman liked it, it being very refreshing due to the fact it was resting on crushed ice. The beancurd tasted like “almond pana cotta” and the woman would eat it again in an instant. The lon gan (a kind of lychee) seeped into the melting ice and made the dessert experience last so much longer. This set us back a mere S$2.

One last comment: There is a large beverage pavillion there and I rather liked the fresh juices there.

With the mid autumn festival comes a special food: mooncakes. They all look pretty, they are filled with various ingredients (often lotus paste and salted egg yolk) and there have even been competitions among the chefs who would create the most fabulous mooncake recipe.

These usually round and decorated pieces of bakery are only sold up to the day of the mid autumn festival and they are expensive! If you find a box of 4 for less than 70sgd count yourself lucky. Prizes go up every day with the approaching festival day. And as soon as the lantern parade is finished, they drop again. And the next day there will be no more mooncakes for sale.