Hwa Eng teochew porridge stall

In case you think I eat at expensive places often after reading my previous blogs, I don't. Most of the time, I either cook at home or eat at local coffee shops. One of the stalls I patronize frequently is Hwa Eng Food Stall.

The name does not give you a clue the type of food that is served here, does it? This family-run stall serves great authentic everyday teochew food, not expensive ones like you find at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant. Located at Block 23, Sin Ming Road, it is popular among people who work in the surrounding area. If you are driving and can only leave office after 12.30 or 1.00pm, park in the MSCP in the adjacent block. There are few car park lots in front of the coffee shop and many drivers double park. Be ready to queue for at least 15 minutes to order during peak lunch hour too.

The female owner is grumpy most of the time but do not take it personally. I think it is just her look and tone of voice when she is focused. Just tell her the number of people eating, order your food, the number of porridge and/or rice, where your table is, and the food will be served shortly. I usually order porridge and ask the owner to add the black sauce.

Last week, I went with a fellow foodie for lunch. We decided to go at 12.00pm before the office lunch crowd came. Managed to park right outside the coffee shop. There was 5 customers in the queue. So I asked my friend to get a table while I queued to order food. Ordered braised tau pok (deep fried tofu puff) and tau kwa (deep fried firm tofu), braised chye buay (stewed salted mustard green), braised cabbage and salted egg. Since it was early, the tau kwa and tau pok hadn't soak the gravy through and through but the flavor was still good. Served with a plate of chili garlic soaked in vinegar. Our lunch cost Sgd5.20 only for two persons...and we were really full.

One of the popular dishes is home-made steamed pork balls. I have only tried it once and was not very fond of it but it is very popular among regulars and runs out by 1.30pm. I prefer the braised pork belly. Oh, the fried pomfret in soya sauce is delicious too.

So, do give Hwa Eng a try. They open on Saturdays too.

Giant Oysters

Fresh oyster? Uh.. I think you can eat all of it. I was at Nogawa Japanese Restaurant in Le Meridien, Singapore, with a fellow foodie. Nogawa is reputed to have really authentic Japanese food of the highest quality, using the freshest produce in season.

Now, normally I do not like raw oysters. Not after several consecutive bouts of food poisoning after oyster consumption (all at reputable restaurants, mind you). Just a whiff of that oystery smell would make me gag. My dinner partner on the other hand loves them. So we ordered one. One ? So stingy ah.. but the waitress took the order without batting an eyelid.

I ordered Uni – sea urchin for myself and a plate of sashimi moriawase, grilled cod with salt, boiled kurubota pork slices and a gohan set to share.

Then the oyster came. Wow! It was HUGE. I have never seen such a large oyster. So large that it was sliced into 5 portions. You can see in the photo how big it was. It measured 18 x 10cm. It was thick and plump, in no way resembling the flat deflated sad looking creatures that are passed off as fresh oysters in most places.

You try it first my foodie friend said. If you don’t like it the uni will remove the taste from your mouth…. With great trepidation, I took an end slice (were there oyster guts there? What’s that black streak ??) dipped it into the ponzu sauce and placed it gingerly into my mouth. I experienced an epiphany of sorts.. I would never view fresh oysters with the same jaundiced eye again. It was scrunchy, not at all slimy, closing my eyes, the taste brought me to the beach, fresh sea breeze blowing.. almost sweet. Oh! I like it, it’s delicious!! All the past bad experience must have been with oysters that were not fresh – fresh fish should never smell fishy and likewise, now I know, fresh oysters should never be “oyster-y”. Oh dear, this could become an expensive habit. This one oyster cost us $20. But then again, a half dozen poor quality deflated versions sold in other places would cost the same or more.

So what type of oyster was this ? “Japanese Oyster” said the waitress. Humph. Yes, we know it came from Japan.. what is it called ? It comes from Ibaraki Prefecture she said. Famous for seafood. Googled Japanese Oyster – lo and behold there really is such a thing! This creature is actually called Japanese Oyster or The Giant Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and is farmed in quite a few places in Japan and on the North West Coast of the US.

Relinquishing the remainder of the oyster to my friend, I tried the Uni. Normally we get uni served as sushi. Here, it came au naturel (nearly). Having lectured on first aid for marine creature stings many times, I was intrigued. Fingered the spines, turned the creature around to inspect the shell… Did you know that contrary to common belief uni is not sea urchin roe, but rather, the organs that produce the roe. That’s right. The gonads. Haha! This creature, belonging to the class echinoidea has as it’s fellow foodie victim the sea cucumber. Another trivia fact is that echinoidea species display pentamerism – so star fish (another echinoidea), have 5 arms, the uni come in 5 golden streaks.. I’m not sure what happened to the poor sea cucumber.

Anyway. The chilled uni was delish. Had to scoop it out with a small spoon. Creamy, slightly salty, almost fragrant like a faint whiff of sea spray. We had to do a barter trade – I’ll exchange a scoop of uni for another slice of that oyster please.

The rest of the dinner although very high quality, was almost eclipsed by the novelty and freshness of these two items. Cod was grilled to perfection, melt in the sweetness, the taste accentuated by the flaked salt that was served alongside. The much anticipated kurobuta pork was quite ordinary. Tender, delicately seasoned with shoyu and goma oil, served with finely chopped scallions on a bed of tender lettuce. But not spectacular.

That was a good dinner. Can’t be repeated too often, unless you have an expense account. But definitely worth it.

Chinese Parsley Wood Ear Fungus soup

Went to East Ocean Teochew Restaurant on Saturday with 3 other friends for dinner. Since we were in a Teochew restaurant, most of the dishes we ordered were Teochew dishes such as fresh fish steamed Teochew style, braised goose in soya sauce and braised cabbage sprinkled with ham. In addition, each of us had a portion of double-boiled chinese parsley wood ear fungus soup that cost Sgd8.00/portion. The waitress said it is good to improve one's blood circulation. When the soup arrived, we saw that the ingredients were very simple and readily available in most supermarkets. So I decided to try and cook it for this evening's dinner. Bought the ingredients from NTUC supermarket except the fresh wood ear fungus a.k.a Jew Ear (Auricularia auricula-judae).

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 180gm fresh wood ear fungus (Sgd2.80).
  (You may also use dry wood ear fungus but needs soaking)
• 400gm lean pork (Sgd2.50)
• 50gm chinese parsley (Sgd0.65)
• 2 medium carrots (Sgd0.69)

Preparation:

• Wash pork, carrots, chinese parsley and wood ear fungus
• Cut pork and carrots into bite size chunks
• Snip off parsley root
• Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients into the pot
• Lower the fire and slow boil the soup until meat is cooked
  
• Add salt to taste

Total cost of making this soup at home = Sgd6.64. Total cost of drinking it at East Ocean = Sgd32.00. This is a very simple soup to make and it tastes the same as the one served by East Ocean. I would not recommend drinking it at a fancy restaurant that charges so much for such cheap ingredients.

As for the "blood circulation" effect, it has been shown that wood ear blocks blood clotting by reducing platelet stickiness.