Review: Zheng Yuan Wei 蒸原味 @ Katong Square

One of the interesting restaurant that opened at the newly refurbished Katong Square - Zheng Yuan Wei. They specialised in steampot, which retains the original flavours of the ingredients and making it a much healthier choice. Steampot originates from Guangdong and is very popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan right now. You can even find the steampot pot being sold in supermarkets!

We went there as a party of five and ordered their set menu for 4, a Boston lobster, a plate of pork belly and a pot of tea. The total damage was just slightly less than $300. The set menu of 4 comes with vegetables (lotus root, corn, pumpkin and sweet potato), one whole fish, scallops, clams, mussels, oysters, prawns, flower crab (it was out of stock so they replaced with a mud crab which I think is better) and rice grains. The seafood were all 'live' seafood.

The rice was first put into the bottom of the pot to be transformed into a porridge and eaten at the end of the meal. The idea is for the condensed steam to stream down to the bottom of the pot, and together with the juices from the seafood, forms a hearty porridge.

The staff will put the seafood one at a time on the steamer and set the timer for you. Each item usually takes about 3 to 5 minutes before it is ready to be eaten.

The seafood were all fresh and firm, but only the lobster, clams and prawns require minimal seasoning. The other seafood will be better off if you make your own dip (included as part of your meal) to accompany it. Special mention goes to the fish (deboned) which made even a non-fish lover like me fell in love with it. The crab's flesh was also really sweet and I would recommend it over the flower crab if given the choice.

Once you are done with all the ingredients, the staff will start to mix the porridge for you. By this time, the rice grains have become the consistency of a Cantonese porridge. Spring onion, an egg and fried onions are then added to the mix. Do not expect it to be a rich seafood porridge, rather it is a homely porridge with a tinge of the sea. You can add in a bit of soya sauce if you find it too bland, but I actually enjoyed it with just a dash of pepper. This finale dish will definitely satisfy the elderly who prefer something lighter.

It was generally a good dining experience and everyone enjoyed the food. It would be even better if they can have a variety of set menu or make it more customisable.

Review: Chicken Hotpot 鸡公煲

Today is my fourth time at Chicken Hotpot, so you know it's good! If you like steamboat and ma la xiang guo, this is the dish for you. They have a simple menu with 4 types of pot: chicken (their signature), beef, prawn and fish. I have tried both the chicken and prawn pots before, generally preferring the chicken, although the prawns they provided are easy to eat (partly de-shelled) and quite big.

Their signature chicken pot is heavy on the spices and you get to choose your level of spiciness. Bear in mind it can get quite spicy so if you are not good at spicy food, just go for mild. The chicken (bone-in) are chopped into chunky pieces and simmered in the thick spiced gravy. If your gravy runs low, the staff will pour in some chicken stock for you, which is more suitable to be drank rather than the thick gravy.

Recently they also have a promotion item which is my all-time favourite, the chicken and pork tripe pot. This is strongly recommended by me and I feel is more to Singaporeans palate. In fact, when I first tried Chicken Pot, I had their significant chicken version and prawn version and wasn't that impressed. This chicken and pork tripe version made me came back 2 more times!

If you like peppery bak kut teh, please choose this version and you won't regret. It can be a bit too peppery at first taste, but as you add in more ingredients, it gives the soup base more flavour and take away some of the peppery taste. Similar to the other version, you can get a refill when the stock runs low. The soup is really tasty and comforting especially on a rainy day. A chicken and pork tripe pot comes with chicken pieces and chunky pork tripe pieces.

The best way to enjoy Chicken Pot is not to over order the main pot, but select the additional ingredients. For 2 pax, I would just order a small pot then choose some of the ingredients from their fridge (self service). Their steamboat ingredients are all nicely displayed and wrapped up in the fridge and the pricing is differentiated by the colour of the plates.

I recommend ordering the prawn/cuttlefish paste which comes in an 'icing bag'. You will have to ask the staff to cut a hole at the tip when you are ready to it. Their cuttlefish balls also go well with the chicken and pork trip pot. Other ingredients available include vegetables, fish paste, pork belly with enoki, mushrooms, noodles, sliced fish, sliced meat etc.

Lastly, a shout out to the manager (short-haired lady) at the Bedok Point branch who always has a smile on her face and provided very attentive service. There was once we ordered a plate of enoki mushrooms and had already eaten more than half of it. The manager suddenly came over with another plate of enoki mushrooms and said she realised the staff had under-weighed the entire batch, so she gave us another plate. Honest shops like this are really hard to come by nowadays so it was a pleasant feeling even though she could have ignored it as we couldn't tell we were shortchanged.