Review: Grilled Scallops over at Unkai Japanese Cuisine

Grilled scallops (Hotate Tobiko) at $15 for half dozen, the only item I ordered at Unkai. They also sell raw oysters, sake sashimi and chilled/grilled crabs.

At $2.50 per piece, it was a good indulgence. Scallops were juicy with a pleasant torched taste.

51 Old Airport Road

#01-88/89 Old Airport Road Food Centre
Singapore 390051

Ma La Xiang Guo @ Bedok Interchange

Tried the Bedok Interchange's Ma La Xiang Guo twice to pen this review.

The concept is similar to the well-known Ri Ri Hong Ma La Xiang Guo in Chinatown. You just need to tell the stall helper what ingredients you would like, the level of spiciness and the staple to go with your xiang guo. The helper will then give you a tag and call out your number when it's ready. They also serve other Sichuan dishes like 'Baked fish (烤鱼)' and 'Water-boiled fish (水煮鱼)' which are all spicy food.

First impression of the stall puts me at ease. It looks cleaner and the ingredients neatly displayed in their fridge. I compared it to Ri Ri Hong which may be a bit unfair given that the Bedok ma la xiang guo stall is relatively new. 

What I like about the Bedok version over Ri Ri Hong is the variety of ingredients. More unique items include beef tripe, cuttlefish, pork innards and a wider variety of vegetables. Besides rice, you can also opt for Mantou which I saw many Chinese nationals ordering. Their pricing is also reasonable, like Ri Ri Hong - $1 vegetables, $2 chicken/pork and $3 seafood/beef/lamb.

My order of cuttlefish, kangkong, pork balls, beef tripe, pork belly, bean curd, enoki mushroom and a bowl of rice costs $13. Bear in mind that the Bedok version is saltier and you will definitely need some staple to go with it. Most of the time when I eat at Ri Ri Hong I don't need any rice to go with my xiang guo. Taste-wise, I think Ri Ri Hong still has that special fragrance coming from the bean paste, nonetheless, Bedok is a good alternative!

Review: The Burning Oak

I've been wanting to write a review on The Burning Oak for a long time but has been procrastinating. Now that I have decided to write it, I had since tried them twice during lunch time, once to takeaway and once dine-in.

I want to put it up front that I absolutely love their food. It is definitely value-for-money. It's a pity that I haven't gotten down to try their dinner menu, but the set lunch menu was all satisfying. My favourite was the pork cheek bento set which came with a generous amount of meat, pickles, fried shredded ginger, rice and a bowl of miso soup.

You can really feel the amount of effort and patience that goes into each of the item. The pork cheeks were nicely grilled with a smoky charred taste while the pickles seek to tone down the oiliness from the pork. The miso soup was worth mentioning, having a high concentration of bonito flakes resulting in a rich earthy taste.

Although the stall is in a hawker setting, the waiting time is about 15min since they make-to-order. I will be back again to try their dinner menu next.

8 Lesser-known Singapore food to try

this list is for foreigners who want to explore singapore food beyond the better-known chicken rice and chilli crab. there is so much more local favorites that foreigners might not have chance upon but is so well-loved by singaporeans.

1. cereal/oatmeal prawn
what - fried prawns in cereal and curry leaves
who - suitable for all ages and especially popular among children
how - as it is crispy, most people will remove the head and eat the rest of the prawn shell-on. it is common to have excess cereal left behind, which kids will gladly scoop up and eat. a good cereal prawn should be fried with head and shell intact.
where - can be found in most seafood and tze char restaurants

2. prawn paste chicken
what - fried chicken coated with prawn paste, a fermented shrimp paste
who - suitable for all ages
how - eat it like any fried chicken
where - can be found in most seafood and tze char restaurants

3. fish head steamboat
what - a healthy dish of slice fish and vegetables in a clear broth. although traditional cooked using a fish head, a more popular option with youngsters is sliced fish. a good fish head steamboat should be kept continuously heated using charcoal.
who - for the health-conscious
how - the steamboat would have come with everything ready while servers will come around to top up the broth when it's running low
where - recommended stall: nam hwa chong fish head steamboat, 814/816 north bridge road, singapore 198779/81

4. samsui ginger chicken
what - steamed chicken paired with ginger sauce and wrapped in lettuce
who - suitable for all ages
how - take a piece of lettuce, and place a piece of chicken on top together with the special ginger sauce
where - http://www.souprestaurant.com.sg/

5. claypot beehoon
what - beehoon (thin vermicelli noodles) and seafood cooked in a claypot. there are several varieties like crab claypot beehon, clams claypot beehoon etc.
who - suitable for all ages
how - the portion is usually for sharing, hence everyone takes a portion of the beehoon from the pot
where - recommended stall: http://www.dianxiaoer.com.sg/

6. yu sheng
what - a raw fish salad for good fortune, available during the lunar new year period.
who - suitable for all ages except those adverse to raw fish
how - during the lunar new year period, most chinese restaurants will have this as the first dish. the waitress will pour each item onto a plate while reciting some auspicious words. everyone will then come together and toss the salad to mix it. it is perfectly fine to be a bit messy when tossing, since everyone will be tossing at the same time.
where - can be found in most chinese restaurants during the lunar new year period

7. ah balling (dessert)
what - glutinous rice balls with sweet fillings and in a sugary soup. common fillings include peanut, seasome and red bean.
who - suitable for all ages
how - be careful when biting into the rice balls as the filling might be hot. as it is made of glutinous rice, it fills one up easily so avoid eating too much
where - recommended stall: ah balling peanut soup, bedok north street 4, singapore 460085

8. soya beancurd pudding (dessert)
what - a pudding made of soya bean. while soya beancurd can be found in many chinese-speaking countries, but this singapore invention has been popular these days. the difference between the usual soya beancurd and the pudding version is the consistency of the beancurd.
how - scoop and eat it like a jelly
where - recommended stall: lao ban soya beancurd, 51 old airport road, 390051

Singapore Hawker Center: Guide for Tourists Part 1, The Local Way

this post is meant for tourists or foreigners new to the local hawker scene. you will be able to understand how and why singaporeans do certain things in a certain way.

hawker center, or sometimes known as food center, is an open-air complex that houses several food & beverages stall. they are considered a budget option and a daily meal to many singaporeans. this is the government's response to illegal and unhygienic makeshift roadside stalls that popped up in the 1950s. you can find hawker centers near housing estates or bus interchange, and they usually comes with a connected wet market.

singapore prides itself as a food paradise because of the wide variety of cuisine here. a hawker center is your best bet to get cheap and good local food and i'm going to share how you can enjoy the delicious food like the locals:

1. using 'packet of tissue papers' to reserve your table
given that it will get very crowded during meal times, its sometimes very hard to grab a seat, especially if you are intending to dine with your family or group of friends. unless you are dining alone, the first thing you need to do it find an empty table or seats. you can then reserve the table/seats by placing a packet of tissue paper on it. you can also use other inexpensive items to book your table/seats e.g. umbrella, a file, water bottle etc. once done, this will indicate to others that the table/seats is taken. you can then proceed to buy your food without worrying about returning with a tray of food and finding no seats.

2. non-halal and halal stalls
in most hawker centers there are stalls selling non-halal and halal food, with the non-halal stalls being the majority. the halal stalls will mostly be housed under the same roof, but together at one area in the hawker center. this is to make it easier for the cleaning staff to collect utensils which are meant for the halal stalls. while we sometimes like to share food bought from the different stalls, it will be respectful to not use the utensils from the halal stalls to eat the non-halal food.

3. hygiene grading of stalls
this grading of licensed food stalls are given by the national environment agency. all food stalls are advised to display this grading certificate in a prominent location at their stall. they are graded based on overall hygiene and cleanliness of their stall and during food preparation, and can be given anything from an A (best) to a D (worst). more information on the food hygiene standards in singapore can be found here.

4. self-service stalls
in the past there were many stalls whose owners will serve the food to you. you just have to tell the owner your table number or roughly where you are sitting, and they will bring the food to you. such stalls are increasingly rare and many stalls are now self-service, which means you queue and collect your food from the stall. when in doubt, you can look for a sign that says 'self service' in the store front, or just follow the person in front of you.

5. long queue = good food?
singaporeans are willing to queue for good food, hence many believe that long queue = good food. these are the popular stalls, and in each hawker centers there are bound to be several STAR stalls which serve some of the best local cuisine. its hard to go wrong if you follow this rule.

6. ordering lingo
most of the hawker stalls are run by the older generation hence they might not be well-verse in english hence singaporeans tend to order in part-mandarin and part-dialect. however, you do not have to worry because 90% of the time, you can get away with ordering in english. the only problem some foreigners face is the seemingly complex options when ordering. take for example a plate of chicken rice, you can choose the type of chicken, the parts of the chicken and whether you want gravy on top of your rice. another good example is mince meat noodles, where you can choose the size, dry or soup version, spicy or non-spicy version, type of noodles and anything you wish to exclude from your noodles. do not freak out when you hear the local in front of you shooting off his/her order like a machine gun. he/she is probably just saying "$5, dry, spicy, vermicelli, without lard".

7. tissue paper peddlers
occasionally you might find such tissue paper peddlers trying to sell you packets of tissue paper. these packets of tissue paper are definitely more expensive than if you were to buy in bulk in a supermarket, but some will buy out of convenience (since napkins are not provided in hawker centers) or pity (because they are usually the elderly selling it). you are not obligated to buy from them so you can just politely turn down their offer and carry on eating your food. other than these tissue paper peddlers, there will also be drink stall owners asking if you would like a drink. you can just tell them your order and they will bring the drink to you and you pay them.

8. tray return stations
in recent years there are tray return stations in hawker center where you bring your empty plate to the stations and leave it there. again, be reminded to correctly split your plate and utensils into halal and non-halal tray return stations! if there isn't any tray return stations, it is perfectly fine to leave your empty plates on the table as there will be cleaners going from table to table to collect the empty plates. however, it will be courteous to the next customer and the cleaner to not make a mess of the table when eating.

9. takeaway charges
like most food establishments, stalls will likely charge an additional fee for takeaway or food to-go. the charge is usually in the range of $0.20 to $0.50 per portion, and serve to cover the cost of plastic containers or plastic bags for the takeaway.

10. toilets
toilets in hawker centers are mostly chargeable. they cost about 10 to 20 cents per person, per entry. some of the newly renovated hawker centers can have clean toilets with a supply of toilet papers, but the older ones might, not so it will be good to buy some tissue paper before entering.