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Still feeling a little silly from my not-too-successful attempts at Singapore Char Kway Teow and Dry Fishball Noodles, I saw something that made me feel even sillier...
There's actually a Singaporean Kitchen and Bar that serves exactly what I failed to recreate at home!
:S
Naturally, I booked a table ASAP to see if they can help me with my Singapore food cravings...
We had the Char Tow Kway (Fried Carrot Cake), the white version. I was really happy with this dish, it's very close to what I had in Singapore, tasty carrot cake chunks fried with eggs, and I especially enjoyed the delicious sambal (chilli paste) it was served with.
Their Bakuteh isn't the brown, Malaysian type I normally make at home (with ready-to-use instant spice pack, of course), it's the peppery clear broth version. The broth was not too bad, and I like the intestines, but the ribs were nowhere near tender enough. I won't order this again.
The Bak Chor Mee (Dry Fishball Noodle) I tried to make at home...after simply mixing the whole bowl, something still wasn't right...something's missing.
Yep! It's the thick black sauce with chilli they served on the side, after mixing everything, bingo! The flavors were exactly the ones I've been missing. In terms of flavor, I'd totally go back for this bowl of noodles, but the noodle itself lacks the chewy quality the Singapore version has. If I managed to find the correct vinegar for this dish, I'll try to recreate this again at home using fresh fettucini.
When I saw Singapore fried rice noodles with see ham (cockles) was the Tuesday Special, I ordered it immediately! When it was served, I had my doubts seeing how pale the color was compared to Singapore char kway teow. Seeing how it is served with sambal and half piece of lime, I was wondering if they made this the way they make mee goreng, instead of char kway teow? Mee goreng or char kway teow, it lacked flavors. I had to ask for another serving of sambal for more flavors, and it still ended up flavorless.
I gave up, but no way I'm gonna waste a good amount of noodles. I had most of the dish packed to be "tweaked" at home.
Since I still have some leftover rice...I turned the kway teow goreng/char kway teow leftover into a version of...
Nasi Goreng Campur Campur (Mixed Fried Rice)
I simply added 1 clove of minced garlic, sauteed in a bit of olive oil, added a bowl of leftover rice, a dash of fish sauce, light soy sauce and sweet soy sauce....and I could pack two servings of lunch.
^_^
Absolutely delicious, nothing's wasted.
The barley drink isn't sweet enough, maybe it's the healthier less-sugar Hong Kong version ^_^ but the kaya smoothie was a delight! The pandan is very fragrant, and it's mixed with sweet and rich coconut milk (it should probably be named pandan smoothie though?). Anyway, absolutely sinful and delicious!
PS. I was extremely disappointed when I was informed that they didn't have grilled stingray that day. Sad, sad, sad.
PS2. Have you ever doggie-bagged less-than-satisfying restaurant dish to tweak at home?
PS3. If you wanna try...
Shiok
G/F, 66 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong
中環卑利街66號地下
Tel: +852 2899 2001
Another dish I sorely miss from Singapore...the char kway teow (fried rice noodles). The Hong Kong version I could find in local coffee shops (char chan teng) are the yellow Char Kway Diew, spiced with curry powder, which I haven't seen in both Singapore or Malaysia ^_^'
I wish I could just book a flight for a sweet and short weekend in Singapore, enjoying all the food I've been missing and gaining instant 10-20 lbs...but due to the bun in the oven, doctor recommended me not to keep my ass in Hong Kong, just in case ^_^
If Rita can't go to Char Kway Teow, then Char Kway Teow needs to go to Rita...or at least a pirated, inauthentic-desperate version of it.
Recipe
- a heaping plate of fresh hor fun, each strand well separated (I had to wake up at 8 on a weekend to score a HK$3.50 bag of fresh hor fun)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 red chilli (or more if you can handle it)
- 1 sprig of spring onion, cut into 3-4 parts length wise
- Chinese sausages (lap cheong), half red, half black (skip the black if you don't like the taste of liver), thinly sliced, replace with meat/seafood if not available
- Fishcake (sliced), or replace with any meat/seafood
- a handful of beansprouts
- olive oil, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) or sugar, oyster sauce, pepper
- 1 egg
Saute garlic, chilli and shallot in hot olive oil until fragrant, add meat/chinese sausages and fish cake, add noodles, season with all sauces, add beansprouts and spring onion, mix well, crack an egg onto pan, let cook for a bit and mix well, adjust seasoning if necessary, serve hot.
It didn't exactly taste like my favorite char kway teow from a neighborhood hawker center in Choa Chu Kang...still yum, but I still want the real deal. A friend of mine is trying out a Singaporean eatery tonight, my fingers and toes are all crossed hoping to find a place that serves a good char kway teow in Hong Kong.
I haven't found a place that serves fantastic Singapore food in Hong Kong.
But, it's probably because I don't eat out much :P
I've lived in Singapore for about 2 years and love Singapore food so, so much. In fact, I loved the food so much, I gained a gadzillion pounds when I was there! What's there not to love? Hainanese chicken rice with roasted chicken (the brown skinned one, or sometimes char siew), curry puffs, carrot cake, grilled stingray, laksa, barbecued chicken wings, char kway teow...and there's one thing I miss the most...something I haven't been able to find....
Dry Fishball Noodles (Meepok)
I searched high and low for recipes online...and finally found one that I found doable for me...and its from my good blogging friend, Tigerfish from Teczcape!
Here's my adaptation...
Recipe
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 0.5 lb minced pork
- dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, fish sauce, olive oil, chiu chow chilli oil, chinese black vinegar, white pepper
- 2 portions of dry flat egg noodles
- spring onion and crispy shallot to garnish
Store bought items:
- Fishballs, fish cakes, with soup (I cheated big time, I bought these from a fishball noodle stall downstairs ^_^). Alternatively, you can make your own clear soup to slurp with the dry noodles, chicken stock/beef stock/vegetable stock or seafood stock will do.
Saute minced garlic with a generous amount of olive oil until fragrant, add minced pork, cook until the meat's cooked through, season and taste until you achieve a balance of savoury and tangy. Cook noodles until al dente, drain, place in a bowl, add the meat mixture on top, garnish with spring onion and crispy shallot, serve with fishballs, fishcakes and soup on the side.
Did what I made taste really close to the original? Unfortunately, no T_T...mine wasn't spicy, tangy and satiny enough, plus, it's a little too sweet...and I haven't figured out which flavor I've missed...or maybe I because the way I "adapted" the recipe (deviated too far to be called an adaptation? hehe).
But until I could get my hands on a bowl of Singaporean dry fishball noodles, I'll keep making this.
I lived in Singapore for about 1.5 yrs. I gained loadsssss of weight cos of the good, cheap food there. Every time I visit, these are some of the things I MUST have:
Fried Carrot Cake (diced carrot cake, covered with egg, pan fried) & Char Kway Teow (fried rice noodles, the Hong Kong version is just NOT the same)
Fried kway teow with gravy (those are all from Takashimaya Food Court)
No word can describe how much I miss this one: Dry Fishball Mee (this one is at Lucky Plaza's Food Junction)
Where does Hainanese Chicken Rice come from? Hainan? Noooo, Singapore!
The Street Ice Cream uncle's stall at Orchard Road
I got myself a Taro Ice Cream Sandwich, great for the hot, balmy day (Singapore weather report: hot, hotter, hottest. Balmy, Balmier, Suffocating. Opppsss, sorry folks!)
Caesar Salad & Chocolate Latte from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at St. Elizabeth Hospital (yes, we, Indonesians, practically live there)
Get your greasy fix here at Old Chang Kee 
T
he famous Curry Puff
When will I see you again, my little curry puff? (This was really someone's nickname).