Craving for juicy bits of meat, dipped in a delicious gravy? Head to Old Punggol Satay at Alexandra Village ABC Market. If I may use a Singapore slang to sum up the satay experience here, the word is “shiok”!

Food on a stick is always fun to eat! That’s why satay (meat skewers) is one of my most favorite food. Most of the time I would satisfy my satay cravings at stalls #7 and #8 in Lau Pa Sat, which I have raved about over and over again. In my opinion, that particular stall is where you would find the best satay in Singapore.

But today, I highlight a different satay stall that is slightly away from town. Old Punggol Satay is run by Chinese folks. Muslims would have to skip this one, sorry! The food is strictly non-halal, with pork being offered as well.

Satay
SGD0.50 per stick

For 50 cents a stick, you get a good-sized portion of diced meat on the skewer, with options of chicken, mutton or pork. The tender meat slides off the stick easily, so you need not overwork those jaw muscles. Most importantly, the meat is nicely marinaded and perfectly grilled — neither too burned nor too underdone.

Even the ketupat (rice cake, also 50 cents each) is beautifully wrapped in pandan leaves, with the sweet fragrance permeating through.

The one key factor that distinguishes Old Punggol Satay from your run of the mill satay stalls is the peanut gravy dip. The special gravy is served with a large dollop of mashed pineapple sauce atop, resulting in an additional and much welcomed layer of flavor.

Very shiok!

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, Alexandra Village, hawker stall, Malay, Satay, Singaporean

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/old-punggol-satay/ | 6 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

The boss (cowboy?) himself is a kind man who should be an ambassador for the yellow ribbon project. He hires and trains ex-convicts as his stall assistants. Recently he appeared in the press for helping these individuals get a new lease of life. Bravo!

His giving spirit also shows in his food servings — very generous! I’m not sure if they are meant to be American-sized portions but they’re all huge. I think the most important thing here is that not only do you get much bang for your buck, all the food tastes marvelous. And I mean all of it — salad, beans, fries and all.

Chicken Chop
SGD5

Each dish comes with huge portions of crinkle-cut fries, beans and salad. The salad dressing in particular is delightfully sweet-tasting and pretty damn good. And with this coming from a vegetable hater, you know it’s really, really good.

The chicken chop consists of a cut of chicken that is so ample it almost fills up the entire plate! The meat is lightly marinated, and drenched in a tasty black pepper sauce that lends much flavor.

I also like that the stall serves chili sauce in bottles instead of the packet kind that you get at fast-food restaurants and certain other hawker stalls. Hawker stalls tend to give just two packets per customer, which is barely enough for a heavy chili eater like myself. And when you ask for more the hawker nags at you.

Beef Steak
SGD6

Steak lovers can rejoice as a succulent slab of your favorite meat would only set you back by 6 bucks. Similarly drenched in a pepper sauce, a well done steak turns out tender and juicy.

Despite the stall occupying a remote corner unit of the food centre, business is perpetually brisk, which speaks volumes about the food. If you visit them during the evening chow hours, chances are you would be vying with dozens of other waiting customers. When I tried to order a deep-fried chicken cutlet, I was told that I would have to endure a half-hour wait. That’s why I went for the chicken chop instead, which turned out to be an excellent and slightly healthier choice.

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, hawker stall, Western

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/wow-wow-west/ | 3 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

The humble plate of Hainanese chicken rice has even found its way onto the menus of luxurious hotel restaurants, Singapore airlines flights and also the Singapore food sampler given to tourists during the Singapore Food Festival. It’s, like, an unofficial national dish! Ironically it still is Hainanese chicken rice, except that overtime we’ve created our own Singaporean rendition of the dish.

With its prevalence also comes the debate on where you would find the best Hainanese chicken rice in town. A personal favorite for my Mom and I is Tong Fong Fatt. Having had my fair share of chicken rice at the well-known Boon Tong Kee chain, Tian Tian, or even the $21 chicken rice at Chatterbox of Meritus Mandarin Hotel, the only one that gives me cravings is Tong Fong Fatt. How about you?

Hainanese boneless chicken rice

To minimise the sinfulness of eating this oily dish, we would always ask for the skinless and less fattening breast meat. In general, the flesh from the chicken breast tends to be tougher, but the one here is very tender! What you see above is $6 worth of meat. A standard plate of chicken rice here would set you back by $2.50.

The thing we love most is the flavorsome sesame oil mixture that the chicken is drenched in. For me, this is the thing that gives the chicken its golden star. It’s a very fragrant, a little salty and a little sweet mixture. Each time I order the chicken I would simply throw all caution to the wind and indulge myself in this oily, calorific, but oh-so-yummilicious soupy mixture.

One time, the chicken rice seller who was chopping his chicken saw me scooping the sesame oil mixture onto my rice greedily. Without a word, he put down his meat cleaver, came out and topped up our plate with more of the delicious sesame oil mixture! Yummy!!

The rice itself is extremely fragrant (and oily) and even the soup is tasty too. I also love having the dark soy sauce and chili sauce — both of these — to go with my rice.

A trademark of the stall is the row of chicken carcasses that is displayed prominently in the glass cabinet, a clear testament of a good day at business. I think there are a number of tong fong fatt Hainanese boneless chicken rice stalls around. The two that I know of are at ABC Market and Maxwell Food Centre.

For you, what’s your favorite Hainanese chicken rice stall?

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, chicken rice, Chinese, Hainanese, hawker stall, Singaporean

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/tong-fong-fatt-hainanese-boneless-chicken-rice/ | 12 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

The portion they give for each plate of noodles is quite large, so I would find myself having difficulty finishing all of it. The wanton mee comes covered in a generous heap of sliced char siew (barbecued sweetened pork) that would no doubt satisfy all you char siew fans!

Wanton Mee (Noodle with Chinese Dumpling)
SGD2.50

What makes the full-egg noodles taste so good is the savory dark anchovy-based sauce. Yum! This same sauce can also be found in their other dish, the dumpling noodle. But personally, I still prefer the Pontian version where the sauce is sweet and spicy.

Not to forget, of course, is that you also get three delicious wantons in a bowl of tasty soup.

Dumpling Noodle
SGD2.50

Another recommendation is the dumpling noodle which I happen to like better. The three dumplings, also served in a bowl of soup, are of substantial size and worth every cent. Each one is stuffed with a large amount of filling underneath a thin translucent flour skin. Very yummy!

And this is the pleasant couple that run the stall. ieatishootipost confessed of his soft spot for them, and I can see why. When I mentioned that I was going to feature them in my blog, they were so happy and excited, and even insisted on giving my family a free meal! Of course, we had to decline their generous offer. Business is business right?

They said that they have been running their stall for more than two decades, and even used to have a canteen stall at Anderson Junior College before moving to ABC Market. Well, good for us then!

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, Chinese, hawker stall, Hong Kong, Noodle

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/50s-wanton-mee/ | 10 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

Don’t let this humble dish fool you — it packs a punch! The secret lies in the handmade fishballs. A chat with the lady boss revealed that her husband travels to a factory in old airport road everyday to make fresh batches of fishballs.

These fishballs are made from fresh fish. True to her word, you wouldn’t get the kind of flour-taste in those frozen fish or sotong (calamari) balls from the supermarket. You can really taste the freshness of the fish, without the slightest hint of the fishy stench. The texture is firm and springy too!

Fishball Noodle
SGD3/4

Each bowl comes at the price of 3 dollars, or 4 for a bigger portion. For the noodle, you have the option of thin noodles or mee pok (flat noodle), dry or soupy. My Mom and I prefer the dry version, where we can add in a lot of chili sauce (also handmade). The process of mixing chili sauce by tossing and turning the noodles with our chopsticks is strangely satisfying!

If the mixture gets too dry or spicy, you can seek relief from the bowl of soup that comes with the noodle! As the soup is made from the fishball stock, it is extremely flavorful and sweet with the fishball taste.

Bak Chor Mee (Minced pork noodle)
SGD3/4

Want more options? Go for the similarly-priced bak chor mee (minced pork noodle). This tastes very different from the fishball noodle. The lady boss assured us that no frozen meat is used, and even showed us the mushrooms used in the dish. They’re huge alright! So what you get here are really the top-notch ingredients!

Despite being just one of the dozen or so stalls selling noodles at ABC Market (situated right beside another fishball noodle stall, no less!), yong kee never fails to garner a steady flow of customers.

When you first visit this stall, the first thing that strikes you would be the brightly lit stall front. It’s purple, just like the bowls they use. Press clippings, media features and photos of celebrities that have previously patronised the stall are displayed prominently.

This is one stall that’s hard to miss. And there’s no reason why anyone should.

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, Chinese, hawker stall, Noodle

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/yong-kee-fishball-noodle/ | 5 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

Rather than being served with just these four condiments, many hawkers have decided to put a twist on the dish. At teng yu chee cheong fun porridge, you can have it wrapped with ingredients such as turnip, egg, char siew (barbecued pork) or prawn.

This Chee Cheong Fun has a filling of fresh prawn and vegetables. Before you know it, what is formerly just a simple dish of plain rice sheet rolls and sauce has transformed into something much more savory!

Fresh Prawn Chee Cheong Fun
SGD3

The ideal Chee Cheong Fun should be made up of very thin rice sheets. Not only would the dish taste better, it would look more colorful too, with the filling showing through the translucent rice sheets. I visited the outlet at Tiong Bahru Market, and found the rice sheets to be rather thick (pictured above). I did like the sauce and chili paste though.

Usually I would patronise the outlet at Alexandra Village where the Chee Cheong Fun fares much better (pictured below). Compare the two pictures. Can you see the difference?

Roasted Pork Chee Cheong Fun
SGD2.50

Observe how the reds of the char siew and the greens of the vegetables clearly show through the rice sheet. This is the way it should be! What a stark contrast from the prawn one above!

By the way, if eating the Chee Cheong Fun alone isn’t enough to fill your tummy, just add $1 to top it up with a bowl of porridge.

I noticed that the outlet at Tiong Bahru Market has diversified into selling Katong laksa as well. If you’re already thinking of checking out Teng Yu, I would strongly recommend the outlet at Alexandra Village just to be on the safe side. Please take note of the opening hours of the stall before you head down. There were more than a couple of times when I went there at the wrong time and they were closed.

Update: With the revamp of Alexandra Village Food Centre, the outlet has relocated to ABC Market.

While we’re on the subject, there’s another popular breakfast item in Singapore that’s also made from rice flour. Do you know what it is?

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, Chinese, hawker stall, Singaporean, Tiong Bahru

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/teng-yu-chee-cheong-fun-porridge/ | 15 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

Some of my personal favorites include ayam penyet, Muslim satay, Western food, Chinese rojak, Hainanese chicken rice, zi char and you tiao. But right now, I’m just going to feature one of the stalls that I frequent…

Fatty cheong! Now, ain’t that a catchy name? If you love char siew (barbecued pork) or wanton mee (noodle with Chinese dumpling), you would love Fatty Cheong! He does a kickin’ rendition of the dish and tops it off with the best char siew in town!

Wanton Mee (Noodle with Chinese Dumpling)
SGD2.50

See how the meat glistens? Okay, I know I’ve mentioned many times before that I don’t eat pork. But I admit I do cheat on occasion when I eat wanton mee, since it tends to come with char siew. Furthermore, this is said to be the best char siew in Singapore! How can anyone say no?

Unlike many places that serve char siew in thin, skimpy slices, what you get here is the real deal — thick and generous cuts of tender char siew, roasted to perfection with the right amount of charred bits. The meat tastes marvelous after being dipped in a sweet and yummy sauce. It is the real star of this wanton mee dish.

The chili sauce is very tasty too. I would scoop a big heap of it onto my plate each time. As for the wanton, I do prefer the deep-fried ones from Pontian, although the two soupy wanton you get here are pretty good too.

Dumpling Soup
SGD2.50 for 5 dumplings

If that’s not enough, there are bigger-sized dumplings that you can order as a side dish, each one containing a large chunk of juicy prawn! Yum!

Out of the half dozen or so wanton mee stalls at ABC Market, Fatty Cheong is the one that truly stands out (to me anyway). I heard he does a mean roast duck too!

Word has it that Fatty Cheong himself used to be slim when he first opened the stall 15 years ago. He named it “Fatty Cheong” anyway. But with such good food that he churns out, he did eventually live up to his own name, literally!

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, Chinese, hawker stall, Noodle, Singaporean

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/fatty-cheong/ | 11 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

ayam penyet is a popular rice dish found at most hawker centers. The chicken is deliberately smashed with a wooden mallet after deep-frying, apparently to loosen the meat from the bone.

Ayam Penyet (Smashed Fried Chicken)
SGD4

After my disappointment at Ayam Penyet Ria (the Indonesian restaurant at Lucky Plaza that just about everyone is raving about), I have become rather wary about trying this dish; I am afraid the chicken would turn out to be too dry and hence inedible!

But this particular stall consistently churns out an awesome ayam penyet! Not only is the chicken tender and juicy, along with the sinfully crispy skin, it also comes with a generous amount of super tasty chili sauce! Even as I’m perspiring from the spiciness, I would still ask for more chili because it’s just so shiok!

You know what’s the best part?

This stall is right at my doorstep! Haha! Bet you didn’t see that coming! It’s called “y.r.a. Aspirasa” located at ABC Market. Aside from ayam penyet they also sell numerous other ayam dishes. I’ve tried their ayam sambal, which was almost as good.

And if you go there on an evening, there’s a good chance you would catch me there too. Lol!

Note that there are a few stalls at ABC Market selling ayam penyet. So please make sure you go to the correct stall!

Y.R.A. Aspirasa ( Halal certified)
ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre
6 Jalan Bukit Merah #01-04
Singapore 150006

Bus services: 123, 14, 147, 153, 196, 197, 198, 855, 961
Nearest MRT: Redhill

Opening hours: 10am – 10pm daily

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, Ayam Penyet, Halal, hawker stall, Malay

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/yra-aspirasa/ | 30 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette

As its name suggests, customers are offered a choice of porridge in addition to rice. The porridge is served with tapioca!

Anyway, here’s a sampling of some of our favorite dishes.

Sze-Chuan Chicken with Dry Chili
SGD7 onwards

There’s the flavorful sze-chuan chicken with dry chili, a dish more commonly known by its Chinese name, “gong bao ji ding”.

Fried Kang Kong Belachan
SGD5 onwards

Fried kang kong belachan. I’m hardly a vegetable lover so for me to actually like a vegetable dish, it has to be really good!

Sweet & Sour Sliced Fish
SGD7 onwards

Sweet and sour sliced fish. Now, this is one dish that truly gives you value for money. For just 7 dollars (used to be 6), you are given a generous serving of fish! The lousy photo I took depicting mostly vegetables simply doesn’t do it justice.

February 3, 2007: My list of Best (& Worst) Restaurants in Singapore for 2006
- Runner-up for “Best Hawker Stall”

Posted by Veron in Food category | ABC Market, Chinese, hawker stall, Taiwanese, Zi Char

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/gu-zao-ren/ | 10 comments

You are reading the original content of Sparklette.
Republishing of content, photographs, design or RSS feed, whether in part or in full, is strictly not allowed.

© 2003-2010 Sparklette