Kalsom Kuih Muih Curry Puff (Epok-Epok) @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre [Singapore] #currypuff #yishunparkhawkercentre

Just two days ago, i wrote about Bon Appetit Hokkien Prawn Noodle and how i am always intrigued by one-dish stalls. Another one that took the cake at Yishun Park Hawker Centre is a stall that appeared to sell only curry puffs!

As i frequently jog past the hawker centre as part of my usual running route and the stall faces Yishun ring road, i couldn't help noticing that it's constantly closed! Hence, since it was open for business on the day i had hokkien mee, i decided to just go ahead and order despite the already full stomach.

The variety was relatively wide even for curry puffs and you can find beef rendang, beef, mutton, chicken, potato, sardine and vegetable. Pricing (ranged between S$1.50-S$2.80) might be considered high for epok-epok (the Malay term for curry puff) but you have to take into consideration the size! p.s. the two puffs on top of the display in the picture are cushions.

To put it in perspective, let us have a visual comparison with my iPhone XR. The usual Malay style epok-epok is way smaller but compared to Chinese curry puffs, the puffs here were longer in length (about palm-sized) yet flatter in height. To me, size does matters in curry puffs as i tend to overindulge when they are pint-sized.

Potato Puff - my apology for not taking a picture of the insides; by the time i realized, i was already down to my last piece! There were in fact many diced potatoes within and the flavour was not as spicy as i expected. The folded parts were crispy but the rest of the puffs were more flaky pastry like. In summary, it's something i would order again if the stall were ever open for business when i am there. 

Sardine Puff - i generally don't crave for sardines but when it comes to epok-epok, there's a high chance i would give it a try. Recognized by the red dot on the puffs, the filling was generous and it remained wet which i thought was quite a feat since it could easily tear through the thin pastry shell. 

Taste wise, i absolutely love this! It was spicier than the potato puff yet the taste, combining spiciness, sweetness and the fishiness from sardines, was way more shiok! It helped that i got to indulge more with the bigger size! Yum yum! 

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Address

51 Yishun Avenue 11, 

#01-01, Yishun Park Hawker Centre,

Singapore 768867

Map

As above.

Website

https://yishunparkhc.sg/

Pricing

Potato Puff - S$1.50

Sardine Puff - S$1.50

Bon Appetit Hokkien Prawn Noodle (佳香味福建炒虾面) @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre [Singapore] #yishunparkhawkercentre

Whenever i see a hawker stall selling just one dish, my curiosity would be piqued as the operator must be darn confident of what he/she offers without the need to diversify their customer base. Put it this way, a family of five might not all like cheng tng; one may prefer ice kacang and another could have a craving for chendol instead. 

I was therefore intrigued by Bon Appetit Hokkien Prawn Noodle when i was waiting for my order of the Hakka Thunder Tea Tofu Bowl from Ah Lock Tofu at Yishun Park Hawker Centre a few weeks ago. 

There was only hokkien mee on the menu and the only options, aside from the serving size, are whether you want your hokkien mee to be wrapped or served on opeh leaf, which was commonly used a long time ago as packaging material before plastic and Styrofoam came into the picture.

S$2 more, 50% extra, for a more traditional feel wasn't something i can stomach and i opted without the opeh leaf. When i went to collect the fried noodle, the first thing that came to my mind was the portion; i requested for the cheapest S$4 and the serving was generous! 

Another happy thing that made my heart flutter; this particular hokkien mee was unusually wet with so much gravy! While i was disappointed with that single one prawn, the disappointment dissipated when i found a few more hidden underneath the noodles.

The hokkien mee was delicious; the gravy was chockablock full of flavour that appeared to be the result of a savoury broth involving both prawns and pork. I also love the significantly higher ratio of thick bee hoon over yellow noodles! Chilli paste was, in my opinion, pure puree chilli; not exactly my cup of tea as it was a tad too spicy for me! Oh, remember to squeeze in the lime for that extra zesty oomph! 

Satisfied max! I think i am now spoilt for choice at Yishun Park Hawker Centre since so far, i have enjoyed the burger from shaker lakers, the hakka thunder tea bowl and the handmade wanton mee! There are more to come in this blog as i also took the opportunity to try the curry puffs and another western food stall on the same day! 

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Address

51 Yishun Avenue 11, 

Yishun Park Hawker Centre,

 #01-12, Singapore 768867

Map

As above.

Pricing

Hokkien Mee - S$4.00

(10% discount if you pay via the Tuck Shop app)

Fishball Minced Meat Mee Pok Noodles from 644 Hougang Teochew Fishball Noodle Stall @ Broadway Food Centre [Yishun Block 414]

It has come to my attention that my craving for noodles has intensified recently and this phenomenon can be noticed from my recent posts on char kway teow, hokkien mee, wanton mee, ramen etc.

Last Saturday was no exception. A breakfast meetup with my mom and elder sister at Yishun 400 plus neighbourhood centre, and no surprise; i decided to check out the fishball minced meat mee pok from the above stall which commanded quite a decent queue.

My bowl of fishball minced meat mee pok; seven years ago, i actually blogged about a fishball noodle stall, (which i enjoyed) but from the look of the signboard, i guess this is a new stall. 

What do you look out for in a bowl of noodles? Personally, it depends on what kind of noodle dishes. When it comes to local noodle favourites like wanton mee, fishball noodle etc; the noodle ranks the highest whereas the rest of the ingredients play a complementary role. 

Remembering how amazing the noodle from the previous operation was; this fell a bit short of expectations. While it was well cooked and coated nicely with the tomato sauce, the overall flavour skewed towards the bland side with normal tasting fishballs, fishcakes and minced pork that didn't particularly stand out.

Teochew fishball noodle usually exhibits a unique style that i find irresistible but this stall fails to reflect that style; rendering it to just any normal fishball noodle stalls spread out all over Singapore, albeit one that's slightly better than the average. For classic Teochew style fishball noodle stalls, check out Chao Zhou Fishball Noodle (潮州鱼丸粿条面).

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Address

Block 414, Yishun Ring Road, 

Broadway Food Centre,

Singapore 760414

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Fishball Minced Meat Mee Pok - S$3.00

Hock Kee Fried Kway Teow (福记鲜蛤炒粿条) @ Berseh Food Centre [Jalan Besar, Singapore] #BersehFoodCentre

Berseh Food Centre is one of those places that i passed by a few times while on public transportation yet never quite got around to trying the food stalls there. Things are now different with COVID-19 and i actually specially made a trip down last Sunday just to check it out. 

With stalls spread over two levels, i had already researched on what i should try for lunch but given the limited stomach capacity, i zeroed in to char kway teow, fried oyster and oyster cake. A pity that fried oyster stall is opened only in the evening  and the oyster cake commanded a wait of more than 30 minutes! 

Guess i would only be able to indulge in the noodles from Hock Kee Fried Kway Teow (福记鲜蛤炒粿条). If i had known that the oyster cake has such a long wait; i would have ordered it before i queued up at the char kway teow stall.

My plate of char kway teow (with an extra egg) after about 10 minutes. The aroma was enticing and i couldn't wait to dig in! Note that i didn't ask for extra sauce but from the look of it; maybe i should! 

As expected, it wasn't as sweet as i would have wanted it and the wok hei, while in existence, wasn't impressive. What i did like was that the operator would take quite a bit of water from the container of fresh cockles and mix it into the noodles; resulting in a nice, cockle-rich flavour infused into the noodles. 

There appeared to be more of the eggs; when i usually ask for an extra egg, it didn't feel that ther was much more. hm.... perhaps the operator didn't mix in the eggs thoroughly in the wok? Well, i shouldn't be complaining.

Cleaned up except for the 3 cockles at the side. Pity it didn't quite warm the cockles of my heart. For those wondering if there was any pork lard; i didn't find any.

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Address

166 Jalan Berseh, #01-16,

Berseh Food Centre,

Singapore 208877

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/FuJiFriedKwayTeow/ 

Pricing

Char Kway Teow - S$3.00

Extra Egg - S$0.50

Aburi-En - 3-Kind Buta Combo Jyu with Pork Belly, Loin and Jowl @ Orchard Central [Singapore] #aburien

Now that i can't travel at all, even my friends have noticed that i am blogging more about food in Singapore. It isn't that bad of a thing actually since that was a key theme in my earlier days and the little red dot is filled with hidden gems!

Aburi-En wasn't that hidden with at least six branches spread across Singapore and while i am subtly aware of its existence, there wasn't much of a push for me to try its food until a friend suggested having dinner there.

Specializing in grilled rice bowls with interesting chestnut pork as their signature meat, i was stuck in a dilemma; should i go with their chef's recommended pork loin, popular pork jowl (cheek) or pork belly, the part i usually like?

Well, we all had the donburi which came in individual bowl for each of us; hence, i don't understand the need to pass us plates since we wouldn't be sharing our food. Answer to be given later.

Okinawa Berries Shiquasa - a non-alcoholic drink made of a citrus fruit said to "gave people in Okinawa its fame for longevity", berry syrup and soda; this was too sourish for my liking and i didn't read the part beforehand that it was mixed with soda as i am not a fan of carbonated drink.

The key word on the promotional tabletop placard was 1 for 1. 

3-Kind Buta Combo Jyu - to be honest, time passes so quickly when you have great company! I didn't even realize we almost waited for 30 minutes for our food! Solving our dilemma on whether we should have either pork loin, pork jowl or pork belly; this 3-kind combo is a godsend.

Wait, where's our rice?! I was craving badly for carbohydrates as i had restricted their intake during breakfast and lunch! There were so much meat; the rice (said to be the top quality nanatsuboshi rice from Hokkaido) was actually hidden underneath. 

Apart from the initial shock of not finding rice, i was enamored by the mouth-watering aroma of freshly grilled meat and the beautiful sight of the charred bits on the meat! Bet they would be delicious! 

Rice in sight! My friend claimed that's not enough rice for the meat we had although i think it was alright without realizing that the depth was frankly rather shallow. 

Those stack of plates are necessary; you need to put all your meat (comprising two pieces of pork loin, three pieces of pork belly and four pieces of pork jowl) on it for ease of eating! So, is this combo the best of all three pork worlds (namely, the loin, the jowl and the belly)?

They were lip-smacking good but there were preferences of course, with jowl being the least favourite for its harder texture and saltiness. Loin was tender but the best had to be the pork belly; sinfully fatty and most flavourful! 

The rice was definitely insufficient as it played a darn important role in balancing the meat flavours and you know what's best about it? It was infused with the yummy aroma of grilled meat! 

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Address

181, Orchard Road,

#01-16, Orchard Central,

Singapore 238896

(Above Somerset MRT Station)

Other Branches

As above.

Website

http://aburi-en.com/

Order List

As above.

Pricing

Okinawa Berries Shiquasa - S$5.80 (original)

3-Kind Buta Combo Jyu - S$18.00

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)