Looking for Zi Char places?

For something equally scintillating that is on the menu, look no further than Fatt Choy’s Mala Kaarage ($12++). They took the Sichuan staple of La Zi Ji (deep fried chicken bits in mala seasoning & peppercorns) and made it better by making it meatier. They took har jeong kai (prawn paste chicken) and deep fried it, then tossed it in mala chili crisp and some Sichuan peppers. The juicy chicken thigh chunks are delightfully sapid from the shrimp paste that permeated every last bit of chicken, and the savoury spice of the mala in conjunction with the already succulent chicken sets off all the fabulous flavour fireworks. And the crunch from the batter-oh this Mala Karaage was truly phenomenal. Especially when consumed with a cold pint from its sister establishment @goodluckbeerhouse right next door. It was perfect.⠀
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Thanks for having us, @kevin._.ngan & @fattchoyeatinghouse!

This here Chili Crab Cake isn’t on @fattchoyeatinghouse regular menu but it should be. A pair of absolutely stuffed crab cakes are doused in an eggy chili gravy and topped with a sizeable spoonful of ikura (salmon roe). The crab cake is stuffed full of shredded crabmeat that smelled and tasted clean, and all that mildly seasoned crab flesh was wrapped in a tastefully thin layer of breading. However, the crab cakes were a little too close to getting burnt and it started to taste a little like it. ⠀
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Fortunately, the chili gravy was there to salvage the situation with its egg-cellent egginess. This eggy chili gravy was more vinegary than usual, and it’s one of the sharper renditions of chili crab I’ve tried. It’s also subtly spicy & sweet with a decent dash of saltiness, and the thickness on the gravy ensures that it sticks to whatever you spread it on. The ikura provides delectable pops of briny savouriness, and enhances the flavours of the crab cake & gravy with its umami.⠀

Thanks for having us, @kevin._.ngan & @fattchoyeatinghouse!

[Bedok, Singapore 🇸🇬]

Famous Thick Sliced Fish Bee Hoon Soup 炸鱼肉来粉汤(鱼鸡） (S$7)
Smell great of alcohol. Thick chunk of deep fried boneless fish. Rich milky broth.

Tian Yu Tian Fish Head Steamboat 天舆天潮州鱼头炉
Address 🛖 : Blk 537 Bedok North Street 3, # 01-501, Singapore 🇸🇬 460537
Open 🕰️ : 11am - 2pm, 4.30pm - 11pm

Went to BLWH Seafood 3 weeks ago and ordered their Sambal Kang Kong ($10), Dry Ee Mee Small ($8), Claypot Tofu ($10), and their Prawn Paste Chicken ($12)!😇

Overall ratings 9/10! Food was good as I remembered, and it was super filling for 2 pax😁 Claypot Tofu was mid but the other dishes were 🔥 What's even better is that you can pay by CDC vouchers so + points for that😍 Would definitely head back again!

The Wat Tan Hor was apparently Ipoh Tuck Kee founder's signature dish and it's not hard to understand why.

Like the moonlight horfun, their wat tan hor hits you immediately with the intense wokhei flavour, and is topped with crunchy and umami filled pork lard. The star of the show however is the gravy. Whereas most hor fun is starchy and either salty or peppery, the gravy at Ipoh Tuck Kee is silky smooth, lusciously savoury and reminds me of the traditional Cantonese 羹 (think sharks fin or fish maw soup).

This was an immediate hit. It's slightly more expensive than your usual tzichar stall but definitely worth it as it also comes packed full of sliced pork, vegetables and prawns.

I must add though that we had a rather lackluster experience at their Toa Payoh Lorong 8 branch in comparison. The wokhei treatment was remarkedly less pronounced and the gravy was watery and bland. Not to sure if it's a one-off or outlet specific but do note that it may be a little hit and miss!

Once you’ve had your fill of the carrot cake, cleanse your palate with some Wagyu Beef Noodles ($16++). Despite the lavish use of wagyu shabu shabu, this beef noodle is surprisingly simple and homely yet tasty. The house made beef broth reminds me of pho due to its heartily herbal flavours, and the broth manages to strike a balance between light and easy to imbibe and rich & savoury. It’s the perfect dish to cheer you up, as that delightful broth is made lavish by the inclusion of the thicker than usual wagyu shabu shabu. These wagyu beef slices were tremendously tender and felicitously fatty, injecting a marvellous meatiness into the bedazzling beef noodles.⠀
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Thanks for hosting us, @kevin._.ngan & @fattchoyeatinghouse!

Carrot cake is a treasured hawker classic, so I was quite surprised to see it on the menu at @fattchoyeatinghouse. Their XO Carrot Cake ($15++) features cubes of radish stir fried with egg, beansprouts & eggs. Fatt Choy’s carrot cake is right up there with some of the best hawkers, as this eggy pile of deliciousness was full of wok hei, and seasoned superbly with the XO sauce & dark soy sauce. Due to the massive portion & the carrot cake being a tad oily, this is definitely a dish made for sharing.

Thanks for hosting us, @kevin._.ngan & @fattchoyeatinghouse!

You might just be as confused as I was, finding numerous stalls with iterations of the name "Ipoh Tuck Kee" around the island with similar sign boards and serving similar dishes.

I am not too sure if there is a back story invovled but the Ipoh Tuck Kee at Kelantan Lane is apparently one of those affiliated with the OG Malaysian Tzichar eatery from Ipoh and are led by the founder's descendants themselves.

Their signature dish is the Yut Kwong Hor or moonlight hor fun. The name apparently comes from the raw egg yolk which is placed on top of the dried fried hor fun just before it is served.

I love that there is a strong distinctive smokey wokhei taste in Tuck Kee's rendition and their pork lard is simply to die for. The sauce though was a little sweet and one-dimensional on its own own but do mix in the rich and creamy raw egg yolk to balance the flavours.

My one big complaint was that it took nearly 40 minutes for our food to be served and this was during a low peak period during the mid-afternoon. That said, it took nearly the same amount of time at their Toa Payoh Lorong 8 outlet during dinner!

The other veggie starter we had is the definition of ‘ugly delicious’. The Kou Shui Oyster Mushroom ($10++) is Fatt Choy’s vegetarian version of the beloved China classic kou shui ji, or poached chicken drowned in mala chili crisp. Fatt Choy’s rendition uses tempura oyster mushrooms doused in mala chili oil & chili crisp, and is every bit as delicious as its meaty counterpart. ⠀
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The tempura batter is different from what we’re used to, as Fatt Choy’s kitchen crew have settled on a more watery batter to better suit the texture of the oyster mushrooms after extensive experimentation. It’s less crispy, but it certainly suits the softer texture of the mushrooms. The flavour comes from the house made chili oil dressing, which consists of a copious amount of Lao Gan Ma & mala chili oil. The result is a spicy, numbing and stunningly savoury sensation that will make even carnivores forgo meat for a meal there.⠀
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Thanks for the invite, @kevin._.ngan & @fattchoyeatinghouse!

@fattchoyeatinghouse has a few superb vegetarian options when it comes to starters, and the Fried Silken Tofu & Omelette with Gochujang ($12++) is a mouthful both in name and in taste. Cubes of impossibly delicate tofu are coated in a thin batter and deep fried, and then stacked like a jiggly jenga tower on top of an omelette before getting drizzled with some gochujang sauce. ⠀
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I don’t know how, but the silken tofu is almost molten in texture, and one wrong move would cause it to completely fall apart. The tremendously thin batter crust was equally fragile, but its crisp was in direct contrast to the softness of the tofu. The omelette was serviceable, and you can wrap a cube of tofu in a strip of omelette if you’re so inclined. Almost all the flavour is supplied by the gochujang sauce, which oddly tastes a lot like the sweet sauce you’d get with yong tau foo. It’s pretty delicious though, and even as a tofu hater, I still enjoyed this appetiser.

Thanks for the invite, @kevin._.ngan & @fattchoyeatinghouse!

Established in 2006, this humble family-owned zi char eatery has been handed to 2nd-generation owner Geraldine Peh since 2016.
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The star is their claypot pork and herb soup / broth, simmered for 3.5 hours until the pork ribs are tender and fall-off-the-bone, with meaty savoury sweet bitter herbal flavour, picking up the mild notes of the soup / broth.
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Served with crunchy golden mushrooms with vegetal earthy sweet flavour, spongy soft dried tofu bean curd puffs with grainy sweet flavour, and crispy dried bean curd skin sheets with grainy savoury salty flavour.
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Good Year Seafood Village
@ 15 Tampines Avenue
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2021/11/best-of-singapore-hawkers-bak-kut-teh.html

The Kongsee might be gone, but it is certainly not forgotten as @fattchoyeatinghouse has taken over with many of the old hits on the menu. Yes, it’s still the same bossman @kevin._.ngan running the show.⠀

Another starter that probably gets overlooked a lot but you must order are the Ngoh Hiang Rolls ($8++). An amalgamation of chicken & shrimp is the filling that’s rolled up in a beancurd skin and deep fried, the beancurd skin exterior is crispy and crackling while the filling within is delightfully bouncy with an addictive bite to it. Besides shrimp & chicken in the filling, there are colossal chunks of diced water chestnuts mixed in for a refreshing & charmingly crunchy bite every now and then. Plenty tasty too, especially when you dip it into the mouthwatering mala sauce from the sublime Sichuan Dumplings.⠀
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Thanks for the invite, @kevin._.ngan & @fattchoyeatinghouse!