Dunman Duck Rice (Dunman Food Centre)

“Kway Chap” stalls are getting rarer these days. Most likely because preparation of this hawker dish is labour-intensive and more people are increasingly health-conscious. I feel, besides the older generation, not that many crave this traditional #nosetotail braised dish often, if at all, these days. Clearly, this shows my age because I still love it 😆
My favourites are quite close to home - #fengjikwaychap at Jalan Batu and the no-name stall run by an elderly couple at Jalan Benaan Kapal Food Centres. Each has their strengths. Therefore, in my ideal world, it would be the fried garlic and coriander garnished extra thin “kway” (rice sheets), large intestines, “tau kee”, “tau kwa”, hardboiled eggs, “zhup” (gravy) and spicy-tangy chilli from the former coupled with the pork belly, pig’s skin, pig’s stomach and “tau pok” from the latter.
But of course, I am always on the lookout for other stalls to try. And “Dunman Duck Rice” in the basement of Dunman Food Centre is pretty good as well. Their sauce is very viscous and quite herbal. You can get braised duck to go with the “kway chap” items but I tend to skip it. I like that they offer hard-to-find pig’s ears along with the braised pork and parts of the pig. Their chilli dip is very vinegar-forward, which could be too intense for some. Pricing is ridiculously cheap. We paid less than $12 for everything shown in my Reel.

The duck rice comes in $3/4/5. The sauce with the rice is a perfect combination and I really love the herbal soup here too well

Dunman Duck Rice is another choice of best duck rice in Joo Chiat instead of Marine Parade. Kway Chap ($3.50) is so not thick gravy and less salty taste that I have eaten at Katong Shopping Centre before. I will be coming back again for duck rice again soon or probably next year.

It might be hard to fathom why anyone would be willing to wait for up to half an hour for braised pig offal, but that's exactly what I found myself doing one rainy Sunday morning at Dunman Food Centre, and oh boy was it worth it. We got a mix of everything to try along with two bowls of noodles. The intestines and skin were beautifully tender and gelatinous yet retained some bite, whilst spongy strips of tau pok were practically bursting with flavour from having been soaked interminably in the braising liquid. Hidden under the mound of other ingredients, elusive slices of tender pork belly and duck meat awaited discovery by my chopsticks probing for hidden treasure. A rare few pristine white cubes of fishcake made for a pleasant surprise. Of course, eggs are a must and I ordered 2. Slurp down everything along with the silky flat rice noodles and soup. Magic.

Taste: 4/5

My itchy mouth craved something extra to accompany my favourite Ah Huat wanton noodles. So a plate of braised-in-dark-sauce (卤汁) goodness from Dunman Duck Rice (stall 10 in the basement level) was called in to scratch that itch. I am especially partial to pig's ears, big intestines and eggs prepared this way. Their chili dip could be a little more tart though.