It was serendipity bumping into Annette Tan at a media tasting a few weeks ago. Somewhere between the third and fourth courses, Caecilia (Instagram: @singaporeliciouz who also happened to be there) and I planned a visit to Annette’s established Peranakan private dining: @fat_fuku. This was to be my second meal at her place, and besides that highly-instagrammed Crispy Mee Siam, every other dish she served was new to me. I must say, I enjoyed her food even more this time.
What was to be ranked as one of my top two favourites of the night was her Pork Belly Buah Keluak Nasi Briyani. The name had me momentarily baffled (there‘re Chinese, Peranakan and Indian elements in it) but the taste unquestioningly wow-ed. Supremely fragrant, the fluffy grains of rice were coated in the black nut’s earthiness, making it a carb befitting the fall-apart-soft, fatty meat that’d been braised in the same inky buah keluak sauce.
I loved how the accompaniments of sambal belachan and achar added savoury spiciness and a bright tart crunch to the flavour profile.