Today is my regular medical appointment at NUH Singapore, and a chance to explore the hawker centres nearby. I picked Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre (near Buona Vista MRT station) today as I have not been here for almost 10 years.
Unfortunately for us, most of the hawker stalls were closed as it was a Monday. Circling the food centre a few rounds, we really didn't see anything that immediately caught our fancy.
Then, it started to pour heavily and I felt trapped and a little disheartened with no blog worthy food to eat π
Then, this bunch of black ropes caught my eye. Experience tells me that the uglier the char siew, the better it is likely to be. I stood a while at the stall, wondering whether or not to commit my calories and meagre cholesterol allowance to this. I got only one shot, before I have to face my doctor an hour later.... π±
Meanwhile, a queue had started to form at the stall - usually a good sign. We joined in at the back of the line without further ado.
The two ladies just ahead of us were long time fans of Jiu Jiang. They know all the good eats in Ghim Moh and were full of praise for Jiu Jiang's roast duck, siew yok (roast pork belly) and char siew.
The boss Mr Loke is a picture of focus and concentration as he worked at full steam to clear the long line of patient but hungry customers as quickly as possible.
Unsure about what to try, we ordered everything. We had a mixed plate with rice to sample the char siew, siew yok and roast duck. (Price SGD5).
It's not a good idea.
I like the textures and flavours as the tasty pieces of roasts had the requisite tender, moist and crispy parts in the right places. But, I felt that the small pieces couldn't really bring out the best flavours in the roasts. The slightly dry, stiff rice also got in the way.
Fortunately, I had also ordered SGD5 worth of char siew to taste. Otherwise, I would have to return to the long queue, which was longer now as it was lunch time already. Ghim Moh food centre is a popular lunch place for office workers around the area.
The char siew was so delicious π I was delighted π
I had requested for the fatty cut - the only way I eat my char siew π The meat and fat were tender and juicy. The flavour was savoury sweet, leaning slightly on the savoury (salty) side. There was also a subtle smokey taste at the charred edges. What's missing was a bit of natural porcine sweetness. (This differs from those I've tried in KL which lean on being caramel sweet along with a bit of sweet porky taste).
π With Jiu Jiang in Ghim Moh, I am happy that I can get my crystal char siew fix in a Singapore hawker centre. It's delicious and reasonably priced too.
Next, I would like to come back for more in depth tasting of the siew yok and roast duck which Ghim Moh folks told us is the best this side of Singapore.
More top choices at Ghim Moh Food Centre π click
Restaurant name: Jiu Jiang Shao La δΉζ±η§θ
Address: 01-17, Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre. 20 Ghim Moh Rd, Singapore 270020
GPS: 1°18'40.4"N 103°47'19.6"E | 1.311225, 103.788773
Hours: 11:00am to 2:00pm or sold out (Weds off)
Non Halal
Date: 15 May 2017
Do you happen to know what the "Jiu Jiang" stands for? Is it the owner's name?
ReplyDeleteJiu Jiang is a city in Jiangxi,China. My guess is that this stall is named after the city.
ReplyDeleteWent to this stall the first time on this Sunday morning. After some 25 min in the queue,I asked for duck leg rice. "no duck leg rice" (there were several ducks hanging there. No reason given and I didn't ask) .so I ordered duck breast meat and rice. Wanted to have 5 dollars of char siew and roast pork. "no, minimum 10 dollars" was the answer. However, mixed char siew and roast pork rice at 3 dollars was offered. Needed to try and I went for it. Alas, forgot to ask for fatty one so the char siew was very dry. Was not the sweet type that I like. The roast pork was good so was the duck meat... Oh, the rice was on the dry side as mentioned by johorkaki. Overall the experience was not good.
ReplyDeleteThank you liketoeat fpr your update. Appreciate it much.
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