I met up with YJ at the little stall #02-83 at Chinatown Hawker Centre. He wanted to share with me a lo mai kai / lou mai gai 糯米鸡 dish rarely seen, and soon to disappear from Singapore hawker centres. I was excited to try it - the last time I had this style of lo mai kai was in Scarborough, Canada.
The humble little stall doesn't really have a proper name. The simple signboard just states what it serves - clay pot and cooked food 😄 Below the main signboard, the menu of dishes can match
Uncle Hong 洪哥 is a 40+ year veteran of the wok. Uncle Hong was a disciple of the legendary Chef Tham Yew Kai 譚耀凱 at Lai Wah restaurant, the epitome of Cantonese cuisine of 1970s Singapore.
Besides the standard menu which is already quite extensive, Uncle Hong has quite a few off menu dishes up his sleeves. The lo mai kai is one of them. (He also has a duck version.)
Photo credit: Memory Detail
The late Chef Tham Yew Kai 谭锐佳 is one of Singapore's pioneer culinary legends of the 1960s to 70s. He appeared regularly on television, radio and Rediffusion (a pioneer "cable service") as well as wrote cook books and conduct cooking classes. He had legions of ardent fans from housewives to tycoons, many of whom swarmed his Lai Wah Restaurant. Chef Tham was one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Singapore cuisine credited for creating "Lo Hei Yee Sang" - today, an obligatory ritual at Chinese New Year gatherings throughout the world. We can experience a bit of Chef Tham's legendary dishes at Uncle Hong Kor's humble little hawker stall in Chinatown Complex food centre. But, do hurry as Hong Kor is already in his 80s with no successor.
For over forty years, Uncle Hong tames leaping flames and iron wok with his iron spatula oblivious to his own artistry, dishing out delicious dishes to his loyal following. In their 80s now, Uncle Hong and wife serve customers only from 11:30am to 12:30pm. Most of their time at the stall is spent on preparing ingredients to serve during the 1-hour business hour which is furiously hectic. Most of Uncle Hong's customers are middle aged regulars.
Initially, Uncle Hong wasn't overly enthusiastic about a
stranger poking around his little fort with a camera and asking
questions 😂 Fortunately, he warmed up a bit to my sputtering
Cantonese to allow me to understand a little about how his signature
lo mai gai is made.
The whole fresh chicken, gutted, is stuffed with fried glutinous rice, lup cheong (Cantonese waxed sausage), Cantonese liver sausage 膶腸, mushrooms, salted egg yolk, etc. The stuffed bird is fried, allowed to cool, then wrapped with pork caul or lace fat. Pork caul is an ingredient I have not seen in Singapore for a very long time. My late mum used to cook with pork caul during Chinese New Year.
The fat laced chicken is then enveloped with flour batter.
The whole fresh chicken, gutted, is stuffed with fried glutinous rice, lup cheong (Cantonese waxed sausage), Cantonese liver sausage 膶腸, mushrooms, salted egg yolk, etc. The stuffed bird is fried, allowed to cool, then wrapped with pork caul or lace fat. Pork caul is an ingredient I have not seen in Singapore for a very long time. My late mum used to cook with pork caul during Chinese New Year.
The fat laced chicken is then enveloped with flour batter.
The battered chicken is fried to a light golden brown crisp in boiling hot oil.
The lo mai kai is ready to serve.
The lo mai kai doesn't look very pretty outside as the lace fat breaks the shape of the bird. It looked like an out of shape ball of yarn 😂
But, the real beauty of this dish is just below the crisp surface.
The cavity is tightly packed with fried glutinous rice and lots of other ingredients. The dish is mainly sweet with subtle savoury undertones - in layers from the fried glutinous rice, mushrooms, lup cheong, the chicken meat, pork caul etc.
The salted egg yolk gave the dish a little savoury balance.
It's a nostalgic blend of flavours from old Canton that found its way to British Malaya with coolies and other immigrants from today's Guangzhou.
Each lo mai gai costs SGD80 (today's price SGD65 - Nov 2019). The price may seem a little on the steep side but this dish involves a lot of work and time. The process is tedious. Hence, few if any hawkers would make it. Nowadays in Singapore, only a small handful of restaurants serve lo mai kai and even then, on a pre-order off menu basis.
YJ ordered another dish which I haven't even heard of - Ku Lou Yok with hawthorn 山楂 (commonly known as sweet and sour pork). Instead of the usual ketchup, Uncle Hong marinates the pork with hawthorn 山楂, giving it its signature natural bright red colour.
Hawthorn has a more subtle sweetness, unlike sugary ketchup so we can taste more of the pork's natural sweetness.
YJ ordered yet another old school dish for us. Hor fun fried with preserved black bean sauce.
I like it that Uncle Hong uses broad hor fun made with mainly rice (not tapioca or corn). I like the soft feel and taste of rice in my hor fun.
The sweetness from the rice noodles, fresh Sang Yue (toman) fish slices, and crunchy bitter gourd is balanced with the savoury sauce made with soy and fermented black beans.
Recently, I also had ha cheong gai at Uncle Hong's (didn't take picture, can you believe it?). Uncle Hong's version is old school, savoury but milder than modern versions. We are able to taste the chicken's natural sweetness beneath the ha cheong (prawn paste) marinate.
👉 Uncle Hong is one of a handful of Singapore's pioneer hawkers cooking heritage dishes which
I heard Hong Kor also does a good claypot liver. Shall try that next time.
More dishes by Uncle Hong Kor 👈 click
Another version of lo mai kai at Maple Yip restaurant in Scarborough in Canada 👈 click
Chinatown Complex Heritage Food Trail 👈 click
Restaurant name: Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen 砂煲小厨
Address: #02-83, Chinatown Complex Market, 335 Smith Street, Singapore
Map: http://bit.ly/IkanBilisYTF
GPS: 1.282645, 103.842876
Hours: 11:00am to 12:00 noon (Sat & Sun off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 17 Jul 2017 and numerous times afterwards
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
Have to tolerate a little grumpiness for good food
ReplyDeletehahaha yeah lo
DeleteThe stall is only open for an hour?
ReplyDeleteyes 1 or at most 2 hours. they prepare all the ingredients before that, and cook very fast. but, there are always a lot of customers waiting
Delete