My friend Daphne contacted me to visit her newly opened cafe at Golden Wall Centre (just a short walk from Rochor MRT station). She wanted me to try her family's Granny Lee sauce.
I first met Daphne when she was managing her dad's Hui Mian Zhi Jia Pontian Noodle House in Pontian (back in 2014). Hui Mian Zhi Jia closed after Daphne's dad retired - she just opened BE Here Cafe with her husband Shan who is a Le Cordon Bleu trained Western cuisine chef.
BE Here Cafe is all about Granny Lee sauce.
There is an interesting story behind the creation of Granny Lee sauce.
For the dinner banquet of Shan and Daphne's wedding at Ritz Carlton, they decided to serve Pontian noodles from Daphne's dad for the customary carb dish. However, as it was not possible to make authentic Pontian sauce in volume, a different sauce had to be created for the noodle dish.
After much trial and error but without success, Shan's mother received an inspiration in her sleep. She woke Shan up and they created the sauce at 3am in the morning. It's a blend of rice oil, scallion, bay and basil leaves, soy sauce, garlic, chili and sugar.
It turned out a great success. The noodles and sauce were very well received by the wedding banquet guests.
Shan's family soon found out that the sauce worked very well with many dishes. They decided to bottle it so more people can enjoy it. They dedicated the sauce to Shan's grandmother Granny Lee.
Granny Lee came to Singapore from China in the 1930s. When her husband passed away, Granny Lee singlehandedly raised her 5 children by working as a domestic servant with a British family.
Even then, Granny Lee had a generous spirit and would help people who were even less fortunate than her. When her children were grown up and started working, they gave her allowances from their then small salaries. To Shan's mother's dismay, she found out that Granny Lee gave away the allowances which her children gave her.
When Granny Lee passed away, her children were saddened that none of the people whom she helped came to send her off. Some time later, a group of old folks asked to meet Shan's mum. When she arrived, the old folks knelt and everyone including Shan's mum were in tears. The old folks revealed that they didn't know Granny Lee had passed away. They told Shan's mum how much Granny Lee had helped them, and how they loved and missed her.
From then on, Shan's mum understood Granny Lee and followed her example in doing charity work. The sauce is named Granny Lee in her honour. The cafe is also called BE Here, as B. E. are Granny Lee Boon Ee's initials.
BE Here cafe serves a version of that Pontian noodle with Granny Lee sauce from Shan and Daphne's wedding.
The Pontian noodles come in slender mee kia and broad mee pok versions. The Granny Lee sauce comes in three flavours - original, hot and peppercorn. The Granny Lee noodle sets come with a (3 in 1) coffee/ tea (bag) / canned drink for $5.50 - $5.80.
I prefer BE Here's mee pok as it is broader than any that I can find in Singapore. Shan cooks the mee pok a notch softer than al dente as most customers like it this way. You can request for stiffer if you like more spring in your noodles.
As I like my noodles to have punchy tasting sauce, I like the peppercorn version of Granny Lee sauce most. The well balanced mildly savoury herby sauce with a peppery accent worked well with the mee pok. You can add more Granny Lee sauce if you like your noodles more slurpy and wet with sauce.
BE Here's noodles come with chicken soup with two good sized wantons, the same style as at Daphne's dad's Pontian shop. The smooth wanton skin wraps finely minced pork and ti poh (dried fish).
Shan demonstrated this stir fried chicken dish which we loved very much. The fresh chicken chunks were marinated overnight with Granny Lee original flavour sauce. They were then stir fried and tossed with Granny Lee peppercorn flavour sauce before serving.
It worked really well, demonstrating the versatility of Granny Lee sauce for home cooking. The mildly savoury herby sauce complemented the natural sweetness of the fresh chicken. Shan said that with Granny Lee sauce, anyone can whip up a delicious meal easily.
Shan also demonstrated Granny Lee Original sauce with sauteed mushrooms. Same mildly savoury herby flavour which complemented the earthly savoury taste of the spongy fresh mushrooms.
If you wish to try Granny Lee sauces, BE Here retails the 180 gram bottle at $8 each.
BE Here Cafe is at level two inside Golden Wall Centre which is accessible only by lifts. It is the only eatery inside the building which is relatively quiet (the building is slated for en bloc redevelopment) - meanwhile, it is a peaceful hideout in Singapore's busy city centre.
👉 Come and check out the Pontian noodles with Granny Lee sauces. If you like the unique savoury herby sauce, get some to use it in your home cooking. I think it works really well to bring out the natural taste of fresh meat and vegetables while adding a nice complementary savoury herby layer of flavour.
Restaurant name: BE Here
Address: 89 Short Street, Golden Wall Centre, #02-12, Singapore 188216 (steps from Rochor MRT station)
GPS: 1°18'13.2"N 103°51'05.5"E 🌐 1.303661, 103.851530
Tel: 96820999
Hours: 11:00am - 4:00pm (Sat & Sun off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 23 Nov 2018
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments submitted with genuine identities are published