If you know me, right... . You will know that I am not really a big fan of franchise stalls. So, my eyes and mind unconsciously blanked out Bedok Chwee Kueh 勿洛水粿 even though I passed the stall many times at Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre. (Bedok Chwee Kueh is a franchise with many outlets throughout Singapore.)
Then yesterday, when I was about to leave Bedok Interchange H C, I decided to unload my unused calorie quota on the Bedok Chwee Kueh stall. It's like throwing your spare change at any random slot machine as you were leaving the gaming room and didn't want to take home any foreign coins.
My $1 coin got me two pieces of chwee kueh (or literally water cakes) topped with chai poh and hae bee hiam. (Swee swee buay chao chwee, as they say in Hokkien.)
As luck have it, I hit the jackpot.
It's not just that I don't fancy franchises, but I also hadn't had a good chwee kueh for quite a long time so I became a bit jaded about the dish in Singapore (where many artisanal hawkers struggle and often lose the fight to survive).
Bedok Chwee Kueh restored my faith in franchise food and chwee kueh.
Some dishes like chwee kueh are more suited for mass production than
others, say char kway teow for example.
First things first - the rice cake itself.
It was soft smooth and just slightly firmer than egg custard. When I sliced through that rice cake with a plastic fork, there was even a subtle jelly jiggle and bounce. I like it that the kueh had the subtle sweetness, taste and aroma of rice - it's a rice cake after all, not a whatever starch cake.
The chai poh (菜脯 pickled radish) chopped to just the right size bits were slow stewed in vegetable oil with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. So, the stewed chai poh retained a light springy crunch (and weren't soft and mushy). The flavour was a sweetish savouriness spiked with hints of toasty sesame seed taste (not flat salty).
The vegetable oil was lighter on the palate and tongue than lard. (Ok.., so this is one dish where I prefer vegetable oil over lard as the latter tends to overwhelm the chwee kueh's delicate flavours. Even a mass produced, humble dish can be exquisite and delicate.)
The sambal chili (hae bee hiam 虾米辣 in Hokkien) had quite pronounced dried prawn taste with savoury and spicy flavours in the sauce.
Together, the sweet kueh, savoury chai poh and spicy sambal chili make the humble dish fully loaded with flavours (which together with its affordability account for its perennial popularity).
Recommended for you 👍 Bedok Chwee Kueh's tasty rendition of the humble inexpensive traditional Teochew dish is worth your calories and change.
Read about an artisanal chwee kueh stall that didn't survive Singapore 👈 click
Restaurant name: Bedok Chwee Kueh 勿洛水粿 (Bedok branch)
Address: Stall #01-19, Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, 208 New Upper Changi Road, Singapore 460209 (steps from Bedok Mall and Bedok MRT station)
GPS: 1°19'28.0"N 103°55'48.9"E 🌐 1.324448, 103.930251
Nearest MRT: Bedok (East West Line)
Hours: 06:30am - 8:30pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 10 Mar 2019
First things first - the rice cake itself.
It was soft smooth and just slightly firmer than egg custard. When I sliced through that rice cake with a plastic fork, there was even a subtle jelly jiggle and bounce. I like it that the kueh had the subtle sweetness, taste and aroma of rice - it's a rice cake after all, not a whatever starch cake.
The chai poh (菜脯 pickled radish) chopped to just the right size bits were slow stewed in vegetable oil with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. So, the stewed chai poh retained a light springy crunch (and weren't soft and mushy). The flavour was a sweetish savouriness spiked with hints of toasty sesame seed taste (not flat salty).
The vegetable oil was lighter on the palate and tongue than lard. (Ok.., so this is one dish where I prefer vegetable oil over lard as the latter tends to overwhelm the chwee kueh's delicate flavours. Even a mass produced, humble dish can be exquisite and delicate.)
The sambal chili (hae bee hiam 虾米辣 in Hokkien) had quite pronounced dried prawn taste with savoury and spicy flavours in the sauce.
Together, the sweet kueh, savoury chai poh and spicy sambal chili make the humble dish fully loaded with flavours (which together with its affordability account for its perennial popularity).
Recommended for you 👍 Bedok Chwee Kueh's tasty rendition of the humble inexpensive traditional Teochew dish is worth your calories and change.
Read about an artisanal chwee kueh stall that didn't survive Singapore 👈 click
Restaurant name: Bedok Chwee Kueh 勿洛水粿 (Bedok branch)
Address: Stall #01-19, Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, 208 New Upper Changi Road, Singapore 460209 (steps from Bedok Mall and Bedok MRT station)
GPS: 1°19'28.0"N 103°55'48.9"E 🌐 1.324448, 103.930251
Nearest MRT: Bedok (East West Line)
Hours: 06:30am - 8:30pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 10 Mar 2019
The Aunties at the Chwee Kueh stall are always rude. Not worth queueing for it. Furthermore, they allow their regular customers to cut queue.
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