I've been to Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen 砂煲小厨 @ stall #02-83 in Chinatown Complex food centre many times. I organise meet ups here with full confidence as the meal will always leave my eating buddies in awe with its excellence (without breaking my bank).
Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen is a nondescript looking food stall with an equally non descriptive name tucked away in a far corner in the "green zone" of Chinatown Complex Food Centre.
Its media profile is also low but it doesn't matter because Hong Kor 鸿哥, the owner-chef (his full name is 何志鸿, born 1948) already has more business from diehard regulars than he and his wife could comfortably handle. And, he is getting new converts everyday.
Hong Kor has a reputation of being a little grumpy. But, it is easy to empathise with him once you watched him in action.
Hong Kor is really a one-man-band restaurant kitchen crew. From his cramped little hawker centre stall, Hong Kor churns out a menu of dishes comparable to good size restaurants. He cleans the ingredients, stir fry, deep fry, steam, boil, stew, and plates the dishes all by himself. His elderly wife helps with taking orders, collects money and delivers the food to customers' tables (yeah, like in a restaurant). They have one elderly helper but not always. And, they all don't have very good hearing now.
One can only imagine how pressing the pressure is daily during the peak lunch hour. It would push many young men half of Hong Kor's age beyond their limit. Hong Kor takes it in his stride but once in a while may be a little impatient lah... . OK one lah.
The veteran restaurant owner-chefs in our party today were shocked and awed watching Hong Kor in action in his little fort, singlehandedly slaying the incessant onslaught of lunch hour orders. And, still remained in jovial mood 😮
Truly a maestro in our hawker centre culture. One of a disappearing breed of versatile hawkers who are master craftsmen churning out restaurant size menus from their small hawker stall.
Update ✍ 26 Nov 2023. Chef Hong started at Lai Wah Restaurant at Jalan Besar when he was 12 years old, washing dishes, cutting vegetables, clearing tables and rubbish, etc. There, the young Hong met the legendary Cantonese cuisine chefs Tham Yew Kai and Lau Yoke Pui. It was also in Lai Wah that chef Hong met his wife. The couple still work together at their stall in Chinatown Complex.
Chef Hong left Lai Wah in the 1970s, and worked in various restaurants in Singapore, China, Japan and USA. Thirty years passed and he returned to Singapore to open his own restaurant in 2001 at Silat Avenue. The restaurant was doing well but Hong kor was forced out by increased rental. He then moved his business to Chinatown Complex, where he still operates to this day.
Hong kor fell at work in Mar 2023 and was hospitalised for two months. He rested at home till mid-Oct 2023 when he returned to work to the joy and relieve of his regulars. (Source credit: Zaobao)
The steamed black grouper was equally excellent with the meat subtly different in texture and taste.
Excellent crispy Deep Fried Prawn. The light and thin crackly crisp shell cocoons a steamy tender juicy finger-size prawn rich with natural sweetness inside.
Comes with hawthorn 山楂 sauce. I heard others in the party letting out subconscious oooos... and ahhhhs... eating the fried prawns with the hawthorn sauce but I prefer to eat the fried prawn neat 😄 Don't want to mess with the delicate taste profile lah... .
Pork liver with stalks of scallion and thick slivers of julienned ginger simmering in a claypot of viscous savoury sauce. Eat the thick slices of liver fast enough and you will enjoy its best crunch with juices and full blown flavours.
Sea cucumber stewed in a claypot with siew yok (roast pork belly), black mushroom, cabbage, etc in a viscous savoury sauce. A savoury sweet Cantonese comfort dish mums make at home
Pork stewed in claypot with cincalok (fermented prawn) sauce. Robust layered umami-savoury-salty sauce overlaying natural sweetness in the cubed pork belly. Hong Kor spikes it with cut chili pepper.
Cantonese people eat a ton of rice with this 😄
Ku lou yok (sweet & sour pork) is a quintessential Cantonese dish. Deep fried pork slices coated with sweetish, subtly zesty hawthorn sauce served with crunchy bell pepper, onion and juicy tomatoes.
Hor Fun with toman fish slices in a claypot. Nice wok hei but the thing that was most memorable for me was the savoury-sweet fermented black bean sauce enveloping the broad rice noodles. I couldn't stop slurping up the hor fun even after so many dishes and a bowl of rice.
Kau Kee Seafood Soup in a claypot. Clean tasting fresh seafood sweetness with the signature taste and squeaky crunch of Wolfberry leaves.
Amazing one-man-band restaurant in a hawker centre.
Hong Kor's foundation was solidly laid under the tutelage of legendary chef Tham Yew Kai when he was in Lai Wah Restaurant. So, Hong Kor has many special dishes under his sleeves 👈 click
Pro-tip - Coming Chinese New Year, impress your family or guests with tabao (takeaway) special dishes from Hong Kor 👈 click (Hong Kor allows tabao only for special Chinese New Year dishes 😅 )
Restaurant name: Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen
Address: Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Stall #02-83, 335 Smith Street, Singapore 050335
Hours: 10:30am - 12:30pm (Sat & Sun off) [No takeaways]
Are some of the dishes off menu? I don't see it listed at the front of the stall.
ReplyDeleteVisited This stall last week and today and the shutter is down. I hope chef is well as he is catching up on age too..
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