Buddy who is a long time Huat Kee regular jio-ed me as they are having a feast of lobster which is in season at the restaurant.
As often happened, I arrived ahead of time. It gave me time to look around the restaurant. The decor is simple but elegant, neat, bright and comfortable.
Even though it doesn't have large claws, the Southern Tiger is scientifically classified a lobster as it lives in the sea (salt water). Its freshwater brethren is the crayfish or crawfish.
But, the Southern Tiger is often referred to as crayfish even in the lobster trade as it doesn't have the large pincer claws seen, for example, in Maine lobsters 🦞
Most of the Southern Tiger lobster meat is in the tail plus some in the claws. Not much meat in the head but it is the umami grenade that turns every lobster dish rich savoury sweet.
Mr Lee personally cooked our lobster 😊 So humbling 😊
Seven of us, our 4.4 kilo lobster was done in 2 ways. First, it was stir fried in superior stock with ginger and scallion.
And that's the thing about Teochew cooking which stresses letting the fresh, superior ingredients speak for themselves - which I feel is the best way to cook lobster.
The white meat was in big chunks. It was not as dense as prawn meat but more crunchy and squeaky to the bite. The lobster meat has a clean subtle delicate sweet taste which was accentuated by the rich mildly savoury sweet sauce with infused umami flavour from the large crustacean.
The second dish was lobster porridge. It seemed pretty straightforward - boil the lobster in a seafood porridge.
The umami from the lobster infused the entire claypot of porridge, enriching everything inside with rich sweet savoury flavour.
I found the lobster meat in the porridge even cleaner tasting than the ginger-scallion fried one. Same crunch and juiciness but purer in exquisite lobster taste.
The Southern Tiger has meaty claws. The tender meat in the claw is denser than in the tail. It has a slightly more chewy, crunchy texture and its sweet flavour is also more intense though still gentle and exquisite.
This traditional dish from Chaoshan rarely found in Singapore today, is a throwback from a leaner era where nothing is wasted - practically every part of the pig is eaten.
The skin, fat and meat from the pig head is chopped up and stir fried in spices (e.g. Chinese 5-spice), and compacted into a dense meat loaf. It is served cut into thin slices. The slices are tender and tastes of many layers of robust savoury salty flavours.
This is sea cucumber wrapped with pork caul and stuffed with minced pork, deep fried and then stewed. In the mouth, it is layers of soft and tender, and tastes of layers of savoury sweetness.
The sautéed spinach at the side was soaking in the stewing sauce and rich with savoury sweet flavours over its natural green taste.
Must order this bamboo shoot stir fried with savoury sauce and tee poh (dried sole fish).
The bamboo shoot cut in wedges were oh... so.. crunchy almost like apple (just less juicy). It has a slight sweet taste which was well complemented by the savoury sauce and umami from the tee poh.
This was my first time at Huat Kee - I enjoyed every dish today. Hope to be back to enjoy their classic Teochew cuisine which is their claim to fame. Dishes that come to mind are steamed fish, cold crab, braised goose web, etc.
Lobster prices are seasonal, so please call ☎ 6423 4747 ☎ 6684 4544 to enquire.
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History of Huat Kee 👈 click
Written by Tony Boey on 28 Jan 2021 🦞
Fishing for Southern Tigers is hard 😮 It is air flown live from Australia and expertly cooked by masterchefs at Huat Kee, hence the premium price.
In Hong Kong when they do Australian lobster it’s usually 上汤龍虾 which is with a little gravy or 姜葱龍虾 which is dry. Another Teochew method in HK with local lobster 本地龍虾 is 普宁豆浆焖龍虾 which have a little gravy. But this one done buy Huat Kee is neither of the traditional way, when I come back I will certainly want to try it.
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