Though not as tender or juicy as I like my roast ducks, I was blown away by the flavour of Wen Dao Ji's rendition of the Cantonese classic. It's that old school savoury flavour that I have not found anywhere else in Singapore.
Needing a quick dinner on a thundery Sunday evening, I stumbled upon Wen Dao Ji, a traditional roasts stall in People's Park Food Centre. The last two roast ducks of the day were hanging in the window. As we were tired and famished, we just settled for this rather than survey the sprawling food centre for the most promising stalls.
We had a mixed platter of roast duck (lower quarter ไธๅบ) and char siew. Everything here for $13.
The meat was a little chewy, moist but not juicy. The golden brown skin wasn't crisp. The flavour, however, was roast duck epiphany for me - it was a layered savoury seasoning flavour I remember from my childhood but have forgotten for a long time.
I was delighted to taste this flavour again.
Our plate of char siew were lean cuts - chewy and dry but flavour was nicely savoury salty.
Our plate of char siew were lean cuts - chewy and dry but flavour was nicely savoury salty.
I didn't pay attention to the sauces but just dipped in a little when I was finishing my food, just to know what they taste like. I was blown away.
The orange-brown plum sauce tasted well balanced savoury tangy.
Nice.
Delighted with the roast duck and sauces, I went back to the stall to chat with the owners. Boss Shao Zhong is the sixth grandchild of Mr Ng Chow Hon, founder of Toh Kee Roast Duck.
The surprise was the chili sauce - it's savoury, spicy, dried plum tangy. Lovely. I finished the sauces, folding some into the rice.
Delighted with the roast duck and sauces, I went back to the stall to chat with the owners. Boss Shao Zhong is the sixth grandchild of Mr Ng Chow Hon, founder of Toh Kee Roast Duck.
After more than 100 years in operation, Toh Kee founded by Ng Chow Hon closed its Cantonese roasts stall in People's Park Food
Centre on 1 Feb 2020. It was a sad day for generations of Toh Kee fans.
Shao Zhong and former Toh Kee head chef Fook Choy (front) opened Wen Dao Ji in Dec 2020, reviving the century old legacy of Toh Kee. The name Wen Dao ๆ้ means “Intelligence, Persistence and Loyalty” in honour of Toh Kee founder Ng Chow Hon.
Dear Toh Kee fans, your favourite Cantonese roasts stall has returned.
Written by Tony Boey on 21 Mar 2021
A pricy place to satisfy your carving for Chinese roast.
ReplyDeleteWe are toh kee pte ltd , officially the 3rd generation of toh kee (้่ฎฐ) roast duck/meat and we are not affiliated and/or associated with any other company, and do not have any other branches, outlets and/ or subsidiaries.
ReplyDeleteWe have made settlement with the above registered stallholder and they are in the process of rebranding,
Toh kee pte ltd take pride in providing our customer with fresh roast duck/meat with minimum marination to retain the original flavour of the duck/meat.
We would like to take this opportunity to thanks all our customers who have supported toh kee for past 95 years.
We are toh kee pte ltd , offically the 3rd generation of toh kee (้่ฎฐ) roast duck/meat and we are not affiliated and/or associated with any other company, and do not have any other branches, outlets and/ or subsidiaries.
ReplyDeleteWe have made settlement with the above registered stallholder and they are in the process of rebranding,