Today, buddy jio-ed (invited) a few of us to a newly opened seafood restaurant in Kallang Wave Mall - Ji Xian 极鲜 which serve live seafood exquisitely prepared Hong Kong style. We tasted a few interesting, delicious twists to familiar dishes by Ji Xian's expert chefs.
Ji Xian is in Kallang Wave Mall which is just beside Stadium MRT station. I took this shot right at the exit of Stadium station. Ji Xian is at level 2 of Kallang Wave Mall.
The front of Ji Xian restaurant looked like an aquarium with live crabs, prawns, lobsters, clams, oysters, and fish in tanks. Ji Xian is a subsidiary of a live seafood supplier in Singapore.
The decor and furnishings were simple but comfortable. The space was bright and clean.
Chinese New Year is a couple of weeks away, so naturally we had a lou hei yi sang prepared for us by chef Joe Chiang (price $88).
Ji Xian's lou hei yi sang has all the traditional ingredients like shredded radish, carrot, etc. But, instead of raw fish, Ji Xian's version has geoduck clam, abalone, and lobster. Dubbed 乜都得 mat dou tak in Cantonese which means "anything goes or everything can". "Mat dou tak" signifies success in any venture, adaptability, a can-do spirit and openness to diversity.
Ji Xian has a selection of different live Canadian oysters.
We had Sunseeker oysters from British Columbia. I ate one neat and another one with a squeeze of lemon (I don't use Tabasco sauce with raw oysters as I feel it kills the delicate natural taste). The succulent Sunseeker oysters were soft, creamy and sweet with a slight briny taste of the pristine sea.
The live eels at Ji Xian were imported from South Korea. They were individually bagged to keep them from damage while they purge their guts.
Steamed White Eel with Black Bean Sauce. $98 per eel or $48 per plate (which we had).
The premium black bean sauce had a savoury umami taste which complemented (not overwhelm) the delicate flavours of the eel. The eel flesh was tender, the skin had a tender-soft crunchiness to the bite, and the fat was soft-tender. It was all layers of sweetness complemented with savoury umami from the black bean sauce. No earthly taste at all as the live eel was well cleaned in the holding tank. I love this dish.
Steamed Dragon Grouper 龙虎斑 with Fresh Pepper (price $28).
The half kilo weight live grouper was steamed with superior stock (pork bone) and strings of fresh Sichuan peppercorn. The aromatic spiciness of the peppercorn accentuated the sweetness of the tender grouper meat.
Sichuan peppercorn have a signature numbing spiciness, if we bite into it. The numbing spiciness worked marvellously in bringing out the delicate flavours of the grouper (but I wouldn't recommend biting directly into the fresh peppercorn unless you love the tongue, lips, and mouth numbing sensation 😄 ).
We had the privilege of chef James Tang personally demonstrate the making of Salt Baked Crab, a signature of Hong Kong's legendary Fook Lam Moon restaurant 福臨門酒家.
Chef James started as a 13 year old apprentice at Fook Lam Moon 福臨門 where his solid foundation in Cantonese cuisine was laid. In 1999, chef was head hunted to come to Singapore as chief operations officer of Ah Yat Group of Restaurants and helped launched Ah Yat restaurants in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China. Now, he is helping launch Ji Xian restaurant.
The live blue flower crabs were baked in a claypot with aromatic Chinese spices, butter, Chinese cooking wine and sea salt.
Love this dish. Flower crab doesn't have much meat but its sweet flesh was well infused with buttery savoury salty flavours and spice aroma. I greedily ate three pieces of these 😄
Sautéed Chinese Leek with Shrimp (price $18).
The dish name in English doesn't really do justice to the dish. It is known in Cantonese as "siu chow wong" 小炒皇 or literally "king of little stir fry".
小炒 or "little fry" refer to iconic Hong Kong street side stir fry stalls dai bai tong 大牌档 or zhi char stalls as we call it in Singapore. It's a simple stir fry dish of Chinese leek, taro (yam) strips, dried shrimp, roast pork (siu yok), and in Ji Xian's case, there's jelly fish. 小炒皇 was created in a Hong Kong street side stall to turn leftover ingredients into a dish for late night boozing.
The dish tastes mainly of toasty wok hei and savouriness from soy sauce with flavours from the various ingredients. It was the mix of crisp, crunchy, chewy and soft textures that made me reach out subconsciously for one bite after another as we chatted and bantered. 小炒皇 is excellent beer food.
Another simple dish, Stir Fried Noodles with Black Bean Sauce 豉油皇炒面 (price $12).
Soft-tender noodles with a subtle spring stir fried with premium quality savoury aromatic soy sauce.
Ji Xian serve hand crafted freshly made Hong Kong dim sum all day. These baked mini egg tarts at $2.60 for two pieces.
The flaky crust was crumbly crisp and soft. Eat it in one mouthful as the cup is filled with a savoury sweet blend of molten lava of cheese and egg.
I shall be back for more of Ji Xian's handmade HK dim sum.
Updates from Subsequent Visits
Written by Tony Boey on 13 Jan 2022
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