Five of us went zhi char diving in Chinatown again - I mean we went to Chinatown Complex again to try and spot under-the-radar zhi char stalls. I am glad to report that we are happy with the outcome of today's mission - we enjoyed our lunch at Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine 澳门凤城小厨. If you Google for this stall now, you will find more or less nothing on it online.
Surveying the sprawling Chinatown Complex Food Centre, I was drawn to Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine's stall front which was plastered with big colourful photos of their dishes. Lady boss was hand picking vegetables and they looked garden fresh.
Owner chef Mr Ng hails from Macau. Age 65 now, Mr Ng started as a teenage apprentice at Fong Cheng, a Cantonese roast shop in Macau, hence the name Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine. Mr Ng learnt the craft of Cantonese cuisine working in Foshan city in Guangdong, China. Singapore citizens now, the couple came to Singapore and started Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine stall nearly 20 years ago.
We ordered a mini feast to try 😄
First to arrive was Deep Fried Big Intestines SGD12.
Dishes were delivered to our table by lady boss like in a restaurant. Actually, all the Cantonese zhi char stalls in Chinatown Complex provide table service (even though self service is the norm in hawker centres).
First bite, first impression was flavours were milder (in a good way) than I expect of Cantonese cuisine. The fried intestine was tender and crisp, and the savoury umami fermented bean marination was at just the right intensity to allow me to taste a bit of the intestine's subtle natural sweetness (in a good way). Everything nice, no off taste whatsoever.
Yeah, I know....., it doesn't sound appetising. I didn't order this okay.... .
But, cough, cough...🤭 🤭 it turned out that it was one of my favourite dishes of today's meal 😊
The "intestines" were soft, springy with a light crunch to the bite. It had a sweetish taste which was complemented by the mildly savoury umami sambal belacan.
Nice.
Next was Garlic Steamed Fish Head SGD15.
Chinatown Complex is the Song fish head central of Singapore and the default choice is the popular Thai inspired spicy sauce invented by Seng Kee at stall #02-190. But, Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine stick stubbornly to their traditional Cantonese old school guns (styles) of black bean sauce and garlic sauce.
Half a Song fish head was steamed and dressed with a light gently savoury sweet sauce. The fish was blanketed in fried garlic bits, bits of celery, chili pepper and coriander.
The fish head flesh was soft-tender and soft tissue / gelatinous parts were slippery and softer than the softest jelly. The meat and tissue were naturally sweet without the characteristic earthly taste of Song fish. The sweet fish was well complemented by the savoury sweet dressing sauce and mild heat from fried garlic. The red chili spiked the dish with a bit of sharper spiciness. I love it (but Cat felt it would be better if there was a bit of the expected Song fish earthiness).
I asked Mr Ng about the fish taste and he said it depends on the batch. Personally, no earthly taste is a plus - the most important thing is, it must be fresh 😋
The pork trotter was braised with mushrooms and dried oysters the old Cantonese Ho See Fatt Choy way. Came dressed with broccoli and a small mop of black moss (the auspicious fatt choy).
Again, the layered savoury taste was mild in a good way. The best part for me was the thick, soft and silky skin, followed by the soft sweet fat. The lean meat was stewed till fork tender.
Eva liked the Prosperity Pork Trotter so much that she ordered and paid for two more right away, which she will collect during Chinese New Year.
If you are born in the Year of the Ox, foods which are white and yellow in colour like garlic, pumpkin, ginger, pear and white meat like pork will bring you blessings in this Year of the Tiger. So, braised pork trotter is one of your lucky foods this year.
More about the Chinese Zodiac guide to food 👈 click
The obligatory greens so that we can feel proud about our healthy eating lifestyle 😜
Fuyi Yau Mak SGD8 was Romaine lettuce simply stir fried with fermented bean curd. Again, the signature milder savoury umami flavour that allowed us to taste the natural flavour of the fresh ingredients - in this case, the crunchy juicy yau mak choy.
We were done and then it suddenly dawned on me that we didn't order any beef hor fun 😱 It is an inexcusable outrage to come to a Cantonese zhi char place and not have a beef hor fun.
So, we quickly added an order of Beef Hor Fun SGD6.
The first impression was it was a little strange with slices fried bitter gourd on top covering the beef and rice noodles.
The fermented black bean sauce was nicely mildly savoury. The savoury beef slices were tender. The bitter gourd slices were a little too soft for my liking but they did add a nice subtle bitterness to the dish. The kway teow had quite nice toasty wok hei. Overall, I like Fong Cheng's beef hor fun but have to deduct some points for using kway teow instead of the broad hor fun 😜 No points added for not having lard also 😂
Oh...., happy day.
Another good but unheralded Cantonese zhi char stall in Chinatown Complex uncovered. Flavours were all there, well balanced and in milder intensity (in a good way) compared to other similar stalls. I like to think of it as more finesse as it brings out the natural flavours of the fresh ingredients more. Give Fong Cheng a try, if you haven't and you want to try something other than your usual haunt.
I'll be back because Fong Cheng have other interesting dishes like fried fish roe which I haven't tried.
Our total bill for today's foray came to $80.
Written by Tony Boey on 19 Jan 2022
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