Buddy AW mentioned that there is a Chinese American food restaurant in Seletar Hill Estate. As this is probably the only such restaurant in Singapore, a few of us quickly gathered here for lunch. I didn't set my expectations very high as my main interest is the unique iconic Chinese American dishes on the menu which is only available here in Singapore. Turns out we all enjoyed the delicious food a lot 👍
Seletar Hill Restaurant is in a laid back row of shop houses in leafy, quiet Seletar Hills Estate.
Seletar Hills Restaurant doesn't have much media coverage, especially recently. But, this framed article from The Sunday Times in 1991 by Margaret Chan, one of my favourite food writers, hang proudly on a wall in the deep inside end.
Chef Ng Kok Hua and wife Jamie Pang went to work in restaurants in New York City in the 1980s. There they worked under Sichuan master chef Chou who served in Chinese government banquets. The couple returned to Singapore in 1990 and had been serving Chinese American cuisine at Seletar Hills ever since.
The interior of the restaurant is reminiscent of Chinese restaurants in North America. Bright warm lights, varnished wooden chairs, big round tables draped with pastel coloured chequered table cloth.
The menu has iconic Chinese American dishes rarely seen in Singapore restaurants.
I was given the honour task to make the orders 😬
We zoomed in first on the Camphor Tea Smoked Duck. The aroma of camphor teased our noses before we could reach for our handphones or chopsticks. That really got me excited 😬
The duck was marinated in a blend of tea leaves, Sichuan peppercorn, anise seed, cinnamon, cumin, and then smoked with camphor wood charcoal and orange peel. The smoked duck is given a hot oil bath before serving.
The duck was surprisingly tender and juicy, rich with savoury flavour, unique smokey taste, subtle gaminess which I like, and the signature aroma of camphor with every bite. I love the subtly crisp skin and juicy fat underneath.
Must order this.
This dish alone is enough for me to come back to Seletar Hill soon.
Then there's General Tso's Chicken, a Chinese American food icon I've not seen in Singapore until now.
Okay...., some might say it is "nothing special" because the crisp fried battered cubed boneless tender chicken meat in sweet savoury sauce is like a chicken version of ku lou yok (sweet & sour pork). But, still it tasted quite nice and I like the light crisp texture which is like popcorn (especially when it is hot out of the oil). More importantly, it represents Chinese American cuisine and is at the same level of legend as chop suey and the fortune cookie.
I went trying a few General Tso's Chicken when I was in New York City in 2014 👈 click
There is even a movie on the dish released in 2014 😁
Anyway, we also tried to order chop suey at Seletar Hill but they don't have it. They also don't give out fortune cookies 😔 为什么这样...., 为什么这样... . (Why is it like this.... .)
Tung Po Pork with Steamed Bun.
We loved this braised pork belly between steamed bun. The thick slice of braised pork belly was soft-tender, the fat especially bursted with juices and flavours with every bite. The savoury taste of soy sauce was mild and it complemented the pork's natural sweetness. The sweetness from the generic steamed bun added more balancing flavour to the savoury pork
Claypot Sea Cucumber with Duck Web.
Sorry my photo is not doing justice to the dish but duck web and sea cucumber stewed in dark sauce looks like that mah... .
There's quite a lot of tender crunchy sea cucumber in our medium size serving. The duck web was not deboned but the soft tissues were stewed till fall-off-the-bone soft and deeply infused with savoury-salty soy sauce flavour.
Ma Po Bean Curd. Mild savoury spicy sauce over soft bean curd. Milder than most ma po tofu I've had in other places.
Dry Sauteed Spring Beans with Minced Pork. Crunchy juicy deep fried spring beans stir fried with a savoury slightly spicy sauce.
We enjoyed our meal so much that we added more dishes after finishing our first round faster than expected.
We asked for Choy Suey but they don't have it. (Anyway, I didn't see choy suey in Canada during my last trip there in 2017.)
But, they do have Black Pepper Ribeye.
The texture of the strips of beef was awesome. So soft-tender, juicy and felt almost like melt in the mouth (of course, it doesn't lah... ). Unfortunately, chef was heavy handed with salt and the saltiness overwhelmed everything in the dish. So, should you order this dish, do remind the chef that you like it less salty.
Our lunch costed us about $30 per person.
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