Buddy Jasmine organised the dinner makan session at Rainbow Rice House. Thank you 🙏
Rainbow Rice House is a no frills hyperlocal space to enjoy Singapore's zi char 煮炒 (cook and fry) culture. Humble "economy class" eateries with menus and sometimes food quality that match even upmarket restaurants. At zi cha places, the top priority is the food, so decor is often non existent and furnishings are basic, hence its gritty, down to earth charm.
Our first dish was Singapore style fried Hokkien mee, one of chef Louis' signatures. Louis had already ran out of squid for the night and asked if we still wanted this dish. We went ahead anyway.
Even without squid, Louis' Hokkien Mee was good. All of us were happy.
The yellow noodles and bee hoon were wet and smothered in heavy stock, infusing its rich umami savoury lardy flavours into every strand. The presence of wok hei was unmistakable.
The chili sauce is the robustly savoury spicy belacan and chili type. Though it was very good, I didn't use it much as I like to savour the original taste of Louis' Hokkien mee.
I love this har cheong gai as the mildly savoury fermented prawn paste marination was at just the right intensity for me. Others felt it was a little too salty. But, we all love the crisp light batter and the moist tender meat inside.
Fried battered brinjal (like tempura) with pork floss. I love brinjal (eggplant) for its sweet juicy soft "flesh" which Louis wrapped with a light crisp gently savoury sweet batter and pork floss coat outside.
Hae cho (prawn roll) was good too. Lots of things besides prawn and water chestnut inside the light crispy flaky coat. Louis has excellent deep frying skills.
Salted egg yolk sauce prawns.
We all love this orh chien (oyster omelette).
The plump, soft and juicy oysters bursted with rich briny savoury flavours that paired well with the savoury eggy taste of the soft fluffy moist bed of fried egg.
Crispy nam yu pork or Hakka cha yok or crispy fried pork marinated with fermented bean curd (a Hakka classic).
Fresh leafy vegetables stir fried with garlic, savoury sauce and lard, nicely seared with a coat of savoury flavours over the juicy crunchy greens.
Eggy umami rich, tender nutty, none too greasy fried rice with toasty wok hei. Delicious.
Master of the wok and wok hei.
Rainbow Rice House is a typical zi char shop but the dishes are all very well done by Louis and his team.
In the heart of the city, Rainbow Rice House is a place I will proudly and confidently bring overseas visitors to showcase our zi cha culture.
Written by Tony Boey on 9 Jun 2023
🎗 Opinions in this blog are all my own as no restaurant or stall paid money to be featured.
To ensure neutrality, this blog is powered by voluntary contributions from appreciative readers to Tony Boey Johor Kaki PAYNOW 96888768 in Singapore $.
Heng Seng Lai said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"Must try the pig trotter bee hoon!"
We just went there for cze char lunch. Food is excellent and loaded with wok hei and executed with great dexterity. Appreciate your shout out and recommendation, Tony. Always trusted, always good !
ReplyDelete