[ Encore visit ✍️ 4 Nov 2023 ] We were back again at Mama Jac's after five months. How time flies ๐
Mama Jac outdid herself. The decor and environment didn't change much (if at all) from our last visit, but the food (already excellent before) was even better, more delicious. We had a different selection of dishes from the last time but the few repeated dishes were tweaked, improved versions.
Price remains at $118 nett at the moment (which I feel is over value for money). ๐9456 8298 to book.
The achar.
The last time, I didn't bring lights for picture taking, so the photos lacked detail and didn't do justice to Jac and team's hardwork. This time I brought light.
This traditional sour, savoury, spicy hot appetizer was loaded with juice, crunch and flavours from the pickled and spiced fruits and vegetables.
The first dish arrived to great excitement - they came like mystery guests dressed in banana leaves.
Could it be kueh bongkong or otak otak? Both of which are served like this in banana leaf parcels.
It's Kerabu Bee Hoon - the traditional salad with blanched rice vermicelli. Now that it is done, it seemed a no brainer to put the two dishes together, and the outcome is mind blowing delicious ๐
Kaffir lime leaves, torch ginger flower, lemongrass, mint leaves, shallot, garlic, calamansi, and more.
Sour, sweet, bitter, savoury, spicy, everything. Soft, tender, chewy, crunchy, everything. The boldness of flavours of Kerabu Bee Hoon set the stage for all the robust tasting dishes that follow.
Achar hu.
Pan fried mullet (ikan belanak ๅชไป้ฑผ) sautรฉed in stock and spices such as turmeric, ginger, chilies, etc. Soaked in vinegar and rested a few days to intensify the flavours before serving. Some Peranakan dishes take a few days to prepare! ๐
Hoi cho or crab roll. It's the elevated version of the Teochew hae cho or prawn roll.
Jac's bite size hoi cho or crab roll is fresh prawn and crab meat with carrot wrapped in bean curd skin and fried to a golden brown crisp outside.
The natural sweetness of the crab meat complemented by fresh prawn was so delicious.
Mama Jac's Itek Tim or kiam chye ark duck soup is so different from what I am used to.
This was my second time having Mama Jac's rendition. It's a very complex blend of flavours from duck stock with roasted duck bone, fresh duck, pork, preserved vegetables, cherry tomatoes, nutmeg and other spices with a dash of brandy.
In my mind, every Peranakan feast must have at least one buah keluak or black nut dish. This time we had ayam buah keluak again.
The black nut kernel was dug out, sautรฉed with minced pork and repacked into the shell. It is then stewed with chunks of fresh chicken together with spices and sauces.
Buah keluak tastes like truffle sans the smell (to me lah), earthly, savoury, salty. To this, add the sweetness of fresh chicken, then soy sauce, herbs and spices, and we have the perennial Peranakan favourite food icon.
Babi tohay.
Fatty pork belly stewed with red yeast rice, brandy, homemade fermented krill (grago), savoury sauces, spices and aromatics. Lovely natural porcine sweetness in the juicy fat and tender meat complemented by umami savoury sauce and a bit of tangy sweetness from the red yeast rice.
First time tasting a rendang lamb shank (as far as I could remember).
The meat and fat were stewed in spices and coconut milk till all liquids were reduced and spice flavours absorbed by the fall-off-the-bone soft-tender meat. Rich spice flavours complemented the natural taste of lamb which gaminess was hardly discernible.
Jac and Sylvia in deep discussion about Nyonya recipes. Daniel listening, smiling knowingly ๐คญ ๐ฆ ๐
Sotong stuffed with hae bee hiam.
The crunchy tender sweet squid was like a sleeve packed till bugling with hae bee hiam which was umami savoury, spicy, sweet in a nicely balanced, delightfully tasty way.
Kiam hu kut curry or curry with salted fish bones, vegetables and tofu puffs. The star here was the creamy rich sweet spicy curry which was infused with unique robust umami savoury taste of dried salted fish. I can eat a whole pot of rice with this curry.
Sweet potato leaves with sweet potatoes in curry. The leaves were stewed in the curry till its fibres were deliciously infused with spice flavours. The sweet potatoes gave the curry a layer of natural sweetness.
Nyonya chap chye. A deceptively humble, simple looking dish that takes at least two days to make. After cooking the sauces and spices, it is rested overnight to allow the flavours to mell and intensify. The next day, additional sauces and spices are topped up to stew fresh vegetables before serving. Umami and sweet with slight spicy heat. Comforting and oh.. so... mind blowing delicious. One of my favourites.
We ate all these delicious dishes with nasi lemak rich with coconut and prettified with organic floral colours such as from butterfly pea flower (bunga telang).
Mama Jac's dessert so atas one, got gold foil one ๐คญ
It's sago Melaka.
Mound of soft chewy sago pearls tinted with bunga telang, topped with soft attap palm seed, and crowned with glittering gold foil set on toasted coconut crumble. Dressed with gula Melaka (palm sugar) and coconut milk.
Eh.... doesn't this look like a tok panjang? Nevermind, never heard Jac described this as such.
Sweet happy ending to a wonderful evening of great food, marvellous host Jac, and cheerful, joyful company of kaki kaki makan (foodie buddies). We ate a lot and laughed even more ๐บ๐
Lovely evening ๐ฅฐ
We were already discussing the next encore ๐
Written by Tony Boey on 4 Nov 2023
๐ This blog is powered by voluntary contributions from appreciative readers to Tony Boey Johor Kaki PAYNOW 96888768 in Singapore $.
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[ First visit ✍ 29 Jul 2023 ] Gilbert organised and jio-ed me to join the gang at Mama Jac's Kitchenette. I found out later that Mama Jac is booked solid for the rest of this year (2023), and this was Gilbert and Cass' sixth time here ๐ฏ This was Lily's fourth time. So, I am in the company of Mama Jac's hardcore fans. This was my first time and thanks Gilbert for squeezing me in ๐
Mama Jac's Kitchenette private chef is by appointment only ๐ 9456 8298 to book.
We instinctively paid homage first, the moment we arrived.
The dining room is converted from the living room of a 3-room HDB flat, so it was somewhat compact. The whole space was chock a block with Peranakan knick knacks and memorabilia. Yeah, so the rustic, homely atmosphere was there.
Jacline owned and ran half a dozen restaurants, bars, pubs at Boat Quay before retiring. From our chit chat, banter and laughter during the evening, it was obvious that Jac is passionate about cooking, especially Peranakan cuisine, travel and bursting with zest and joyful love for life.
Jac is Cantonese, not Peranakan. Read that again ๐
But, she has mastered the art and craft of Peranakan cooking through years of cooking and research. Then, there is a twist. Jac is a free spirit, so she enjoys adding Cantonese touches to her Nyonya dishes ๐
Yeah, some Peranakans reading this may be squirming in their seats now ๐คญ But, wow.... I was blown away by a few of Jac's concoctions.
Note my disclaimer: I am Cantonese, so I am biased ๐คญ
Achar nibbles while Jac got our dishes lined up.
The crunchy, juicy pickles were well balanced savoury, sourish, sweet, spicy, nutty. I finished my portion like it was the appetizer ๐คญ
Pickled chili pepper stuffed with crunchy sourish green papaya.
Mango kerabu or green mango salad. Tangy, sweet, savoury, the mango sweetness stood out in this appetizing juicy crunchy dish.
Hae zho or shrimp dumpling.
Learned this from Jac today.
You know, I always wondered why Teochew prawn roll is called hae zho ่ฆๆฃ. Today, Jac told us that it is supposed to be prawn dumpling made to look like a date (zho) e.g. ็ด
ๆฃ red date. But, nowadays, prawn "date" usually come as a roll, hence the confusion.
The hae zho was tightly packed with chopped shrimp and water chestnut wrapped in thin tofu skin and deep fried. Deliciously savoury with a bit of sweetness from the shrimp and juicy water chestnut.
Things moved at a fast clip. Before I knew it, it was itek tim time, one of my favourite Peranakan dishes.
Jac asked us to smell the dish before tasting ๐ It smelled quite different from the familiar, comforting kiam chye ark (duck boiled with salted vegetable) I was expecting. Actually, it doesn't look like the usual itek tim either.
Jac's concoction was Brandy Itek Tim.
Purist Peranakan food connoisseurs should be squirming off their chairs now ๐คญ
There's the underlying hint of liquor from the brandy, then a subtle pepperiness, tannic from.... nutmeg along with the usual salted vegetable and duck. I like the blend of pork and roasted duck bone stock used to make the soup, and had three top ups of it because I was intrigued and took time to figure out the complex blend of flavours and aromas ๐
๐คฃ
Brandy cinchalok ayam.
Fresh kampung chicken chunks marinated with fermented krill (shrimp) and brandy overnight then stir fried with chili and spices. Flambed before garnishing with finely julienned aromatic kaffir lime leaf and served.
Homely dish rich with layers of umami savoury and spice flavours in the tender chicken.
Mengkabo or Babi Masak Asam.
Fatty pork belly stewed with tau cheo (fermented soy bean), belachan (fermented krill paste), asam (tamarind), chili, spices, dark soy sauce. Love the complex flavours of the sauce which thoughtfully left some space for the natural sweetness of the fresh pork belly.
Couldn't stop eating this with plenty of rice ๐
Couldn't help reminiscing about the curry wild boar of Pontian but that is another story for another day.
Nyonya Chap Chye which is literally Nyonya mixed vegetables.
Truth be told, I won't order this when I visit Peranakan restaurants because I thought I could easily make it myself at home ๐คญ๐ (Keyword is "thought" ๐คฃ )
But, anyway, Jac's concoction was mind blowing. The deceptively simple, humble looking dish took two days to make!
Jac slow cooked candlenut, fried pig skin, mushroom, dried tofu skin, black fungus, tau cheo, belachan, spices, etc., overnight. She then cooked fresh mixed vegetables with the concoction, adding sweet flavours to the complex umami savoury stew. I finished my own bowl of chap chye with rice ๐
Wowowow..... this next dish blew my mind ๐คญ๐
It's Kiam Hu Kut Curry or salted fish bone curry.
It's curry... no issue... then there's that underlying peculiar umami taste of dried salted fish bone. That's wicked.
I haven't tasted that flavour of my childhood for decades already ๐ฅน
It made me feel emo and so this review is extremely biased ๐
It also made me overeat on carbs / rice ๐ญ
The shelled ๐, meaty fresh prawns were outstanding but this dish is all about the salted fish bone spiked curry.
Another stunning dish.
Baby octopus with wing bean, petai (stinky bean) and hae bee hiam (dried shrimp and spice mix).
All my favourite things together in their umami rich savoury spicy dish with juicy crunchy and soft spongy pillowy tenderness from the baby octopus.
This dish is usually made with crunchy squid but switching to octopus really elevated the texture and my enjoyment of the dish by a couple of notches.
Warning.
Once you go octopus, you can't go back to squid.
The lemak, bluepea flower, Jasmine rice. Ate too much of this, no thanks to the deliciousness of all of Jac's dishes.
Paused for a photo with Jac and the sweet dessert.
A happy, delicious evening of sweet memories.
Sago Melaka with coconut milk and gula Melaka with a touch of gold.
$118 nett per pax, BYO wines no corkage. (Price haven't changed since 2021 ๐ ) Thanks to Gilbert, Milton and Terrence for the wines ๐ฅ
Come back again? That's for sure!
To arrange, call Jac ๐ 9456 8298.
Written by Tony Boey on 29 Jul 2023
๐ Opinions in this blog are all my own as no restaurant or stall paid money to be featured
Aaron Ong posted on Singapore Yummy:
ReplyDelete"Acherly the rice was underrated. It's one of the most fragrant lemak rice I've eaten. I took back a pack and after steaming it up, the smell wafted through my entire kitchen. Plus dining area."
I am still on cloud 9 after that dinner. Thanks for the jio Tony
ReplyDeleteShe’s fantastic!
ReplyDelete