Went to Zhup Zhup this evening. At the end of the dinner, I got prawns flowing out of my ears - Zhup Zhup is all about prawns 🦐 (and a lot more).
Haven't met Gwyn since her One Prawn hawker stall days in Golden Mile Food Centre. Gwyn started with her mum's traditional Penang Hokkien prawn mee recipe and tweaked it as she goes with her Culinary Institute of America degree and fine dining chops at the top restaurants in Singapore including Burnt Ends.
Now, she is owner of her own successful, Michelin listed restaurant, Zhup Zhup. Well done!! 👏👏
Needless to say, Zhup Zhup restaurant offers much more than the humble One Prawn hawker stall. But, the kick ass umami prawn soup at the heart of One Prawn still beats strong in Zhup Zhup.
Pure gold.
Some things don't change, they just get bigger. Zhup Zhup's prawn soup base used in all its dishes is made daily by boiling almost 20kg of prawn head and 30kg of pork bone for over 20 hours. It's an ultra umami concoction.
Our first dish of the evening was fried Hokkien prawn mee.
Gwyn shared with me how she makes her fried Hokkien prawn mee.
First, stir fry a mix of yellow noodles and chor bee hoon (thick rice vermicelli) with eggs and garlic to infuse their flavours and impart wok hei into the noodles.
Next, the noodles were briefly stewed in Zhup Zhup's signature prawn soup exchanging flavours and thickening the soup.
The fried HKM is served in a claypot with the noodles in the still bubbling, steamy prawn stock. It came topped with prawns, lots of lardon, and lala clams which we added on.
The soft tender spongy noodles had a higher proportion of thick rice vermicelli so it didn't have any alkaline taste (I don't mind some actually). The crustacean umami savoury flavour was strong, overlying the slight sweetness of lard, noodle and toasty taste of wok hei. Personally, a bit of sotong (squid) and more pork, perhaps in the traditional form of pork belly strips would round up the flavours marvellously, the old school way. (But, this is a new generation's interpretation.)
As the claypot kept its contents simmering, the zhup (sauce) tends to dry out as the meal progresses. Ask for prawn soup top up, if you prefer it zhup zhup (saucy).
I like it that Zhup Zhup has cut chili because to me, it's the best thing to go with fried HKM.
There's a lot of talk about fried Hokkien prawn mee in Singapore social media recently, and I feel Zhup Zhup's wok hei blast, umami plus rendition need to be in the conversation 👍
Come and try.
Next, the prawn noodle with soup. At Zhup Zhup, your prawn mee serving is customisable.
As we were going to have a lot of prawns, I opted for prawn balls and shabu shabu style pork in the prawn soup (instead of more prawns).
Zhup Zhup's signature prawn balls were mind blowing delicious.
The ball was soft tender juicy with sweet taste of fresh prawn meat. The prawn ball was spiked with fish roe that pops in the mouth setting off microbursts of umami flavours.
Must get Zhup Zhup's prawn balls.
The shabu shabu style pork slices weren't photogenic as they curl up but were deliciously savoury sweet in their soft tenderness. Some of the pork's natural sweetness was exchanged for the umami savouriness of the soup.
Zhup Zhup offers one top up of their signature soup.
Blanched yellow noodles and thin rice vermicelli with bean sprout and kang kong in a bowl of signature prawn soup.
The noodles and rice vermicelli absorbed the prawn soup and its umami flavours well.
I like Gwyn's Zhup Zhup chili sauce as it has belacan (fermented prawn) umami, chili heat and lots of calamansi zest that cuts through the umami savouriness making everything with the prawn soup taste better.
Next, lobster pao fan 泡饭.
This was fully loaded.
The signature prawn soup umami was boosted by lala clams, prawns and lobster.
The boiled rice and puffed rice sweetened and thickened the ultra umami soup. The mix of boiled and puffed rice gave the dish an interesting blend of tender, chewy, soft crunchy textures.
Each serving is enough for 2 to 3 people.
Sides included ngoh hiang which always go well with prawn noodles.
Har cheong gai, chicken wing mid joints marinated in robust fermented prawn sauce and deep fried.
Crisp outside, tender juicy inside. Robustly umami savoury outside, sweet with a bit of savoury flavour inside.
Zhup Zhup's kick butt umami prawn soup dishes will please even the most umami obsessed.
🎗 Disclaimer: Please note that this was a media tasting but the opinions expressed are all mine at the risk of not being invited again.
Restaurant name: Zhup Zhup by One Prawn & Co
Address: 458 MacPherson Road, Singapore 368176
Nearest MRT: 15 minutes walk from Mattar station
Hours: 11am - 9pm (Mon off)
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One Prawn @ Golden Mile 👈 click
My take on this stall is first sip very good, but u eat eat halfway too thick will feel gelat n sian
ReplyDeleteAh bro, this is the preference of the new generation
DeleteTony Boey Tht y I agree on your statement best for 2-3 person , I alone cannot , esp the lobster rice soup is too thick for older people
ReplyDeleteCarl Neo Boon Hoe this stall nice but must bring gaviscon, cause the soup too thick , Tht time I go eat their lobster rice heartburn halfway through the dish must drink gaviscon ,
ReplyDeleteAgree. Very good
ReplyDelete