Tony Johor Kaki Travels for Food · Heritage · Culture · History

Adventurous Foodie Geographer's Diary with 70 million+ reads 📧 johorkaki@gmail.com

Showing posts with label Ultimate Hawker Fest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ultimate Hawker Fest. Show all posts

HOME Restaurant 家 by Chef Tan Yong Hua ( CLOSED )

HOME-Restaurant-家-Singapore

I was eager to visit Restaurant HOME as owner Chef Tan Yong Hua is one of the Ultimate Hawker Fest's strong supporters since the inaugural UHF in 2012. Chef Tan will again participate in UHF (2014) with his signature Peking duck.

Crocodile Soup Recipe - Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 Singapore - Return of the Crocodile King 鱷魚大王重出江湖

Once upon a time, long before Johor Kaki was born, there was a Crocodile Kingdom at Old Airport Road food centre in Singapore.

Last year, the Crocodile King went exploring, getting ready to return to his beloved kingdom with the best crocodile dishes for his dear people.

Then, he heard a call for help.

Singapore Touch Community is holding their annual charity food fair, the Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014, to raise funds to help 35,000 needy people under their care.

The Crocodile King has a soft heart, especially for needy people.

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Without a second thought, the Crocodile King agreed to serve his Ultimate Herbal Crocodile Soup at the Ultimate Hawker Fest.

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The Crocodile King Tony Tee was even kind enough to conduct a demonstration to show how he makes his Ultimate Herbal Crocodile Soup (venue at the courtesy of The Eureka Cooking Lab in Singapore). 

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The ingredients (clockwise from top left), dried snow fungus, Chinese wine (五加皮 and 紹興 blend), dried fish maw, herbs (pre-packed), and button mushrooms. 

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A closer look at the herbs. If the herbs look mysterious to you, relax. You can buy them pre-packed at supermarkets.

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Clockwise, sliced crocodile tail meat marinated with sesame oil, crocodile loin bones and crocodile tail fin.

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Closer look at the waggley tail.

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The herbs, crocodile bones and tail fin were slowed cooked in a pot of water for six hours to make the broth.

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Remove the floppy tail fin from the simmering pot and let it cool.


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The croc tail fin which is 100% collagen gels on cooling, bringing the spring back to the tail fin softened by long boiling.  

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Tony snipped the croc tail fin into bite size pieces just before final cooking for serving.


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Fast boil the croc tail fin, croc meat slices, dried fish maw pieces, fungus mushroom and canned button mushrooms in the crocodile broth just before serving.


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Voila!! 


The Ultimate Herbal Crocodile Soup.

No kidding.

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I indulged in a squirt of wu jia pi and shao xing 
五加皮 and 紹興 blend :D

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This is the most delicious herbal broth that I have had for a long time.


The broth had a smooth, round body, well balanced sweet and savoury flavours, very mild likable herbal taste, and a touch of old Chinese wine taste and aroma. There was hardly any grease at all.

Superb.

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The gummy, jelly like tail fin. 100% natural collagen :D

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The crocodile meat tasted like good fresh fish and had the texture of tender lean pork.



Crocodile King Tony Tee sharing with us the benefits of herbal crocodile soup. Check out the video for all the benefits of the tonic :D 

I am always sceptical about people claiming themselves king of this, or princess of that. But, after tasting the Crocodile King's Ultimate Herbal Crocodile Soup today, I have to acknowledge that Tony is truly Your Royal Highness of the Crocodile Kingdom :D

I am already missing Tony's Ultimate Herbal Crocodile Soup.

I am looking forward to the Crocodile King's return, when the time is ripe.

Meanwhile, we have two options.

Option one.

Do it yourself. DIY.

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Tony said we can buy this pre-packed herbs and also crocodile meat and bones at supermakets. Just follow the instructions on the packet of herbs, and you will have good (not ultimate) herbal crocodile soup.

The second option, get the Ultimate version with the added bonus of meeting the Crocodile King 鱷魚大王 Tony Tee in person by visiting the charity Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014.

Date: 22 Nov 2014
Venue: SUNTEC Halls 401-402
Time: 11:00am to 5:00pm

Get your Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 coupons here.

Either way, if you miss the good or Ultimate Herbal Crocodile Soup, you will regret it.

Return to Johor Kaki homepage.

Penang Kia 仔 Penang Prawn Mee Sengkang Singapore - The Realities facing Novice Hawkers

This is not my usual food review - I am taking the liberty to also share some of my personal observations of Singapore social media, traditional media and aspiring young hawkers.

It all started in May 2014 with a Facebook post by top social media influencer Dr Leslie Tay about Penang Kia 仔 prawn mee stall run by a youthful couple, Gerald and Julyn, who quit their SIA cabin crew jobs to be hawkers.

Leslie's legion of fans descended on Penang Kia 仔 on cue. Traditional media and other bloggers followed in their wake.

I was dragged along by my bloggie friend Ian, the Silver Chef (two months after the initial media hype).

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The first taste was underwhelming. The broth was off balance - it was too sweet and the prawny flavour was too meek for my taste buds. The yellow noodles were soggy and limp but that could be blamed on my obsessive photo taking.

I also noted that the energy level at the stall was low, perhaps because this was a rather isolated corner of Sengkang new town, which was itself not exactly at Singapore's heart beat.

The buzz from successive bursts of media clamour came and fizzled out rather quickly like in rushing and receding waves.

(I did not blog about Penang Kia then, as it is my policy not to post about food that I did not enjoy.)

My second visit was about three months later, again with Ian as part of our visits on hawkers participating in the Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014.

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The prawn broth suited my taste buds a lot better this time. The balance between sweetness and crustacean savouriness was much better. While I have tasted better broth, Penang Kia's broth was still commendable. The yellow noodles though were still flaccid and lifeless, but that was again because I am incurably obsessive about my photo taking. 

A lot had happened during the six months of Gerald and Julyn's hawker journey.

A few more media personalities and various Media Corp print and television channels swooped in for the scoop and photo opportunity. The story of a SIA cabin crew couple hanging up their kabaya and jacket to become hawkers was still newsworthy.

The media exposure brought customers to this quiet coffee shop in laid back Sengkang.

Penang Kia had the benefit of multiple free nation wide media publicity. They did not have to invest marketing dollars to procure reviews and media coverage. 

Despite the glamour and benefit of several free publicity boosts, Julyn had returned to a salaried job, at least for the time being. Now only Gerald soldiers on at the stall, assisted by two hardworking foreign workers.

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Gerald is very down to earth and determined to make Penang Kia 仔 a success. He spoke candidly about the challenges he and Julyn faced as novice hawkers. 

Maintaining consistency in the face of tidal waves of customers with each mass (social or traditional) media mention had been challenging, especially in the beginning when they lacked experience. 

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I respect Gerald for looking for ways to cope with uncertainly of supply, as Penang Kia 仔 insists on fresh, wild caught sua lor sea prawns, instead of resorting to pond raised shrimps.

Gerald is still tweaking the recipe from Julyn's father (who used to run a Hokkien mee stall in Tanjung Bungah, Penang) to suit local palates. (Prawn mee is known as Hokkien mee in Penang, where the dish originated.)

We touched upon the high cost of operating even a simple hawker stall in Singapore. Operational cost even in quiet suburban Singapore is more than SGD10,000 a month. Even just breaking-even creates a lot of pressure for budding hawkers.

It had not been an easy ride for Gerald and Julyn, yet that had not stopped Penang Kia 仔 from participating in Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 (an annual charity food fair in support of the 32,000 needy Singaporeans under Touch Community Services).

I take my hat off to Gerald and Julyn for their fighting spirit and still remembering our community's needy people.

If you like to support Gerald and Julyn as well as 20 over other hawker heroes, come to:

Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 

Venue: SUNTEC Convention Centre & Exhibition Centre Halls 401/ 402 
Date: 22 Nov 2014 (Saturday) 
Time: 11:00am to 5:00pm.

Get your Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 coupons here.

May I take this opportunity to wish Gerald and Julyn the best.

Penang-Kia-Prawn-Mee-Singapore-Penang-仔

Restaurant name: Penang Kia 仔
Address: Blk 205D, Compassvale Lane, #01-02, Singapore
Maphttp://goo.gl/maps/oCBYF
GPS: 1.385510,103.897914
Hours: 10:00am to 9:00pm 
Non Halal

Date visited: 4 Jul 2014, 14 Oct 2014

Return to Johor Kaki homepage.

Review of Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh 榕城(新民路)肉骨茶 MOVED to 505 Ang Mo Kio

Rong-Cheng-(Sin-Ming-Road)-Bak-Kut-Teh-Singapore-榕城(新民路)肉骨茶

I have been a regular at Rong Cheng bak kut teh at the old Sin Ming road flats (Blk 22) since years back. This was the first time I visited Rong Cheng's branch at Midview City which is a short (walkable) distance from the parent stall. (Current address is 505 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, Block 505, Singapore 560505.)

Stall name: Rong Cheng Rou Gu Cha


Address: 505 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, Block 505, Singapore 560505


Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Yio Chu Kang station


Hours: 10:00am - 8:00pm

Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014. Tian Tian Chicken Rice 天天海南雞飯

Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 will be held on 22 Nov and Tian Tian 天天海南雞飯, a famous name in Singapore chicken rice will again feature their special Anxin chicken 安.

Tian Tian Hainanese chicken rice founded in 1986 in the old Maxwell Road food centre made it's mark in Singapore chicken rice with their succulent tender poached chicken bathed in their signature savoury, sweet sauce. Tian Tian's simple chicken rice won the praise of  Anthony Bourdain and represented Singapore at the cook-off with Gordon Ramsay in 2013, which Tian Tian proudly won.

Regular Tian Tian chicken rice is cooked with American Broiler breed of chicken. Since the inaugural Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest charity event in 2012, Tian Tian together with their chicken supplier Toh Thye San Farm has participated with their special Anxin chicken  which is a French breed. 

Tian Tian's Anxin chicken 雞 is only available at the annual Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest (charity food fair in support of Touch Community). 

(Note: Anxin chicken 雞 is certified Halal.)

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The Tian Tian mother and daughter team. Mdm Foo Kui Lian and her husband founded Tian Tian chicken rice at Maxwell Road food centre in 1986. Today, daughter Ms Loi Mui Yin helms the famous chicken rice shop with outlets in Maxwell Road, Clementi, Joo Chiat and Simpang Bedok.

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I had the privilege to preview Tian Tian's Anxin chicken 雞 at their Joo Chiat outlet together with bloggers Miss Tam Chiak, SG Food on Food, and Silver Chef who are organising Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014.

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Hanging in the window at Joo Chiat are Tian Tian's star poached and deep fried chicken. These were their staple American Broilers. Tian Tian also serves a variety of well executed side dishes like Thai style toufu, stir fried greens, bean sprouts, and so on to go with the chicken.

We tasted 2 Anxin chicken, 1 poached Amercian Broiler, 1 deep fried American Broiler, and a variety of side dishes :D 

burp! Burp!! BURP!!!

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A staff at Tian Tian deftly cutting an Anxin chicken for us to taste. 

I love to watch how the chicken is cut. So much skill is involved. Knife work 刀工 actually affects the texture and flavours of the chicken. (My personal preference is for Cantonese style big, bold and chunky cuts 砍.)

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Tian Tian's special Anxin chicken poached chicken only available at the Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest.

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Anxin chicken skin looks glowingly yellow as the bird is purely corn fed. Anxin chicken meat is tender with a nice bite and slightly firmer compared to softer American Broilers. There was a slight spring and nice chickeny flavour in the juicy meat which are more or less absent in American Broilers.

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We also tasted regular Tian Tian chicken made with American Broiler breed. I like how Tian Tian's signature sauce lifted the flavour and taste of the (industry standard) Broiler which sets it apart from average chicken rice stalls in Singapore.

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American Broiler, the deep fried version. The chicken was tender and moist though less so than the poached version. The fried version also had a robust saltiness.

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Tian Tian rice was nutty and the good quality grains separate easily (粒粒 liap liap as we say in Hokkien). There was a nice savoury chicken flavour enveloping the rice grains which were not overly greasy.

We also took a road trip to one of the Toh Thye San farms in Simpang Rengam about 1.5 hours drive from in Johor Bahru :D

Being a food blogger is so fun right? :D

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A chicken coop. There were 10 of these coops at each farm.

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Tian-Tian-Chicken-Rice-Joo-Chiat-Singapore-天天海南雞飯

These Anxin chicken  were imported from France as chicks and raised till they are at least 2.2 kilos before they are sent to the market. The naked neck is a characteristic of Anxin chicken.

Unlike American Broilers which are sent to markets at 30 days old, Anxin chickens are raised till they are 60 to 120 days old (depending on customer requirement on weight).

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Ms Loi Mui Yin, the daughter of Tian Tian's founders now directs the chicken rice business.

Miss Tam Chiak at Toh Thye San Farm in Simpang Rengam. Kenny was sharing with Miss Tam Chiak more about what makes Anxin chicken special compared to standard American Broilers.

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A happy and successful partnership. The owners of Toh Thye San Farm, Alex and Kenny, with owners of Tian Tian chicken rice have supported each other for many years.

Toh Thye San Farm and Tian Tian chicken rice are again doing their part for the Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest (charity food fair in support of Touch Community). Get a taste of Anxin chicken 雞 and over 20 other Singapore hawker food at:

Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014
Venue: SUNTEC Convention Centre & Exhibition Centre Halls 401/ 402
Date: 22 Nov 2014 (Saturday)
Time: 11:00am to 5:00pm.

Get you Singapore Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 coupons here.

Thank you Tian Tian and Toh Thye San for your hospitality.

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Restaurant: Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice 天天海南雞飯
Address: 443 Joo Chiat Rd, Singapore
Maphttp://goo.gl/maps/NhABY
GPS: 1.307114,103.904150
Hours: 10:30 am to 9:30 pm
Phone: +65 6345 9443
Halal cert in process (expected in Dec 2014)

Restaurant name: Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice 天天海南雞飯 
Address: #01-10/11 Maxwell Food Centre, Maxwell Road, Singapore 
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/TQZZC
GPS: 1.280412,103.844286 
Hours: 11:00am to 8:00pm (Closed on Monday) 

No pork, no lard, no Halal cert 

Date visited: 1 May 2014, 3 Oct 2014

Return to Johor Kaki homepage.