Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

A feast of Hainanese curry rice in Singapore; pictured above were dishes ordered at Beach Road Scissor-cut Curry Rice near to Farrer Park – guilt-laden yet deeply gratifying ensemble of curry and braised sauce drenched rice, battered prawn fritters, stewed cabbage, fried pork cutlet and sweet and spicy anchovies with caramelized onions.

Since I have left Singapore (this happened unceremoniously a few days back, and yes folks, I am BACK IN MALAYSIA!), I faced quite a few thought-provoking questions from friends, relatives and random readers alike.

“What do I miss most from Singapore?”

Well, naturally, I would assume that the curious barrage of questions are directed at the FOOD that I miss most, since regrettably, I did not have much time (yeah right) to go around the island much for the other highlights besides eating. I made a long laundry list of activities and stuff that I would like to do within the 12 months, but apparently as fate would have it, work and traveling took up most of my time, while the rest of the days were spent idling away or recuperating and preparing for ….well, the next trip.

Now that I am breathing the Malaysian air again (choking up the haze somewhat, but still glad to be home for a while), seated here in front of my desktop on a breezy Friday evening and scouting for materials to share with you readers (who must be foaming at the sides of the mouth with the gradually infrequent reviews, and even lesser  food stories from Ipoh), I thought about sharing another one of those Hainanese curry rice outlet in Singapore (after Loo Hainanese curry rice and Beo Crescent); this famous stall on Beach Road near to Farrer Park/Little India named Beach Road Scissor-cut Curry Rice – the scissor-cut part referring to the use of the utensil to quickly cut the chosen dishes into manageable, bite-sized morsels.

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Read the original published article on The Malay Mail HERE.

Wake up to the lingering aroma of Hainanese curry rice in Tiong Bahru – People DO eat these for breakfast!

As much as I would like to move on and cover more ground with my Singapore food journey, I can’t help but share yet another Hainanese curry rice story with you. Blame it on the genes. The Hainanese streak within me craved for another bite of succulent Hainanese chicken or pork chop, a glass of rich creamy milk tea, or even a plate heaped with plenty of steamed white rice smothered in a mess of curries and braised sauce.

Following my recent excursion to Beo Crescent’s Hainanese curry rice, I discovered this stall hidden within another nameless coffee shop that lies in the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood. Here, it’s less than $5 (RM13) per person price tag was well justified by their crispy, thinly-sliced pork chops, soft stewed cabbage and braised eggs. I guess Tiong Bahru folks must have all the luck.

Just around the corner, opposite the Tiong Bahru market (where the food centre is another space packed with great street food gems at rock bottom prices) is this Hainanese curry rice specialist that has been around since 1946. The stall is known as Loo Hainanese Curry Rice. Apparently they just moved to this new location at the junction of Seng Poh Road and Eng Watt Street not too long back. Finding this place is not that hard really. All you need to do is look for Block 71, Seng Poh Road (all the other blocks at Tiong Bahru, be it residential or commercial are tagged with numbers and clearly stating the road’s name) and you are good to go. Read the rest of this entry »

This article was first published in The Malay Mail. Click HERE to read it.

Hainanese Curry Rice feast at Beo Crescent Block #40

One of the most recognisable street food in Singapore that’s not easily found across the Straits in Malaysia is the Hainanese curry rice; something which I was not accustomed to back when I was growing up in Ipoh. I first had my taste of the rice with its ensemble of dishes about a decade ago around Port Klang, where the tradition still lives in renewed and reimagined ventures.

What transpired from the Hainanese folks’ high learning agility and creativity in adopting various culinary influences, from the Western-inspired pork and chicken chops to meddling (albeit to some degree of considerable success) of the Peranakan curries, the Hainanese curry rice was believed to be a poor man’s fuel to stave off hunger pangs.

In the earlier days, Hainanese curry rice peddlers used to roam the streets of Singapore. Their dishes were somewhat imaginative yet limited; the selection largely limited to the ubiquitous batter-coated pork chops (authenticity matters here, some still use crumbled cream crackers, while most stick to bread crumbs), boiled to a softened pulp cabbage aka ‘chap chye’, fried egg with a dash of dark soy sauce, and a few curry dishes (remember the Peranakan or possibly Malay/Indian influences?).

Fast forward a few decades later and the tradition still lives on with quite a handful of these ambitious and enduring start-ups still being run by the original proprietors or at least, the passionate next generation youngsters. One of the more popular Hainanese curry rice stalls in Singapore still remains nameless even after 25 years in business; located in an equally nondescript coffee shop named Ho Pin Hng at Block 40 Beo Crescent (HDB flats). Read the rest of this entry »

This article was first published in The Malay Mail. Click HERE to read it.

The poached chicken served at Boon Tong Kee appears to be fatter, more succulent and presentable, but yet lacking in flavour compared to the other two

Do you recall — I am sure most foodies are still able to — the “battle” between Malaysia and Singapore a few years back over who “owns” certain hawker food?

It sure placed hawker favourites like chicken rice, laksa and satay on the world food map, which probably was the only blessing in disguise resulting from this fiasco.

But I shall not fan the flames here and let bygones be bygones.

That being said, allow me to revisit some of the points of argument, in particular on Hainanese chicken rice which can be a relatively touchy subject since both countries have stuck their necks out by staking claims over the origin of this seemingly humble one-plate ensemble fit for any meal of the day.

Being a Hainanese myself, and coming from a lineage of fine cooks — my late grandfather worked as a cook for the British during pre-Merdeka days and subsequently started his own chicken rice stall business in Ipoh — I have grown up eating chicken rice from possibly all corners of Ipoh. Read the rest of this entry »

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (SGD4.50 for 3) is hands down Tim Ho Wan’s most popular creation, justifying the insane queue at their original outlet in Hong Kong and that extra nudge in the experts’ book; earning them one Michelin star (read my review HERE)

Happy Friday dearest ever-hungry food hunters. If you are here reading this, you must be preparing for a weekend of crazy ‘makan’ adventures wherever you are. Although the arrangement of the posts got a bit more random lately, rotating between Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore reviews, I hope that you find this roulette of unpredictable food rants stimulating and well, giving you a surprise at every visit.

Or you could be cursing under your breath, wondering when will Motormouth goes back to write about Ipoh/Perak food only just like the golden years (okay, more than 4 years back only but sure feels like forever).

Today, this beautiful Friday evening, after an entire week of OT and repeated assaults of work, let me tell you about my experience at Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum; the much-hyped about cheapest Michelin one star restaurant in the world (the Hong Kong outlet got the star) at their branch in Westgate, Jurong East, Singapore. Read the rest of this entry »

Rule #1 – Never blindly request for a pair of chopsticks to eat your bowl of Katong Laksa.

If there’s one common trait among famous street food in Singapore; it could have been the endless wars between establishments claiming stakes over the origin of the dish. Or the omnipresent display of pride in proclaiming to be the BEST in Singapore; justified by endless newspaper cuttings, magazine reviews, food show stickers, etc.

Indeed, to a point where there’s always at least a handful of stalls in every food centre or shopping mall covered by media at least once and deemed to be the best in whichever category the media could come up with.

 Katong Laksa is a proud national heritage of the island; originating from the Katong area to the east of Singapore. There are a bunch of names related to the famous Katong Laksa, but most notably the brand 328 Katong Laksa with not one, but TWO outlets along East Coast Road is deemed to hold the crown thus far.

Don’t bash me, I trust the share of voice on the Internet and my always dependable good friend; Google to come up with a stark conclusion. And since they have 4 outlets on the island, I picked the one easiest to reach by public transportation for me; at Queensway Shopping Centre. Read the rest of this entry »

Yong He Eating House sits at the junction of Geylang Road and Lor 24A Geylang; and opens 24 hours

It was way back in April last year when we ate at the legendary Taiwan’s Yong He Soya Bean Milk King (Yong He Dou Jiang Wang) in Taipei for breakfast; a perfect counter to the chilly spring weather; and my first time relishing salty soya bean with crispy you tiao (dough fritters). The outlet also sell various Taiwanese snacks like spring onion pancake, meat floss and egg bun, etc.

Although I really need to dig deep into the cobweb-covered archives to rediscover the magic of Taiwan and the incredible night markets, the fabulous scenery and food at Jiu Fen, Alishan and Dan Sui, as well as the best stinky tofu run at Rao He Street Night Market. Utterly delicious with lots of sauces.

I can feel the craving for a subsequent trip coming.

Anyway, today’s post is a continuation of last weekend’s Singapore hawker food run, and as luck would have it, in the heart of Geylang is this Taiwanese 24-hours establishment named Yong He Eating House; presumably a branch of the original. Read the rest of this entry »