The location, 1°21'51.1"N 103°51'59.8"E, otherwise known as the Chomp Chomp Food Centre (CCFC). Continuing with the theme of "local foods" as set by Andre and his team, tonight we were introduced to the Singapore Hawker Fare. Andre confessed that he and his wife has actually never been to CCFC, but CCFC was a favourite of members of his lab. Fittingly, the selfsame members of the lab was present to serve as guide for the meal. On the drive up, we experienced Singapore traffic jam on the CTE and the discussion turned to current affairs -- Secretary Clinton has just been officially nominated as the Democratic Presidential Candidate, and Assange/Wikileaks is once again in the headlines with a string of embarrassing Democratic National Convention email leaks that may or may not have been hacked from DNC servers by the Russian Intelligence Service. Truly, this election cycle is stranger than fiction yet too real that it shakes my believe in my fellow man's innate good nature. However, that is neither here nor there.
Andre's wife Chloe, Jenn and i met up with Leung at the CCFC while Andre hunted for parking. Situated next to a traffic rotary and tucked between a number of strip malls/low slung (three floors at the most) residence buildings, the CCFC is a collection of permanent food stalls surrounded by picnic benches all gathered in a roofed but otherwise open area.
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| The sugar cane juice stall, one of at least 4, but the "best one" |
Every table of 4 (two such to a set of benches) is numbered and, when we got there, occupied with all manner of folk. There was a quartet of older white europeans happily drinking beer and eating satay who stood out against a browner, smaller baseline. There were families with children in tow, students just done from (as could be seen from their equipment) badminton practice, and, of course, friends in groups and couples on dates. Leung left us to go hunting for tables further in, disappearing in a cloud of cooking smoke, and the rest of us waited at the outskirts of the CCFC, hovering over two potentially soon to be vacated tables. During the wait, i looked at the area with more care.
The floors are tiled and numerous floor drains are generously scattered about. Around every collection of food stalls (at the CCFC it was arranged like two letter Hs stacked one on top of another, two long side of stalls defined the perimeter with two central axis of a cluster of 4 food stall islands amongst the tables and people) were engineered sloping central channels with a walled backstop. The whole place was designed to be sluiced clean after every night of service.
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| wings wings delicious wings! |
A central restroom area with outside sinks serves the denizens of CCFC (many public restrooms in Singapore has the sinks outside of the men's and women's, a rather efficient design as most people are seeking just to wash their hands of the food grease and detritus after ravenous consumption -- in Asia, their idea of a napkin is the US idea of triple-ply toilet paper, most people travel with a cache of wet naps/wipes or really shiny greasy jeans.
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| The local seafood in safe sanitary display! |
Very quickly, Leung telephoned to report he has secured one table of 4 next to a couple who are just finishing. As we prepare to go meet him at tables 45 and 46 (the tables are numbered for food delivery), Andre showed up. The timing was impeccable. The moment we sat down, Leung was to his feet and off to the stalls to order food. The ordering method is simple. You flag down the "front of the house person" (ie, not the guy or woman doing the cooking) and talk loudly (CCFC was crowded busy and thus, loud) at them the order and the delivery locale (table number). Money is exchanged and you move on to the next stall for the food. What finally arrived at the table (or Leung's handiwork) was a feast. There was the Oyster Omelette, a drier, less runny and more eggy version of a childhood addiction of mine from growing up in Taiwan. Oysters fried on a flat top with scrambled eggs, corn starch, and, in Taiwan, spinach or water spinach.
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| Oyster omelette |
The result was a heartier omelette like omelette (does that even make sense?) which goes fabulously with the chili sauce and the huge steins of sugar cane juice spiked with lime/lemon!
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| ice cold sugar cane juice, just the thing! |
The iced sugar cane juice was a thing of pale green refreshing goodness. The night's temperature was in the high 80's (fahrenheit) and a bit muggy, so the drink was a treat! After the drinks and the omelette, the food came in waves as successive food runners fast walked by announcing their arrival with a "big brother, here are your food!". Leung had ordered the local stingray pan fried with sambal and topped with pickled onion and served with a half of kaffir lime. However, i think that the fish was indeed a skate wing instead of a stingray, but who am i to argue? It was delicious. i can get used to sambal, adds such a lovely unique spice to the dish. There was also the local clams in a spicy clammy light sauce perfect for that tongue tingling finish. It was all i can do to make sure there is enough to go around for the other folks.
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| The local stingray/skate wing |
The next to arrive was what our Singapore compatriots jokingly called the "Salad".
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| clams Singapore |
It is a mixture of fruits (apple, green papaya, mango), turnips, and chinese fried dough all tossed in a thick sweet (but not too sweet) brown sauce and sprinkled in peanuts. Fabulous! Then a plate of sambal stir fried water spinach was dropped off so that we can claim that we are having a complete and healthy dinner. The veg was actually quite delicious, not cooked down to a chewy floppy mess but still supple and snappy veg with a nice hit of heat and spice. i quite liked it. The chicken wings and satay were the next to arrive. Accompanied by their respective sauces (near everything has a dipping sauce, sometimes it is just the pervasive chili sauce, but the satay had a nice peanut sauce, and the wings with the, well, pervasive chili sauce). The wings glistened. My
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| the "salad" |
god did they glisten.
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| water spinach! |
And were delicious and meaty and juicy as all hell. i think Jenn could've sat there and polished off all ten wings (ten wings with associated drumette) were she there by herself. These are some meaty delicious. The satay were of two variety, chicken (white breast meat) and pork (loin, two pieces, with a piece of fat sandwiched between the two to give it extra porky goodness i am told). Both were just the thing for an outdoors street food feast. You can taste the smoke and char and the sweat peanut sauce was like a lovely caramel finish to just sweeten the experience just that little bit.
Then they dropped off probably my favourite dish of the night. Soft thin flour crepes wrapped around turnips, potato, eggs and spices like a delicious burrito. The flavors were subtle and delightful. There is a play of spice on the tongue, an earthy sweetness from the root vegetables. The crepe wrapping was yielding and tasted slightly of warmed toast. With a helping of chili sauce or a dip in the satay peanut sauce, the entire experience was elevated to another level.
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| glistening wings |
However, before that even happens, more food arrives. Though, thank god, it was the final two. A hakkanese noodle and a "turnip cake". The hakkanese noodles are rice vermicelli noodles stir fried with egg and mung bean sprouts and the dinner's choice of sea food additions (in this case, shrimp and squid). A dollop of shrimp paste is then served on the side of the plate along with a lime for squeezing. There is something satisfying about a good plate of noodles, and this is no exception. It is a feeling of growing up in Asia and a feeling of contentment.
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| crepe roll up |
Then that hit of lime hits you and refreshes as it sets a counter point to the funky salty shrimp paste that just screamed South East Asia on your taste buds. The turnip cake was a surprising dish and one that probably fought the wings for Jenn's favourite dish of the night. It is diced up daikon cakes (as one would see a whole one of in most dim sum restaurants around the world to a varying degree of "done rightedness") that is scrambled with eggs, spices, and shrimp. The result is that of a hard scrambled egg with pockets of soft turnipy textural surprise. Almost like an egg fried rice where there is more egg than rice. Again, another dish that goes fabulously with the chili sauce.
All and all, another fabulous night that resulted in me worrying about the need to find bigger pants soon. Man... the food is delicious. Singapore is truly an eater's paradise, the variety and flavors are just impressive!
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| Hakkanese noodles |
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| satay, meat onna stick |
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