Singapore Culinary Chronicles... Part II

After a mind-blowing first day in Singapore from a culinary point of view, my second day on the island city began on a rather dull and disappointing note...

I had to be at Bugis for the Kampong Glam walk at 0915 hours, but I woke up really late and there was practically no time for a proper breakfast. I was rather flabbergasted to see a huge queue in the hotel lobby for breakfast... That's orderliness of Singapore...
Fortunately, I was not to stand in this queue, I had to find my way to Bugis rather fast...

After my walking tour at Kampong Glam was over, I was very, very hungry. I had planned to have lunch at the Singapore Flyer, before heading to Changi Museum. As I headed towards Bugis MRT, I saw heaven right in front of my eyes.....

If you know me, you would have guessed it right..... pork it was! 

From a distance, I saw a store stocking lip-smacking bak-kwa (肉干). I was taken back to that wintry morning in Macau, while heading towards the Senado, I first tasted the goodness, the smokiness, the sweetness and the spiciness of bak-kwa....

Bak-kwa is a Hokkien delicacy from the Chinese province of Fujian province in China. Making bak-kwa involves the Chinese art of preservation - traditionally, pork, seasoned with spices, sugar, salt, and soy sauce, is dried on racks at around 50-60 degrees Celsius. After, the curing process is over, the pork strips are grilled over charcoal to give it its distinct smokiness. Bak-kwa is very popular during Chinese festivals - the Chinese new year, lantern festival and autumn moon festival. 

This was an outlet of Bee Cheng Hiang, a local chain that makes the magic of bak-kwa. The story of Bee Cheng Hiang is in a sense is a story of Singapore's enterprise....

The founder of Bee Cheng Hiang, Teo Swee Ee, a migrant from mainland China, started his business, in the narrow lanes of Chinatown, in 1933. He used peddle his mobile cart selling homemade bak-kwa. His business was brisk during Chinese festivals and he came to be known for high quality produce. 

After the end of the Japanese occupation, in 1945, Teo opened the first store of Bee Cheng Hiang at Rochor Road. Rochor Road in those days used to be the premier business district and his store was perpetually blocked by vehicles, which hindered customers from locating the store. Teo was an enterprising businessmen - he saw this as an opportunity. He placed the Bee Cheng Hiang brand on the vehicles making it a pioneer of mobile advertisements in Singapore. (Branding experts, here's a case study for you!)

Singapore, like many other cities - Mumbai, New York - has many such stories of hungry and poor immigrants coming in from far and wide and building an enterprise that is ubiquitous today...

Teo had a passion for calligraphy and mythology. He selected these three Chinese characters to go with his brand name - appearance, flavour and aroma.

I sampled at least 7-8 different flavours of bak-kwa at the store, and finally picked up a packet mini-chili bak-kwa. I wanted to take it back home - in a sense bak-kwa would be my souvenir from Singapore.

While at Bee Cheng Hiang, my friend Kapil called up and asked me to join him for lunch. So I headed to the Amoy Street Food Centre.

Amoy Street Food Centre is 2-storey food court packed with lots of goodness - a smorgasbord, a medley of delectable aromas. With at least a 60-70 pigeon-holed food shops and teeming with hundreds of hungry office-goers, this place is a delight for any foodie.

I was on my search for the legendary oyster omelette - orh luak (蠔烙). I had been chasing orh luak for over an year now.... Over an year back, I had thought that I would have orh luak at the Shilin night in Taipei, but I could not make it to Taiwan...

So quest for orh luak continued in Singapore.... But we couldn't orh luak here....

So we settled for Pepper Bowl by My Mom's Place. My mouth watered at the description given in the menu, afterall, I hadn't eaten anything since morning.... I was lusting at the sight of others eating.... 

The food stall prominently display an article on The Pepper Bowl that had appeared in the local edition of Time Out.... That was it..... Reading about the food here made me saliva flow endlessly.... 

After an agonising wait in the queue, Kapil and I ordered pepper pork with rice....

That was one bowl of steaming hot goodness and statiated me instantly..... Wow, pork does have magical powers to satisfy me.... Hail the pig that gave up its life for me.... God bless him....

After crisscrossing Singapore west to east and then east to west, I headed back to my hotel, but only after a hearty meal at Balestier Market....

Just like yesterday, Balestier Market was full of people. It is indeed quite a lively place and even though I was alone, I did not feel bored. It was nice seeing local families having a good time together. I know Neeti will love Balestier.....

After a rather longish recce (I was like a kid in a toy shop - if I could I would have eaten everything), but I zeroed in on fishball noodle soup.... I did have this traditional delicacy at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong International Airport over a year back, and to tell you the truth, I enjoyed it!

The stall had a huge queue - there were at least 10 people ahead of me. Orders were turned out pretty fast, within 5 minutes, call it Singaporean fast food...

My turn came - I ordered chili fish ball soup with an extra dash of minced pork as a garnish. And then began a painful wait of 5 minutes which seemed to last till eternity....

Then came my big bowl of hearty, hot, goodness. The soup was light and flavourful. The fish balls were fresh and crumbly and not chewy - just the right texture. It was a light filling meal....

Just then temptation struck. I noticed that the stall in the centre was selling desserts - fruit ices, Singapore-style. 

Durian, a fruit, native to South East Asia, evokes strong emotions here in Singapore. It is regarded by many  as the "king of fruits". The durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. 

Durian emits a distinctive odour - strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as having a pleasantly sweet fragrance; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. Because of the persistence of its odour, commuters are prohibited from carrying it on public transport here.

I am in Singapore - how can I not have durian? So, durian it was next.... I ordered a durian ice...

This was one big bowl of crushed, flaky ice with condensed milk and durian puree poured over it. The smell was familiar.... Oh yes, it was similar to the jackfruit I had in Madurai two years back. 

Durian ice was indeed delicious and flavourful..... By the end of it, I had totally and completely fallen head over heels for the legendary durian.... What a way to end Day 2 of my culinary adventure in Singapore.....