Snack @Poh Cheu, Alexandra

There is always a long queue at Poh Cheu stall, in a coffee shop next to the Alexandra Village Hawker Centre.  The stall seems popular and there are many newspaper cuttings and good food awards all over the stall.

Poh Cheu

Poh Cheu specialised in a variety of handmade kueh keuh - Soon Kueh, Ang Ku Kueh.  They also have nice abacus and glutinous rice, which was the reason we were there.  We queued for 45 minutes before we managed to buy the "prized" kueh kueh.

Variety of Kueh

The staffs were still busy making kueh at around 2pm. They were still rolling the dough, wrapping the filling red bean paste and peanut paste into the kueh, placing it on a cut banana leaf and arranging the kueh onto the steaming rack to steam.

Kueh Making

Ang Ku Kueh (红龟糕) @$0.70
Ang Ku Kueh are made with glutinous rice flour and shaped like a tortoise to symbolise longevity. Besides the traditional Peanut and Red bean paste fillings, they also offer a variety of other fillings - Black Sesame (new), Durian, Green Bean, Salted Bean, Yam, Coconut, Coffee, Mango and Green Tea. Loved the vibrant colours and enjoyed choosing the different flavours.  Maybe that's the reason why it took every customer so long to place their orders.

Ang Ku Kueh are traditionally used to celebrate baby full month. You can order Hong Qian, Hong Yuan and glutinous rice for the traditional baby full celebration snack. Understand from a colleague that according to traditional, round bottom and sharp tip HongYuan is for boys while flat HongQian is for girls. In the olden days where boys were preferred over girls, glutinous rice was privileged for only the baby boys. Nowadays, you can just include whatever to you liking for baby full month.

Noticed that these sticky skin traditional snack is not popular among the kids. Luckily there are still adults who can appreciate the Ang Ku Kueh which we had queued 45 minutes for. Peanut and black sesame are our favourites.

Ang Ku Kueh in Vibrant Colours!

Soon Kueh 笋粿@ $0.70~$1.00
The other speciality is their Soon Kueh with different fillings - Turnip Soon Kueh, Ku Cai Kueh, Bamboo Kueh, Yam Kueh and Rice cake (Peng Kueh). Even though the name  笋粿 literally implied snack made with bamboo shoots,  the typical filling in Singapore is turnip, which is my favourite.  I personally cannot appreciate the "authentic" bamboo shoot kueh (which is also more expensive) as I can't stand the smell. Do note that Yam Kueh is only available on certain days (Fri & Sat).

Not the best Soon Kueh I had, but still very satisfying, especially with the black sauce and chilli.

Soon Kueh
Rating: 3.75/5

Abacus 客家算盘子@$2
The reason why we were there was not Ang Ku Kueh nor Soon Kueh, but the Hakka dish - Abacus Beads (Suan Pan Zi 算盘子).  It is not easy to find this traditional delicacy in Singapore, only know of a few stalls and this is the nearest.  They were named as Abacus because the shape and size of these yam balls resemble the beads of a Chinese Abacus (算盤 or counting tray) and symbolises wealth (got $$ to count).  They were boiled and then fragrantly sautéed with hei bi (dried shrimp), shredded carrot, mushrooms and some waxed meat.  The abacus were garnished with spring onions and deep fried shallots.

Liked the texture of the abacus, slightly chewy without sticking to your teeth. The main drawback is the abacus are pre-packed into a container.  The condensed steam seems to make the surface a bit soggy. Believe it will taste much better if eaten immediately after the stir-fry.

Abacus
Rating: 4/5

Glutinous Rice 糯米饭@$1.50
Glutinous rice cooked with mushrooms, waxed meat/sausage, peanuts and small white fish. Fried shallots was sprinkled on top. Same issue as Abacus, its pre-packed and the condensed steam seems to affect the taste.  But the container is definitely very convenient for reheat in the microwave.

Glutinous Rice

According to the old folks, glutinous rice and snack are a bit difficult to digest. As it is sticky, oil is often added to prevent them from sticking together. People are getting more health conscious nowadays, these starchy snacks maybe not be suitable for daily consumption but maybe more for occasional indulgence.

Small tips to beat the queue.

• Poh Cheu provide call & collect service which allow you to skip the long queue.  The condition is the order for each kueh flavour is to come in multiple of 10 only. 
• If you are only interested in the abacus, glutinous rice and rice cake which are pre-packed, you can just take the number of containers you want and pay directly to the stall owner without having to queue.

Poh Cheu
Address: 127 Bukit Merah Lane 1,
#01-230 Singapore
Time: 8am - 6pm, Closed on Sunday & Public Holidays (Except Friday & Saturday)
Tel: +65 6276 2287
http://www.sbestfood.com/pohcheu.htm

Cheap Abalone and Sharks Fins@Rabbit Brand Seafood Delicacies

Where can you find a abalone set meal which cost only $12.50+ ?

Around one year ago, we were recommended by a friend to the cheapest Buddha Jump over the wall (佛跳墙) and abalone set meal at Rabbit Brand, Lucky Plaza (level 2).

Recently, there is a Groupon deal, $7.50 for $15 Worth of Chinese Fare at Rabbit Brand Seafood at Circular Road, which worked out to be a 50% discount to this already cheap Chinese food fare. Super value for money!

Rabbit Brand at Circular Road

This old tiny restaurant was decked right at the end of the Circular Road, at the back of the Boat Quay, beside those happening pubs and bars. Not much of a setting to talk about, just a rather cramped place with food court style table and chairs. Well, at least there is air-con in the indoor dining area.

Dining Area

In this inconspicuous tiny place, they offer nice and value for money Chinese set menu starting from $5.50. Each of the set menu will have at least one delicacy in the menu - abalone, sharks' fin, scallop, sea-cucumber or fish-maws.

Braised Whole Abalone with Special Make Spinach Beancurd Set (原粒鲍鱼配特制菠菜豆腐)

We ordered the most expensive set on the menu, which is only $12.50+. The set come with rice, Chinese tea and a dessert that is like Cheng-Teng.

Abalone and Spinach Beancurd Set
Rating: 4/5

Although the abalone was a bit small and you might not notice it among those big size mushrooms, broccoli and crab stick, it is still a whole abalone and quite rich in flavour.

Abalone

The Spinach beancurd was what I liked most, crispy fried with soft inner beancurd, providing different textures and accompanied with the fragrant spinach taste. Simply yummy!

Spinach Toufu

Buddha Jump Over The Wall (迷你佛跳墙)
The other popular set is this All-in-One "soup", Buddha Jump Over The Wall @$6.50, which is one of the most luxurious dish of Chinese food. All the mini delicacies - abalone, fish maw, dried scallop and shark's fins are added together and simmered to give a rich broth.  Nice to go with the white rice.  A small plate of bean sprout also came with the set.

Buddha Jump Over The Wall
Rating: 3.75/5

Braised Shark's fin in Claypot (红烧煲仔翅)
To make up to $30, we ordered another claypot shark's fins set @$6.50 as there is no à la carte shark's fin on the menu. All set come with rice and Chinese tea. The price is the same even though we forgo the rice.
We were expecting it to be richer and more flavourful. However, the braised Shark's fin was a bit too watery, didn't really taste much of the shark's fins.

Braised Shark's fin in Claypot
Rating: 3.5/5

The 3 set meals and a can of ginseng bird's nest cost $30 before GST, just nice for 2 vouchers. The restaurant is able to offer such delicacies at a cheap price because the company (Yeow Seng) have their own factory for canned abalone, bird's nest and shark's fin.

The food were quite nice. For the price we are paying, do not expect the dishes to be as good or delicate as those high-end restaurants.

There are only one service staff and 2 chefs at the shop.  Don't expect much smile on the serving auntie but she will deliver your food and settled the bills promptly.

Rabbit Brand
http://www.rabbitbrand.com.sg/
11 Circular Road
Singapore 049367
Opening Hours: 11:00-22:00 (Mon.-Sun)

Tel: 6557 0874

Fish Soup@Xin Yuan Ji 新源记

Had always prefer my food flavour to be strong, so fish soup was seldom my choice except for occasions when I am feeling guilty of gluttony.

Fish soup from Xin Yuan Ji is not those bland soup but rich, flavourful, slightly peppery and with a tinge of sweetness.  You have a choice of whether to add milk to your fish soup. To have an extra "shiokness",  You can add the red chilli provided to the soup. After we finished the soup, we saw some brown powdery sediment which should be grounded dried sole fish which adds flavour to the soup.

Fried fish meat soup @$5.80
Fresh fish slices fried to lovely golden brown in a rich and flavourful broth. Fried batter and shallots further enhanced the taste. Simple but nice.

Fried Fish Meat Soup
Rating: 4/5

Fried red snapper fish head soup @$7.30
Chunks of red snapper fish head fried to taste. It was a leisure to slowly bite and taste the crispy fish head chunk.  I ordered the thin version of the bee hoon so that it absorbed the fish soup and is flavourful even on its own.

Fried Red Snapper Fish Head Soup
Rating: 4/5

Felt really homely when they took out a home-style folded paper box for our fish head bones. Simple practical act to avoid the unsightly bones all over the table.

Paper box for fish head bones

They have some homemade drinks with innovative names - Mama (line + plum) and Papa (Barley+lime)@$1.50.  However the taste wasn't really to my liking. Their coffee was fragrant and nice.

Drinks - Coffee, Papa drink

Xin Yuan Ji is opposite Bugis Junction at a small alley of Tan Quee Lan street. Simple restaurant with wooden tables and stools, tables sharing are expected during peak hours. Prices are inclusive of GST and there is no service charge. Given this simple food court style eatery, price is slightly pricey.

Xin Yuan Ji

Besides fish soup, this restaurant offered many other dishes as well. Besides the usual Cze Char dishes, their charcoal fish steamboat seems nice as well.  Will definitely try it some day.

There is another branch at Bukit Merah Central Hawker centre.  This stall only sell fish soup, same nice fish soup at a cheaper price.

31 Tan Quee Lan Street,
#01-01, Singapore 188117
Tel: +65 6334 4086
Operating Hours: 11.00am to 12.30am