Food Picks: Machine-fried dishes at hawker stall M+ Fried Rice Paradise
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Salted Chicken Fried Rice at M+ Fried Rice Paradise offers the best value.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
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SINGAPORE – Can fried rice cooked using a machine be palatable? Hawker stall M+ Fried Rice Paradise at Woodleigh Hawker Centre is out to prove that technology can aid in producing fried rice that is consistent in quality.
Prices start at $3.20 for a basic plate of Egg Fried Rice. The dish that offers the most value is the Salted Chicken Fried Rice ($5), which comprises Egg Fried Rice accompanied by a deep-fried chicken cutlet that has a light crispy batter and a juicy interior.
The chicken cutlet has a slight but perceptible floral-like perfume from lemongrass in the marinade.
A tad on the greasy side, the turmeric-tinged rice is tasty with plenty of egg and shreds of iceberg lettuce. The rice has a slightly chewy bite from the use of two types of grains – long-grained Thai hom mali rice and Vietnam-produced short-grained rice.
The fried rice comes with two housemade condiments – sambal and hae bee hiam.
The sauces, while well-made, come with an alarmingly thick layer of oil. The sambal is spicy and sweet, with a tangy edge. The punchy and spicy hae bee hiam is packed with savoury notes of dried prawns.
The stall also offers fried rice cooked with each of these sauces, such as the Sambal Salted Chicken Fried Rice ($5.50) – with a slab of chicken cutlet – and the Curry Sakura Shrimp Fried Rice ($8.30).
Sambal Salted Chicken Fried Rice.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
For the Curry Sakura Shrimp Fried Rice, the stall prepares a curry spice paste – including curry powder, ground coriander and chilli powder – which is added to the fried rice, giving it a deeper yellow colour and spicy flavours. The dish name is a misnomer as there is no actual Sakura shrimp in it. Instead, you get four to five prawns in the fried rice.
Curry Sakura Shrimp Fried Rice at M+ Fried Rice Paradise.
ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO
Where: 01-11 Woodleigh Hawker Centre, 202C Woodleigh Link
MRT: Woodleigh
Open: 9.30am to 9.30pm (Wednesdays to Mondays); closed on Tuesdays
Tel: 8484-4476
Info: @mplusfriedrice on Instagram
Hedy Khoo is senior correspondent at The Straits Times. She covers food-related news, from reviews to human interest stories.
