EXQUISITE NANJING CUISINE
Chinese city Nanjing's classic dish of Nanjing Salted Duck is not easily found here, but Nan Jing Restaurant at Hotel Boss serves a version that will satisfy even the most finicky of duck lovers.
The grey and plain exterior of the duck is no indication of how flavourful it is. It is marinated in spiced salt for five hours and air-dried with a fan for at least three hours to allow the skin to firm up before braising.
Meant to be eaten chilled, the bird is savoury, but not overly salty and its meat, including the breast, is thoroughly packed with the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns, star anise and cinnamon, among other spices.
Dine-in prices are $16+ for a quarter portion and $28+ for half. There is an ongoing takeaway promotion of $29.90 nett for a whole duck.
Other dishes to try include the signature Huai Yang Eight Treasure Lion Head ($16.80+ for small, $28.80+ for large), which is braised pork balls in a gravy made from superior stock.
My favourite is the Spicy Fern Root Noodles ($12.80+). The noodles are made from the starch of bracken fern root and their texture is similar to potato starch noodles. They are tossed in a housemade chilli oil and chopped garlic.
WHERE: Nan Jing Restaurant, 01-10 Hotel Boss, 500 Jalan Sultan
MRT: Lavender
OPEN: 10am to 11pm daily
TEL: 6493-2331/9145-7880
INFO: Website
OLD-SCHOOL DIM SUM TREATS
When you are busy and on the go, pau and siew mai make quick and convenient snacks.
You can get such old-fashioned handmade dim sum items at Swee Handmade Pau, located in a coffee shop at Serangoon North Avenue 2.
Stall owner and chef Toh Cheng Hoon, 70, makes Siew Mai ($2 for three) by hand using a filling comprising lean pork, a small amount of pork lard, carrot, jicama, red onion, spring onion and fish meat from either yellow-tail fish or mackerel. The meat from the fish helps bind the siew mai filling together.
The Chicken Glutinous Rice ($2) is also worth the calories. Mr Toh uses a premium brand of wine - Plum Blossom Hua Tiao Chiew - to marinate the meat. Few food and beverage owners go to such expense for commercial cooking, but Mr Toh insists on sticking to his favourite brand as he loves eating his own handmade snacks.
He adds in Mandarin: "I want people who eat my snacks to feel happy."
The chicken meat is well-infused with flavour. You can also taste the springy texture of the glutinous rice, which has no mushy bits. The secret behind this is that Mr Toh separates the glutinous rice after steaming and painstakingly marinates the cooked rice by hand so that every grain is well-coated in seasoning.
The Chicken Big Pau ($1.50) and Coffee Pau (70 cents) are also good. The skin of the Coffee Pau and the lotus paste filling are rich with the aroma of coffee.
WHERE: Swee Handmade Pau, 01-41, Block 151 Serangoon North Avenue 2
MRT: Kovan
OPEN: 7am to 6pm (Wednesdays to Mondays); closed on Tuesdays
TEL: 9192-2588
LIGHT-TASTING AND LESS SUGARY PASTRIES
For a lighter version of burnt cheesecake, try La Pasteleria's Signature Burnt Cheesecake ($7 a slice; $40 for whole cake). Eat it 15 minutes after taking it out from the fridge, when it is at its optimum melty creaminess.
La Pasteleria, a newly opened artisanal patisserie, is owned by food and beverage chain Taberu Food Company. Founder and director Cecilia Neo, 45, came up with the concept during the circuit breaker when she started baking and selling burnt cheesecakes from her home kitchen.
She had tasted the cake on a trip to Spain's Basque Country in 2018. As someone who is not fond of sugary confections, she wanted a version that is less sweet and baked 10 cheesecakes daily for three weeks to perfect her recipe.
Indeed, her Signature Burnt Cheesecake is rich with the taste of cheese, but is not cloying and tastes noticeably less sweet.
For savoury bites, go for the Mala Pork Belly Wrap ($8.50). The spice blend is housemade and the oven-grilled pork belly meat has the numbing spicy flavours of mala that is balanced with a generous filling of purple cabbage and lettuce.
WHERE: La Pasteleria, 01-01 Royal Square @ Novena, 103 Irrawaddy Road
MRT: Novena
OPEN: 7am to 8pm daily
TEL: 8318-2138
INFO: Facebook
