http://www.soshiok.com/articles/14373
Best prawn-paste chicken at Loy Sum Juan
Wed Sep 30 2009
K F Seetoh
The New Paper
It is very juicy and soft, yet crumbly and crispy outside - and without that irritating red hue.
Makansutra
THERE was a time when going to a Cantonese cze char stall or a small family-run eatery would inevitably mean some fried rice, hor fun, steamed fish head, prawn paste chicken, sambal kangkong, hotplate tofu, fried chicken with salt, pepper and lime dip, some double-boiled soup or pai kwat wong (sweet and sour pork ribs).
So last century.
Today, we've moved on to menus which include cereal prawns, coffee ribs, fancy chicken and shmancy geoduck.
Trends have to change to suit the expectations of unrelenting, demanding and fashionable diners.
But there are a few diehard, old-fashioned household Cantonese makan names which just won't give up.
To this day, they stubbornly offer the same near-perfect signature dishes they did nearly half a century ago.
You don't go to eateries like Dragon Phoenix and expect some new interpretation of good old crispy baby sotong. Nor would you expect foie gras to appear atop some steamed dim sum item at the old-world Red Star Restaurant.
And the roast chicken at Moi Lum on Maxwell Road still comes crisp and juicy with a dab of salt and pepper on the side.
These places don't try too hard to reinvent the dishes as customers just would not let them.
Ditto for Loy Sum Juan.
Love at first bite
My love-at-first-bite moment there was some 20 over years ago when I, as a Kodachrome-toting photographer with the local morning daily, was sent to photograph its signature dishes.
Back then, it was a perpetually-packed simple little HDB-void-deck restaurant on Outram Road. It was closed for wedding parties practically every weekend.
Its fried garlic chicken had me going, 'Hello, what's this?'
It was a dish of bite-sized chicken chunks deep-fried with raw garlic cloves and then tossed in a sweet-savoury sauce laced with hints of Hua Tiao wine.
It came all crispy and sticky with soft cloves of sweet garlic, topped with crisp garlic chips.
Strangely, I have not seen this relatively obvious sure-to-be-popular (hello, garlic and chicken!) dish offered in similar eateries since.
Another dish that's regularly being demolished at each table in Loy Sum Juan is the steamed fish head with bean sauce - a fresh carp head steamed, then doused with a comforting soya and wine sauce enhanced with strips of lard and spring onions and served on a steel platter warmed with a tea light.
Yes, this fish head dish today, like ERP gantries in the city, is found at every turn of the road, especially in Chinatown.
But Loy Sum Juan, together with the Sik Wai Sin family in Geylang, has been offering for decades a consistently pleasing plate of fish head to those who throng at its doors every evening.
'Once, my head chef threatened us with a walkout in the middle of lunch, knowing we were fully booked for dinner that night, unless we met his demands for an immediate raise,' lady boss Wong Choi Foong recalled.
'So, I said, 'Sure, you can leave.'
She admitted that at that time, she had not handled a professional kitchen although she is a good cook herself.
Today, her son and other family members lord over the kitchen and front-service action. Son Roy Loi helms the wok and sister Canny directs front-end service.
Best prawn-paste chicken
I have to say that their prawn-paste chicken is one of the best I've had and they still do it in their own way. It is very juicy and soft, yet crumbly and crispy outside - and without that irritating red hue.
The restaurant's other classic, which Roy can cook while sleep-walking, is the steamed ginger prawns, done with a sweetened-with-wine soya, sugar and minced ginger sauce.
One gripe I have is that it has taken the stir-fried morning glory greens off the menu - 'difficult to get supplies these days'. Sayang, lah (What a waste in Malay slang).
Last month, the eatery moved yet again, but the makan is still the same.
LOY SUM JUAN
WHERE: 01-01, Murray Terrace, off Maxwell Road
WHEN: Lunch and dinner daily
TEL: 62212257
Makansutra, founded by KF Seetoh, is a company that celebrates Asian food culture and lifestyle. It publishes food guides in and around the region, produces a food television series, develops interactive mobile content and services, operates food courts and eateries, organises food tours and events, and consults on culinary concepts.
Read also: Finger-licking good Fried Chicken
Best prawn-paste chicken at Loy Sum Juan
Wed Sep 30 2009
K F Seetoh
The New Paper
It is very juicy and soft, yet crumbly and crispy outside - and without that irritating red hue.
Makansutra
THERE was a time when going to a Cantonese cze char stall or a small family-run eatery would inevitably mean some fried rice, hor fun, steamed fish head, prawn paste chicken, sambal kangkong, hotplate tofu, fried chicken with salt, pepper and lime dip, some double-boiled soup or pai kwat wong (sweet and sour pork ribs).
So last century.
Today, we've moved on to menus which include cereal prawns, coffee ribs, fancy chicken and shmancy geoduck.
Trends have to change to suit the expectations of unrelenting, demanding and fashionable diners.
But there are a few diehard, old-fashioned household Cantonese makan names which just won't give up.
To this day, they stubbornly offer the same near-perfect signature dishes they did nearly half a century ago.
You don't go to eateries like Dragon Phoenix and expect some new interpretation of good old crispy baby sotong. Nor would you expect foie gras to appear atop some steamed dim sum item at the old-world Red Star Restaurant.
And the roast chicken at Moi Lum on Maxwell Road still comes crisp and juicy with a dab of salt and pepper on the side.
These places don't try too hard to reinvent the dishes as customers just would not let them.
Ditto for Loy Sum Juan.
Love at first bite
My love-at-first-bite moment there was some 20 over years ago when I, as a Kodachrome-toting photographer with the local morning daily, was sent to photograph its signature dishes.
Back then, it was a perpetually-packed simple little HDB-void-deck restaurant on Outram Road. It was closed for wedding parties practically every weekend.
Its fried garlic chicken had me going, 'Hello, what's this?'
It was a dish of bite-sized chicken chunks deep-fried with raw garlic cloves and then tossed in a sweet-savoury sauce laced with hints of Hua Tiao wine.
It came all crispy and sticky with soft cloves of sweet garlic, topped with crisp garlic chips.
Strangely, I have not seen this relatively obvious sure-to-be-popular (hello, garlic and chicken!) dish offered in similar eateries since.
Another dish that's regularly being demolished at each table in Loy Sum Juan is the steamed fish head with bean sauce - a fresh carp head steamed, then doused with a comforting soya and wine sauce enhanced with strips of lard and spring onions and served on a steel platter warmed with a tea light.
Yes, this fish head dish today, like ERP gantries in the city, is found at every turn of the road, especially in Chinatown.
But Loy Sum Juan, together with the Sik Wai Sin family in Geylang, has been offering for decades a consistently pleasing plate of fish head to those who throng at its doors every evening.
'Once, my head chef threatened us with a walkout in the middle of lunch, knowing we were fully booked for dinner that night, unless we met his demands for an immediate raise,' lady boss Wong Choi Foong recalled.
'So, I said, 'Sure, you can leave.'
She admitted that at that time, she had not handled a professional kitchen although she is a good cook herself.
Today, her son and other family members lord over the kitchen and front-service action. Son Roy Loi helms the wok and sister Canny directs front-end service.
Best prawn-paste chicken
I have to say that their prawn-paste chicken is one of the best I've had and they still do it in their own way. It is very juicy and soft, yet crumbly and crispy outside - and without that irritating red hue.
The restaurant's other classic, which Roy can cook while sleep-walking, is the steamed ginger prawns, done with a sweetened-with-wine soya, sugar and minced ginger sauce.
One gripe I have is that it has taken the stir-fried morning glory greens off the menu - 'difficult to get supplies these days'. Sayang, lah (What a waste in Malay slang).
Last month, the eatery moved yet again, but the makan is still the same.
LOY SUM JUAN
WHERE: 01-01, Murray Terrace, off Maxwell Road
WHEN: Lunch and dinner daily
TEL: 62212257
Makansutra, founded by KF Seetoh, is a company that celebrates Asian food culture and lifestyle. It publishes food guides in and around the region, produces a food television series, develops interactive mobile content and services, operates food courts and eateries, organises food tours and events, and consults on culinary concepts.
Read also: Finger-licking good Fried Chicken
