ROASTED PORK, S$5.50 WITH RICE; S$6 WITH NOODLES
Ong hints at using “secret elements of Western cuisine” for his sio bak. “Most [roast masters] typically use five spice and fermented beancurd to season the meat and the back of the pork belly is very dark. Ours is not dark. We only use a pinch of five spice powder and no fermented beancurd,” he said. He remains mum on the other ingredients and techniques on how he creates some of the best roast pork in town.
Despite sampling the sio bak several hours after it was freshly roasted in the morning, the belly meat retains a puffy, crunchy crackling and the flesh is moist with melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. The seasoning, applied with restraint, lets the natural sweetness and subtle smokiness of the meat shine – a hallmark of good quality sio bak. Yum.
ROASTED DUCK, S$5.50 WITH RICE, S$6 WITH NOODLES
A competent roast duck made from fresh Malaysian birds weighing about 2.9kg. By using larger ducks, there’s a good layer of fat to keep even the breast meat from becoming stringy. Instead of the usual sweet, gloopy sauce served with Chinese roast duck, the cooks spoon a lighter blend of duck roasting juices and “secret” seasoning over the meat before serving. Not bad, but less impressive than the char siew and sio bak here.
PREMIUM CHAR SIEW WONTON NOODLE, S$6.50
The springy, thin egg noodles (made in a factory according to Ong’s recipe so it’s “a cross between local wonton mee and la mian”) lack a strong…
