Singapore Shiok! Chinatown

The Eating World food court in Chinatown must be laughing, it's home to two of the most popular eateries in town, Gumshara Ramen and the increasingly popular, and delicious Singapore Shiok!

Just about all your favourites are here, Hai Nam chicken, Hai Nam roast chicken, laksa, char kway teo, nasi lemak, nasi goreng, mee goreng, my mouth is watering as I type this post.

Hai Nam Chicken, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 As I've said hai nam chicken is ubiquitous, this was from Hong Kong.

Had this delicious hai nam chicken at a tiny corner shop on Reclamation Street, Mongkok.  This street is the handy man street, selling hardware, air cond systems, motors.  And the food is honest and no frills.  The ginger and soy sauce is poured on the chicken.  The rice is rough, dry but satisfying.

Hai Nam Chicken, Street Food, Bangkok, Thailand

My love of hai nam chicken is legendary. I love it and it's available just about any where in the world thanks to the Chinese diaspora. Simple and delicious. The secret is in the dipping sauce, which is also the delight because it changes in different countries.

I had this at a street stall on Surawong Road, Bangkok outside the Montien hotel under soft neon light.  The chicken perfectly boiled, soft and tender, the sauce a dark, thick and chilli hot, effort was put into the accompanying soup, no tasteless boiled vegetable broth here, it was alive with spices, fish sauce and meat broth.  Utterly delicious.

Hai Nam Chicken - 30 baht, or roughly A$1
Street Stall Outside Montien Hotel
Surawong Road, Bangkok, Thailand.

Temasek, Malaysian, Parramatta

I had a dinner with family before my big Asia eating tour, I got to chose the venue and instantly selected Temasek, it's been too long between drinks.

And I got to chose the food as well... prawn laksa of course, creamy, the prawn works perfectly.

Probably my favourite dish when I travel anywhere, hai nam chicken... gosh surely it's put hai nam province on the map by now!  The chicken was perfectly cooked through, but not tough and was incredibly white.  It came with hai nam rice... god, I love hai nam rice.

Hai nam rice is the rice cooked in chicken broth, basically absorbing the flavour into the rice.

The beef rendang was much better than I remembered it. Of course the curry flavour was dominant but at the same time smooth, it's the melt in your mouth beef that did it for me.

The fried noodles was also a treat.  The whole dinner was just perfect, great company and delicious Temasek that I've been missing for so long.

Temasek
71 George St, Parramatta
(02) 9633 9926

Temasek Malaysian Restaurant, Parramatta

My partner's sister introduced us to this place and we fell in love with it at first sight.  Not that they need our custom because it's always busy.  This Malaysian eatery looks like a family run business, but they seem to know what they're doing - front and back of house.

Malaysian House, Cabramatta

A new Malaysian restaurant has opened in Cabramatta recently.  We tried it yesterday. Ordered Hai Nam Chicken (where in the world can't you get it) and beef rendang.

Dong Son, Cabramatta

Quick lunch today at Dong Son, it was fast and definitely satisfying.

I had the "boiled chicken" which I think is a plain version of Hai Nam chicken.  But the chilli, garlic, ginger sauce really does make a difference.  The free soup was nice too.

Walter had the Hu Tieu Xao Bo, fried rice noodles with beef.  It looked delicious.