Hey Hive!
We're back with more of our hawker adventures! It's been a while but one of the things we do on dates is trying out different stalls in different hawker centers to find which are our favourites!
A few months back we found ourselves going to this mall in the West part of Singapore called Jurong Point. I don't remember why but it was either to use a voucher or go see a certain store and the nearest outlet was in this mall. Either way, while we were here we decided to revisit one of our favourite hawker centers - Malaysia Boleh!
Source: sethlui
This hawker center is very unique since it's home to uniquely Malaysian dishes, especially famous ones like Penang Char Kway Teow. The interior design of the hawker center itself is really interesting too, since they made it look like old-school hawker centers from the 60's and '70s.
I always thought the design of this place was really cool since I like retro-looking styles. The traditional furniture and the colourful murals on the walls resembling old houses makes this whole place stand out and contrasts the modern mall its housed in.
Even the stalls themselves look unique with the different designs around each of them, but all retaining that retro look.
Some of the stalls actually resemble recreations we've seen in museums!
It's been a long time since we visited but they've actually expanded the place so now there are a lot more seats and stalls in the back.
It's actually quite open and spacious here which is a huge improvement since the front area can get quite cramped when the place gets packed during peak periods.
There were a lot more stalls now and we were spoilt for choice! But since it's been a while I had to go with my favourite Clay Pot Chicken Rice!
Thankfully the queue wasn't too long and after about 10 minutes it was ready!
If you're unfamiliar, this Chinese home-cooked comfort food consists of marinated chicken, pork belly and Chinese sausages, topped with spring onions and a generous drizzle of sweet dark sauce, all cooked and served in a pretty earthenware pot. The clay pot retains heat evenly, so everything inside steams together, and it also forms a nice rice crust on the bottom, making the rice crunchy.
This is one of my favourite rice dishes of all time. It's sweet and savoury because of the sausage and the juicy meat but I also like it because of the unique texture with comes from the scorched rice on the bottom of the clay pot.
I like to mix the crunchy bits with the fluffy rice to get a nice contrast in texture but it can be a little difficult to scrape the scorched bits out. Metal utensils are definitely a must when having this dish.
I thought Sean would try one of the newer stalls but he ended up getting his favourite as well - KL-style Hokkien Mee!
Hokkien Mee is probably one of the dishes that differ the most between Singapore and Malaysia. Malaysian Hokkien Mee uses thick short noodles and lots of black sauce, while Singapore-style Hokkien Mee uses a mix of egg noodles and vermicelli and is mostly white but cooked in prawn stock.
Source: Monster Day Tours
It's odd that both dishes are called Hokkien Mee, but they're both delicious! This KL-style Hokkien Mee is especially saucy but super flavourful and the noodles are smooth and slightly chewy.
Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of the stall because there were too many people queuing up for it that they were blocking the stall. I guess that just goes to show how popular it is!
Overall, we had a very satisfying meal with our favourite dishes, and it's good to know that they still taste the same all these years later. I can see this hawker center being a home away from home for Malaysians staying in Singapore, although they'd probably complain about the prices.
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
