Chinatown: Dong Po and Harbin Beer

Note:

I selected this post to be featured on my blog’s page at Indian Food Blogs.

Hands down my favourite item on any menu in Chinatown: the Dong Po pork.

Dong Po pork and Harbin beer

The simplicity of it is what makes it a winner. All it is is slices of pork, with fat intact, soaked in vinegary soya sauce, served with a generous portion of kale leaves. But I don’t know why, Dong Po pork is one item I have devoured over and over and over again.

I think it’s the fat. The meat must be taken from a particularly chubby part, I’m not well acquainted with the anatomy. But you eventually forget about the calories, as the fatty taste totally dissolves into the tangy taste of the soya pool below. Yes, it must be the fat.

Or it could be the roasted outer layer of the pork. Man, they cook pork really well in Singapore. I’ve hardly ever tasted red meat in India that is actually tender; chewing becomes most of the experience. However, pork is very popular in Singapore, possibly the most commonly consumed of all the meats. Everywhere in Singapore that I have tried it, beef and pork are cooked to perfection. Either it is super tender, melting in your mouth, or it is just hard enough, so that you actually enjoy the chewy dance going on in your mouth.

Anyway, the Dong Po pork is a case in point. The entire slice is just a delight that melts in your mouth and leaves that wonderful vinegary aftertaste. The crunchy, plain and simple kale leaves complement it nicely by balancing out the flavours. If you’re looking for a spicy twist, then you’ll have to as for chilli sauce.

Adding a refreshing feel to the sitting-in-Chinatown-and-munching-on-succulent-roast-pork thing, was Harbin beer. Another Chinese brew, it again added to the pseudo-exotic setting of Chinatown. It’s a little more solid than Tsing Tao, but equally smooth. Combine it with some crispy snacks, and you are set for an evening of chill-out. Oh and did I mention the mugs filled chock block with ice? Yup, just like with Tsing Tao. I don’t know, I think the Chinese like it this way. I ain’t complaining, it’s as chilled out as can be :) If you know anything about the history of this practice, then let me know!

Harbin beer, served with ice cubes

Overall, eating in Chinatown turns out pretty affordable compared to the proper restaurants that you have to visit to try out the same kind of food. Items like the Dong Po pork and the shredded chilli pork come for S$ 8 - S$ 10, and a full bottle of Harbin / Tsing Tao / Tiger Beer will cost you around 5 – 7 Sing dollars. Two of us used to get away with a sumptuous meal at Chinatown for anything between 15 – 20 dollars. Of course that’s nothing compared to the famous food courts of Singapore, where you can have a brilliant dish and be happy for just 5 dollars. More on that coming up soon… stay tuned! Till then, do not miss the Dong Po pork :)

Chilling in Chinatown with Tsing Tao

A must visit destination for people in Singaporean is Chinatown, for so many reasons – the bright lights, the late hours, the colourful knick-knacks, but above all, the spicy, crazy Chinese food!

I have spent many a meal in Chinatown, at a favourite spot of mine. Just outside Chinatown station, right on the

main road adjoining Food Street, there is a long stretch of Chinese restaurants. One after the other you will see tables and tables of young men and women around large tables, laughing and chatting over large steamboats of chilli pork and grilled prawn sticks. With tables placed right on the kerb, and cute little shrubs separating you from the main road, where there is only mild traffic, the setting makes for an easy, breezy evening filled with bursts of flavours that will make you want to try more!

I ordered my first meal there after meticulously looking through a very long, graphic menu of strange scary sounding items. I finally zeroed in on a plate of shredded chilli pork and one shrimp omelette, neither of which I had tried before. To accompany the meal was a bottle of Tsing Tao, a Chinese beer available in almost every street food joint in Singapore.

Unexpectedly, the chilli in the chilli pork turned out to be the main attraction in the plate! Like I hadn’t consumed enough dry red chillies in my 7 years in Karnataka. Though the chillies here were like a whole other level! My friend couldn’t even take it. Me having a higher ‘spiciness’ threshold, I could still stomach it, but had to still filter some of it out. The pork, however, was nice and crunchy. And bits of chilly every now and then, coupled with chunks of green kale leaves, gave every bite of the pork a good punch.

The shrimp omelette was interesting – I guess the egg taste and fishy taste generally go well together. We were content with the order that day, but it’s not something I’d go back for, unless there were some super spicy variation of it :)

The Tsing Tao beer was a revelation. Guess what they put in it! ….Ice! Loads and loads of ice. And they keep it coming too. I know I know, to beer enthusiasts that may seem counterintuitive. I mean why would you add ice to chilled beer (an already light drink :-/). To chill it more? I don’t know, but it does work, in some twisted way!

Tsing Tao beer in itself is pretty good – light but solid enough to keep you going. It’s got the slightest tingly taste, that you don’t get in your regular lagers. And it went well with all the snacks I’ve ordered it with in Singapore. It is also cheaper than your average beer in Singapore!

So there you have it. My first step in exploring new food in a new town – iced Tsing Tao, chilli pork and shrimp egg! (Actually it was my second, I’ll save my first for a time when you get used to the unusual items on the menu that I have tried…) Don’t waste another weekend, go to Chinatown and start exploring! You do not want to leave Singapore without getting a feel.