Nur Fah: Malay cuisine in Sembawang

Malay cuisine may not be as well developed as the Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian or Indian and Thai, but it certainly is a cornerstone in this part of the world. Definitive cooking in the traditional Malay style is often rather generic, but once in a while, a gem appears. This might be one of them.

This is a rather large meal...ahem...taken as a mid-day break on a 80km bicycle ride...so I guess it justifies the calories.

Where do I begin...ok, with the very large chicken drumsticks

I guess it might be because the Muslim rules require that meat be completely cooked, but I have always found the Malay meats tend to be a bit overcooked. I rather enjoy a toothy, chewy piece of meat as the next man, but tender is better, IMHO. This huge drumstick...looked like it might have come from a goose, but its chicken...was rather tender. True it was totally cooked to the bone...no blood or rare meat within, but it was tender. Coupled with the crisp batter. Nice.

The Telur Kichap (egg with sauce) is a mainstay in this style of cuisine

Nicely done. Nice crisp edges, almost luxurious, smothering sauce, with a kick provided by the chilli.

I usually have a pegedil or two...

Pegedil is a potato cutlet, often with mutton mixed into the potato, with spices and pan fried to a crisp. This was rather ok.

Though, when doused with the sambal belachan

Yowza! The chilli lifts the pegedil to another plane. Gone is the blandness and replaced with a rather exquisite body tampered with the uplifting chilli and lime. I think the sambal belachan is rather good. Side note: There is a recent Stomp article (citizen reporting) that the stall charges 30 cents for additional sambal. I am not sure if I was charged for the rather large serving we were given. But I guess its par for the course.

Another staple is sambal goreng

Tempeh (a fermented bean stick, sliced, fragrant, and very nutritious) with long beans and sambal. Nice.

The sayur lodeh is a standard offering in Malay cuisine too...

Good for its savoury, rich gravy. And the vegetables help balance the meat and protein.

Overall, a nice stall to visit. I wouldn't drive or go all the way to Sembawang to satisfy a Malay meal craving, but if I am in the area, this stall would beckon me.

Nur Fah Muslim Corner
1036 Sembawang Road

Sinar Murni: best Soto Ayam in Singapore?

Soto Ayam...a chicken soup by the Javanese. Of course, it must be spicy. Of course, it needs to be aromatic. And absolutely it needs to be hot, not only from the chilli but also piping hot. Many stalls around Singapore serve this popular Surabaya dish. But few are really good. This one, got me travelling all the way to Changi to sample its pleasures.

Was it worth it?



Indeed it was! The broth is thick, hot (yes both spicy and temperature wise), and very fragrant, aromatic. A piece of pegedil floats within to fortify the makan experience. I normally prefer the soto with yellow noodles, but forget to specify when I ordered, and was served the more traditional version with pressed rice cakes or ketupat. Well, not technically ketupat as the rice cakes are not wrapped tightly in palm leaves, but probably compressed mechanically, so perhaps nasi empit (literally translated from Malay as compressed rice) is more appropriate. The rice is pressed just right...so the consistency is nice and firm to the bite...el dente if were describing another country's cuisine would come to mind. The rice grains have just about melded into each other.

But the star is the soup. It is brilliant. Extremely tasty. I did not detect MSG later as I remained unthirsty all afternoon. The shreads of chicken floating in the soup provided some bite. Very shiok.

We also had the tahu goreng from the same store.



A typical taukwa...a bean curd, is deep fried till crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, sliced, and heaped with taugeh and julianned cucumber and a sauce of crushed peanuts drizzled on top. The peanuts were freshly crushed, so was crunchy and fragrant. The tahu is freshly fried, so is still hot and crisp. Very nice, but not the best I have eaten...which by memory was a stall by the side of a coffeeshop in Binjai Park...the stall is long gone, in its place now a pizzeria.

Very reasonably priced. The soto ayam was S$2.50 for a decent sized bowl. I definitely would come back for the soto ayam...and if we go by the Michelin Guide's "Worth the journey" appelation, then two Michelin stars? Probably not, but a nice, tasty meal this one!




Sinar Murni
Blk 3 Changi Village, Changi Village Road
#01-39 Changi Village Market and Food Centre S500003
Open daily, but only from 1pm till about 4pm when the food runs out

Warong M. Nasir: Malay or Indonesian food?

Malay food is something quite special here. I have some favourites, but most of them, when you trace them to the roots are more Indonesian than truly Malay. Nasi Padang...or rice from Padang (a town in Indonesia) is a top favourite amongst devotees of Malay food here. And while I am not an expert in the historical and culinary aspects, I do love the hot, spicy food, and indeed this aspect, when fused with Chinese cooking form the basis for Peranakan. I am not quite certain if Warong M. Nasir I am reviewing here is more Malay or Indonesian, but I am certain I do like the food quite a lot!

This restaurant shophouse right next door to the famous, original Killiney Kopi Tiam, right in Killeney Road is an old guard. Quirky, it plays jazz music almost all day long, and the high ceilings inside gives the dining area an airy, relaxed atmosphere. Their walls are decorated by contemporary artists, and often as cameo introductions for these painters.



The food is certainly not laid back. Offering quite a large variety, from traditional Malay to those which are a bit more Indonesian in origins. I highlight a few of my favourites.

The absolute must have here is the beef rendang.



The dish uses the traditional tough cut of beef...typically the shin or rump...and cooked with spices till it is so tender that it almost disintegrates at the prodding of a fork. The coconut milk is all but infused within the sinews of the beef, and the fragrant, smooth, rich spices smother the meat. Sometimes parts of the brisket is served...these are smooth, collagen, and almost melt in the mouth. Sometimes, the tough sinews are offered...and these need some measure of teasing...making a ragout on your own...generously mixing the sinews with the rempah (gravy - the thick sauce which clings to the meat). Ummph!

I also am partial to the sayur lodeh:



Long beans, cabbage, carrots are stewed in a coconut gravy for a long time...till the vegetables are super tender. And large cuts of bean curd taukwa is added. The spicy dish is a favourite of mine. And the Warong's creation is one of the better ones around.

I also love their pergedil



This is probably an Indonesian influenced dish...the pergedil is a potato cutlet - potatoes mixed with beef, onions, spices and deep fried. Excellent. Tasty.

Overall, I like the atmosphere at Warong M. Nasir very much, and the food is quite excellent too...particularly the 3 dishes I highlight here. They do a very nice, rich dessert selection of kuihs as well.


Warong M. Nasir
69 Killiney Road
Tel: 6734-6228
Open daily 11.30am - 9.30pm

Sinar Pagi: rays of delicious hope

Sinar Pagi is a quintessential Malay makan joint. Food served with rice, Padang style, except in Singapore, they don't lay all the dishes out on your table and you pick and eat those you like, and pay for only what you eat. Here you choose the dishes from a serving station, and they serve you what you choose.

I had been eating here for a while...and in an earlier period when my office was just around the corner in Battery Road, I used to walk down with my Australian colleague Drew for a taste of what he called "best barbi chook in the world!". High praise indeed, and I tend to agree with him



Come at the right time...we had it figured back then to be about 1145am to about 1215 is the best time to arrive...earlier, and the ayam pangang (BBQ chicken) is not yet ready...later, and not only do you get chicken which is not immediately hot off the barbi, the queues are long.

The chicken is superb...so tender it just falls off the bone. The charcoal fire imparts an unmistakable smoky aroma, a characteristic charring and crisping of the edges of the skin...and the burnt fat makes this dish irresistable. Combined with the smooth, rich, luxurious sauce...almost heaven.

This time, with Kin, we also ordered the beef rendang



The beef rendang is the typical Malay kampung style. No attempt is taken to procure a finer cut of meat. The cut was probably rump...a typically tough, sinewy cut. But the spices infused the muscle fibres, the slow rendang cooking tears down the tough fibres into a managable, though still chewy meat. There is a charm, and indeed a nice taste to eating the slightly tough, almost no marbled meat. The thick, rich, sauce providing ample support to make this an excellent, delicious dish.

We also had the Tahu Telur



A typical Balinese dish...tofu, coated with egg, deep fried, and heaped on it...a load of juliened vegetables - carrots, cucumber, and a sweet, spicy black sauce fortified with crushed peanuts. My reference for a good Tahu Telor was served by the now defunct Sanur in Centerpoint. Crisp egg exterior, moist, soft and fragrant tofu inside, and a wonderful sauce. Sinar Pagi's version is just as good, but different. The crispy egg exterior is there. But the tofu used is the harder, firmer variety, giving it more bite, but also very fragrant. The sauce is thick, sweet, and the peanuts were freshly roasted and crushed...still crunchy. Nice dish.

I like this style of Nasi Padang. Another favourite place for this style of cuisine is at Warong M. Nasir at Killeney Road...but Warong is decidedly more upmarket, and for e.g. the beef used in their rendang is a better cut...more marbled, less sinewy, more tender...melts in your mouth. Both have their good points, and both are just as delicious.

p.s. sinar in Malay means shine...pagi means morning...hence the play of words rays of delicious hope in today's title.


Sinar Pagi Nasi Padang
13 Circular Road
6536 5302
Mon-Thu 9am-10.30pm;
Fri 9am-11pm;
Sat noon-2am.

Mee Rebus at 60s Live Seafood, Singapore

What transcends race & religion? Not many things apparently, but ironically, food does at times... more so in Singapore than most other places i guess.

We have come to acknowledge that nasi lemak, satay, mee goreng, chicken rice and a host of other local dishes are uniquely local, enjoyed by all races and a great representation of this part of the globe, our northern neighbours across the Causeway included. Some of these local dishes may be prepared by Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians or localised Ang-mohs who give their own different interpretation and signature style but we all claim it as our local fare.

However, there is one local dish that remains less highly profiled than say, nasi lemak, satay or chicken rice. While still mainly prepared only by the Malays, it has become an equally accepted and consumed local dish as the rest of the others. Sorry for this rather long winded intro for a ...(drum roll) Mee Rebus! (m.r.) Yes our very own local-style pasta man! Just like its sister dish, Mee Siam (m.s.), m.r. is as uniquely local and multi racially eaten and enjoyed as the other more famous local dishes i mentioned earlier. {Eh no gender puns intended in the acronyms lah}

The m.r. is yellow noodles served soaked in thick gravy, usually slightly peanut in taste with a good sprinkling of green chillies, taupok, dried shrimps ("hare-bee"), fried shallots, bean sprouts, hard boiled eggs and of course, one half of a single lime for extra tang.

And so it was, on this lazy Wesak holiday morning, when Peter and i went in search of breakfast/brunch. We drove past the idyllic Stable Club at Bukit Timah until we reached the Green Fairways - a 9-hole golf course packed with holiday golfers. Eh, can find food here one meh? Yes, promises hubby.

Really nice greenery all around (mostly provided by golf fairways on one side) and lo behold, an open style eatery called "60s Live Seafood"...

Whaddya know got local food! We ordered the set breakfast (4 slices of kaya butter toast, with 2 half boiled eggs and a coffee) and of course, my favourite Mee rebus lah!



When the m.r. was served, i must say the presentation was pretty nice to look at (as you can tell from the photos). It was with great anticipation that we savoured our Wesak day breakfast. Of course Peter, being Chief Taster, took on ze tasting first and he started to nod in approval after the first mouthful. Eyes gleaming, he said "Hmm, not bad! Not bad at all". Ok, here comes my turn... what was this yellow noodle boiled (rebused) in traditional peanut gravy (kuah) going to taste like??



Remembering all the lovely ones I've tried in katong, raffles place and some say in malaysia, I must say - this particular m.r wasn't quite as traditional or similar to the ones i've tried before. Firstly, there was a lot more dried shrimp than peanut in the gravy and there was quite a lot of kicap manis (sweet black sauce - which you can also detect if you looked closely at the hard boiled eggs in the photos). There was also the stray soya bean, seeming from a helping of tau chieo.

Suffice to say that the noodles were just right,not too soggy. The taste was really that of a very home-made style mee rebus, the kind you'd expect from your neighbourhood makcik but with a twist - the kicap manis with a hint of chinchalok. i would have preferred the gravy to be a bit thicker and more peanutty. But it was the kicap manis that differentiated it from all the other m.r eaten before and this puts this m.r. in a 'must try at least once' category. Of course, no one should expect any two m.r. from different stalls to be exactly the same. This particular m.r was really quite down-to-earth with some rawness yet remained delicately well-balanced and well, quite enjoyable and interesting. For S$2.80 a bowl, it was satisfying and worth a second visit i think (don't forget ambiance was lush green fairways on one side and birds chirping around - what more can you ask for?)



The breakfast set of kaya toast (cost:$2.99) was nothing to shout about - Ya kun and Killiney are still pretty safe. Our kaya toast today was, in my book, barely acceptable.



Don't know about Pete (who seemed to enjoy it all this morning) but personally, i found the toast a tad too dry, kaya did not have enough pandan and butter had already melted into bread. Thankfully the half-boiled eggs were done quite right (though Peter pointed out that with an idiot proof timer, shouldn't get the eggs wrong, right?). For me, it was the humble local m.r. that i would go back for (and also want to try their nasi lemak too the next time, as it was sold out when we arrived. shucks! must be good one hor, so fast sold out?)

So there you have it - a pretty enjoyable breakfast at the Green Fairways resulting in my first blog posting ever (goodness how did this happen?) Must be all that dried shrimp and kicap manis in the m.r. which I think was served in a pretty nice location.(ok,ok, east coast next to the beach could possibly surpass, but, gotta blog this lah before i forget!)



60s Live Seafood
60 Fairway Drive
Singapore 286966
tel: 6469-8060