Hello all, hope all of you are doing fine and starting your workweek well. Today I will be sharing a nice and simple stall in a coffeeshop near my house which had just opened recently.
The Place
Parkson Klang Bah Kut Teh and Claypot Rice
Address: 361 Sembawang Cres, Singapore 750361
The food stall that I would like to share today is Parkson Klang Bah Kut Teh and Claypot Rice. It is quite a mouthful so let me break it down, what the whole name meant. The name of the stall is actually Parkson, while Klang is a place in Malaysia which is famous for the Bah Kut Teh dish which is a pork bone soup. And in the name of the stall, it also tells us that they serve claypot rice. The stall is situated in a coffeeshop along with other stalls. The renovated coffeeshop is much more spacious as compared to when it first opened and definitely attracting loads of residents around it to patronise and dine in. There is a multi-storey carpark next to the coffeeshop so accessibility is definitely great.
Here's how the place looks like:
I like it that the place is well lit, nice and clean and with many seating available. Though during peak hours, seats becomes a little more limited. But still a great place to have a nice meal considering there are other food choices available here. A simple fuss free location and now let's move on to the highlight of the post, the food.
The Food
As the name of the food stall mention about Bah Kut Teh and Claypot Rice, I had to try both and taste for myself if what they are good at fits my palette and if they are as good as other place that offer such food.
So in total, here is what we've ordered:
- Bah Kut Teh (Pork Bone Soup)
- Claypot Rice
- Fried Fritter (to dip in soup)
- Salted Vegetables
This time round I ensured I capture a picture of what we've ordered. Portionn wise looks amazing and well worth considering that we've ordered all the "small" variant of Bah Kut Teh and Claypot Rice. Fried Fritter and Salted Vegetables are the sides for Bah Kut Teh, so I will cover them together and then on Claypot Rice.
Bah Kut Teh, Fried Fritter and Salted Vegetables
To all whom are not familiar to Bah Kut Teh, this is actually a pork bone soup. Bah Kut is pork bone and Teh is actually referring to tea but essentially referring to soup which is infused with pork bone essence after cooking for many hours. Also there are 2 mainstream methods of cooking the soup, Singapore style which is cooked with loads of pepper and garlic, or the Malaysian Klang style where medicinal herbs are being used to cook the soup. While I am Singaporean, I prefer the Malaysian Klang style soup.
When I tasted the soup, I was glad as it was really rich in flavour and to my liking. The most important factor is that, after savouring the soup, there is no bitter aftertaste. Bah Kut Teh served from other places if not done well will have that bitter aftertaste. Next will be the pork itself. The part of pork used is pork ribs which is cooked really well and the meat can just fall off easily with a slight bite showing signs of cooking to perfection. Overcooked pork will make the pork tough and you have to exercise your jaws a little bit more. The beancurd skin soak up the soup and makes it a nice thing to munch on.
The next thing will be the additional side dishes which I added, the fried fritter and salted vegetables. Fried fritter had the same purpose as the beancurd skin, dipped in the soup, soak up the essence like a sponge and let it erupt in your mouth. It is fried to the right crisp and after a short soak up in the soup to prevent it from being overly soggy, it tasted really well. Next is the salted vegetables which is a good balance to neutralize all the taste. The taste was also not overpowering or too salty. A nice combination that was well worth.
Claypot Rice
A nice claypot rice need 2 elements to be done right. Firstly it must be flavourful with the black sauce and the ingredients used which typically includes chicken, Chinese Sausage and salted fish. These 3 ingredients are what makes claypot rice special and the fusion of the three gives a special iconic taste to claypot rice. The next element that needs to be done correctly is the rice. It must be cooked in a way such that it is not too dry to give a nice texture and at the same time, the rice that is sticking to the pot edge needs to be slightly charred. If both elements are done well, this will be a good pot of claypot rice. My take is that the stall had done pretty well and I would say it is a good 8 out 10 for this claypot rice.
Overall:
A stall tucked in the corner of the coffeeshop that serve authentic nice herbal Bah Kut Teh and did well in terms of the cooking of the claypot rice. Not the easiest of dishes to control and do well, but for me, they really do it nice and simple without going too fancy. I like what they did and they serve really decent food at a very affordable price. This will definitely not be the last time I visit them.
Closing
Thank you for coming by and reading my post. I am really glad that a nice food stall newly open in the coffeeshop near my place and serve really nice Bah Kut Teh and claypot rice which is not easy to find nowadays. Looking forward to my next food hunting adventure in the neighbourhood. Have a great weekend everyone!
See you in the next post!