Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Kian Seng Seafood Restaurant, Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park

Was introduced to this place (4013 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1, tel : +65 6458 2552) via a friend that doesn't live anywhere close to here. The tze char was pretty good and on the whole, wallet friendly enough to visit with some regularity.


Unfortunately, the spinach with three eggs was a little disappointing for me. It was suppose to be a recommended rendition that was better than the usual offerings, but it tasted rather regular to me and the starchy sauce didn't help. I was expecting a base of broth.


The fried rice was nicely done. There was enough oil and char aroma (I mean wok hei) and almost no excessive residual grease. I think that's a fairly reliable benchmark dish there for tze char. It means to me that the cook has measurement and control over the base ingredients which is rather lacking these days. Yeah, they used crab sticks.


Ngor hiong was pretty ok I guess. I prefer the types with chunky textures which this one doesn't quite have. Needs more water chestnut. The accompanying sticky plum sauce made up for it.


These steamed cabbages with dried scallop was probably my favorite of the bunch tonight. The flavors permeated which lent the savory aroma from the scallops to the soft vegetables. It was also the most expensive item, costing almost a third of the total bill at the end.


And then, deep fried pork collar marinated in nam yu (fermented bean curd). The meat was relatively juicy, moderately fat laced and had enough chew for texture. Tasty.


The taste of the broth from the steamed frog legs with chicken essence was rather unexpected. I was expecting a deeper savory punch akin to a soy based flavor. This one was herbal and lightly salted. Still it was good enough that we drank it to the last drop after sucking all the tender meat off the bones of the frogs.


Kian Seng's orh nee uses a generous blanket of thickened coconut milk. So no fried shallots nor lard to be found; which I feel are essential ingredients to a solid (fragrant) rendition of this Teochew dessert.

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