Not too long ago a friend told me that he had a couple of vouchers for Dian Xiao Er, asked me if I wanted to go.
Of course I said yes.
It's been a while since we've been to this place for their signature roast duck, and it would be silly to refuse an invitation as wonderful as this (especially if one has the appetite, and the time).
So we went.
Originally we had thought we might visit the outlet at Vivocity (they've got great vibes) but then we so happened to find NEX more familiar for both of us, so it was to NEX we went.
I had a hard time trying to decide what to order, I tell you.
There was so much on the menu.
Besides their signature roast duck- which is what you're really at Dian Xiao Er for- there were still the vegetables, the poultry, the meats and the soups.
One dish I thought of having was the Iberico Char Siew- something something- which is really a plate of very fatty, very oily, super sweet, but super delicious, perfectly roasted char siew.
I had had it once before, and the thought of the sweet, salty pork fat melting away in my mouth made me salivate.
But alas, whilst it was a day for pork (and pork fat), it was not a day for the glorious amount of sugar in the sweet marinade, and so that dish was a no go.
Instead we went for a bowl of fish maw soup.
And of course, their duck, which I think was a half portion that we got that evening.
One thing about their duck that charms their loyal diners is just how crisp the skin is (despite it swimming in a pool of your chosen sauce) and how tender the meat is (never mind which part of the bird you're eating).
There's the distinctive, slightly charred, slightly burnt taste of the skin when you eat it on its own, yet even so one doesn't have to worry that the meat will be too coarse or dry when you pick it up with your chopsticks.
There'll be no such thing as the duck meat being too hard to chew.
Neither will it have any lack of taste- even though your gravy of choice will definitely have enhanced the flavors by then.
There're two kinds of gravy that the restaurant offers you, by the way- the Angelica Herb or the Tang Kwei.
I usually try to go for the Angelica Herb whenever possible.
What it does for the system (in view of TCM theories and all that) I don't know, but I like the warm, rounded, herby taste that this gravy grants, and I like that it's a little sweet without it being right-in-your-face.
That doesn't mean that I don't like the Tang Kwei.
I do, especially for those times when I want my duck to taste more tangy, sharp, even faintly bitter- the bitter bitter taste is one trait of this herb- yet still sweet enough that I won't feel like I'm eating a dish that's been recommended by a Chinese sinseh.
Today was one of those days where I didn't mind the Tang Kwei.
So that's what we took.
I'm glad we did.
Surprisingly it went pretty well with the fish maw soup- I had wondered if the flavors would clash.
But they didn't.
In fact they were quite a complement to each other, for which I was extra glad, because I've grown to like fish maw soup with its lovely thick texture, and which reminds me a little of sharks' fin, like the kind I used to have at Chinese restaurants during Lunar New Year, and which I now don't have anymore.