We have come to this place here at Toa Payoh at most only one, or two times.
It isn't because the location is inconvenient, or that the food isn't good.
It's just that my feet tend to lead me elsewhere whenever I am at Toa Payoh Central, but today was a day when we had to decide between a bowl of thick Cantonese-style porridge, or a claypot dish of braised meat with rice.
We chose the latter.
There are times when you want something warm and comforting, yet stimulating enough for your stomach, and today was one of them.
Someone once told me to never underestimate a full bowl of rice.
I used to not understand.
But now, after having come to places where diners can get unlimited soup and unlimited rice, I get what they mean.
At most places, one has to wait for the dish to be prepared and brought to your table before you can start to feed.
Not here.
At this place all you need to do is to place your order and you can go get your rice and soup. You don't have to wait for your dish to come.
I like the feeling of having more than enough.
And there is nothing more satisfying than seeing both of your dishes arrive at your table almost one after the other.
If you're thinking that both dishes look really red, well, yes, they did.
One of the best things about having Mainland cuisine is that you get to experience what they call the chili oil, chili, or Mala spice, to the degree that your taste buds can tahan.
At most places you get to decide your level of spice, which, for me, is either zero, or one.
I am not a chili person.
But what makes these two dishes here interesting is that whilst they look really, really red, in truth they weren't really very spicy.
You get the first spark, the first sharp intake of breath with the Mapo Tofu, but a couple of spoons in- with the help of rice- and you're good.
The sight of these big, cube-shaped pieces of tofu bean curd bobbing about in the pot of bubbling gravy was actually delightful.
There are places where they make the cubes of bean curd too small or too hard, none of these smooth silky stuff, so glad we were that not only were these pieces bouncy, bite-sized all of them were too.
I loved how each piece felt so full, as if you could really taste the smooth of the bean curd mushed between your rice as it slid around your tongue.
The best part about Mapo Tofu that gives it the spark is the gravy.
Rich with douban of fermented broad bean and chili paste, and douchi of fermented black beans, the gravy transformed what was originally a plain-tasting dish into one full of vibrance and flavor.
This dish wasn't all vegetarian though.
Mixed amidst all the red were bits of minced beef which I actually didn't notice but until much later and so spooned it together with my bean curd.
I like Mapo Tofu.
But the most memorable part of this meal (for me) however has to be the Hong Shao Rou.
Not only was pork belly a dish that I had hardly ventured to try before, this was also a dish I had never had a chance to have.
But the pictures here looked good.
And I remembered the Mainland-style mukbang videos I'd seen on Facebook and Instagram.
Hong Shao Rou is translated as Red Braised Pork Belly in English. A classic dish from China that features pieces of pork belly braised for long hours in a sauce of ginger, garlic, spices, star anise, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, chili, and rice wine, it comes in many variations, with the most popular being the style hailing from Hunan.
What exactly it is that gives the dish its signature bright red, I can't tell- it might be the spices, it might be the chilies- but I am pretty sure it were the rice wine that gave the dish a tangy burst the same way you'd have had you been drinking a glass of alcohol.
I was absolutely charmed by the melt-in-the-mouth texture collagen of the pork belly.
It felt exactly as how I had imagined it to be.
Those videos always had the dish look so delicious and appetizing on camera, what with the rich red sauce, the big chonky pieces of pork belly, the hard boiled eggs, and the vegetables all soaked in a bright, cheerful red.
This dish didn't have hard boiled chicken eggs.
It had small, cute-looking quail eggs peeking out from the sea of gravy instead.
But I didn't mind.
I love quail eggs however they are prepared, whether they are served savory or sweet, whether they are hard-boiled or grilled.
And I can eat a good many of them.
