Best Things Under S$10: Chef Willin Low

SINGAPORE — Every move Chef Willin Low has made since opening Wild Rocket has been driven, in part, by an instinctive desire to champion local flavours. He is, after all, one of the pioneers of mod-Sing cuisine.

Suffice it to say, few chefs make a better fit as a judge (alongside Hong Kong’s feted Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation) on Singapore’s first reality cooking show, Wok Stars.

“What’s been really exciting for me is the fact that there is this group of people who are willing to give up what they are doing now to take a chance on being a hawker,” Low said about the contestants. “Ten years ago, when I left (a career in law) to become a chef, my first intention was to be hawker. But I couldn’t find a suitable space. I found one at Maxwell Market but it was too expensive; I did the math and realised I wouldn’t have been able to take a single day off. I even spoke to a person running a chap chye png (economy rice) stall there and he was, like, ‘don’t do it’.

“So I am very encouraged by the fact that there are still so many people out there who are willing to take a stab at working as a hawker.”

>Breakfast: Roti prata at Hougang Avenue 2 (Block 703)

“I usually have one egg (S$1.50) and one kosong (S$1) ... and then sometimes another, maybe with cheese. These are really crispy and savoury; you know some prata can be a bit sweet. My second choice would be black chai tau kway (S$2.50, Changi Village Carrot Cake). You see, in the past, the person selling black chai tau kway did not sell a white version — they are two completely different dishes. But somewhere along the way, some enterprising white chai tau kway seller decided to add sweet sauce, so now every store sells both versions. (The black chai tau kway) actually comes in oblong blocks, and he has already fried it with chai poh and garlic, so it’s already quite black in the pan. When you order, he takes a bit aside, cracks and egg over it, fries it and serves it.

“And the third is vegetarian bee hoon from a stall at Chinatown Hawker Centre, which serves mock goose done the old way. Nowadays, they take the tau kee and just deep-fry it, and it’s all crispy. But the (original) should be crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle; it’s not just deep-fried to a crisp, so that it resembles the texture of goose. It’s very oily the way they do it but it is really so good, and it’s done the right way.”

>Lunch: Hokkien mee or lontong

“I eat lontong every day, because it’s full of vegetables, and I eat lontong without rice. So it’s like I get to have coconut and spice but I’m only having vegetables, and maybe an egg for protein. I would also have to say Hainan Hokkien Mee (S$3, B1-34 Golden Mile Food Centre, Beach Road, Tel: 6294 6798). For me, the dish needs to have these few elements. It has to have thin bee hoon, because it soaks up all the stock, the fat bee hoon doesn’t. And because it (uses) thin bee hoon, it is a dry Hokkien mee, not a wet one. It must be served with cut chilli, not just sambal chilli, because sambal covers the taste of stock. And it must have pork belly, which a lot of places don’t use these days. I also eat a lot of curry puffs (even for breakfast), and I can have one after lunch as well. There are two I need to eat from and both are in the east: Lagoon Chicken Curry Puff (S$1.30, East Coast Lagoon Food Village) and Katong Chicken Curry Puff (S$1.20, #01-132, Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre).

>Dinner: Song Kee Fishball Noodle (532 Upper Serangoon Road)

“I usually order about S$5 worth, dry. The fishballs are likely (to be) hand-made (but certainly made by the company) and denser than most. But what’s more important is the hee kiaw (or fish dumpling); I call them fish ravioli and they are awesome. It’s part of the standard serving but I always order extra. By right, the skin is made from fish meat as well, and the filling is slightly gooey. And there is so much lard in this noodle dish, it’s just so good. I don’t usually like to queue for food anywhere, but for this, it’s an average wait of 30 to 45 minutes. It’s open for dinner until late, but the risk of going late is that they’ll say ‘not enough hee kiaw, cannot add extra’ — so I order two bowls!” DON MENDOZA

Catch Wok Stars on Wednesdays, 8pm on MediaCorp Channel 5.