Traditional Teochew cuisine done with finesse, served at reasonable prices with friendly service and in a pleasant environment.
Restaurant name: Chin Lee 深利美食馆Address: Bedok North Rd, #01-285 Block 115, Singapore 460115Tel: +65 6449 5454Hours: Lunch 11:30am - 2:30pm Dinner 6:00pm - 10:30pm
Chef Eric Chua's father founded Chin Lee Restaurant which was first located at the intersection of Changi Road and Frankel Avenue. Some 40 years ago, they moved to the foot of Block 115 in Bedok North and have been here ever since. Chin Lee has build up a loyal following through the years with consistently good traditional Teochew dishes.
Chin Lee Restaurant is spacious and comfortable inside, and there is al fresco seating outside which is popular in the evenings. I like the casual and welcoming feel of HDB flat ground floor restaurants which haven't changed that much since the 1970s.
We started with the obligatory Ngoh Hiong. Minced pork, prawn and water chestnut wrapped in dried tofu skin and deep fried to a golden brown crisp outside.
Bamboo Charcoal Dust Siow Bee 潮州"竹炭粉"烧米 is a pork and shrimp dumpling in a wanton skin cup (siew mai in Cantonese). Dried flat fish added a savoury touch to the pork and shrimp sweetness. The bamboo charcoal added colour but doesn't change the savoury sweet taste of the steamed dumpling.
I like Chin Lee's Conpoy & Fish Maw Thick Soup 干贝鱼鳔羹. There is a generous amount of savoury sweet fish maw and crab meat held together with thicken soup with dried scallop umami flavour.
Chef Daniel Tay who recommended Chin Lee Restaurant to us, is a regular here and usually orders their steamed Chinese pomfret fish 斗鲳. But, today we went for their 青衣鱼 Green Wrasse. The live Green Wrasse fish steamed and served in a pool of brownish watery sauce, smothered in a blanket of finely julienned ginger, fried diced garlic, fried ginger slices and garnished with aromatic cilantro.
Oh.... I love this Teochew steamed Green Wrasse fish. The meaty fish was tender and juicy. The white meat has a gentle squeakiness to the bite which I like. It was all sweetness and the watery savoury sweet sauce provided the savoury balance. The aromatics heaped on the fish (ginger, garlic, cilantro) added more savoury touch and a bit of subtle heat to the dish.
The savoury sweet sauce was so good, I was literally drinking, slurping up spoonfuls of it. Excellent.
Image credit: WikipediaPrice is seasonal. Today, it was $100 per kilo.
I like Chin Lee's Fried Oyster Pancake 蚝煎 too. Made with Japanese sashimi grade oyster fried with egg and soft gummy chewy sweet potato starch. Personally, I like the bite and savoury sweet taste of the sweet potato starch in oyster pancake. Chin Lee's rendition of fried oyster pancake is not overly greasy.
Plump, juicy, briny tasting fresh oysters.
Stir-fried Vegetable with Flat-Fish 地鱼炒时菜. The kai lan was crunchy with green sweetness balanced with savouriness from the pieces of dried flat fish. Chopped garlic added a savoury garlicky layer to the comforting and tasty dish.
Teochew Fried Kway Teow 菜莆粿条 is a must order for many people when they visit a Teochew restaurant. Chin Lee does an excellent rendition of the classic dish.
Not much grease but plenty of toasty wok hei and full of flavour from the chopped chai poh, shredded kai lan and savoury sauce. No heartwarming cockles nor lap cheong nor eggs, just the skills of the chef to magically turn humble rice noodles and preserved radish into a wonderfully flavourful dish. Must order this when you come to Chin Lee.
Instead of the usual orh nee for dessert, we got this 反炒芋 or Stir Fried Yam. This was my first time seeing or tasting this traditional Teochew dessert.
It is cubes of mashed yam stir fried with onion infused lard and served with icing sugar and a pinch of salt. So, it is a blend of yam, and slight salty sweet flavours. The yam cubes are firm and dense but not hard to the bite. I will be back to Chin Lee Restaurant and shall also try their cold crab and pork trotter aspic which are among my favourite traditional Teochew dishes.
Today's lunch spot is recommended by Chef Daniel Tay who is a regular at Chin Lee Restaurant. Chef Daniel is the owner of Old Seng Choong and Cat & the Fiddle Cakes.
Chef Daniel shared with us an assortment of Old Seng Choong mooncakes. We had White Lotus with Egg Yolk Blend, White Lotus Paste with Bakwa, White Lotus Paste with Pumpkin Seed, and White Lotus with Egg Yolk. I like all of them as they are smooth and not overly sweet or greasy. I like the White Lotus Paste with Bakwa most as the lotus seed sweetness blends very well with the savoury sweetness of bakwa. The bakwa also imparts its signature aroma to the mooncake. It's Mid Autumn Festival but it took my mind forward to Chinese New Year already. Like a sort of double celebration in the mouth 😄
Date visited: 15 Sep 2020
Reviewed by amfy
on
سبتمبر 17, 2020
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