Chef Lee controls heat expertly to create delicious Singaporean and Malay dishes.

SINGAPORE Kitchen chef Mr Lee stirs and flicks the Hokkien-style fried prawn noodles simmering in front of him. He does this with care but also consummate ease — with more than 50 years experience working in kitchens from Singapore to Myanmar, it’s a dish he’s prepared countless times.

“The important thing about cooking Chinese-style food is the heat,” Mr Lee says, as he slides the noodles onto a nearby plate. “You need to really control the fire to make sure it brings out the right flavours and also the colour of the food. If you look at Chinese food, the greens are bright green, the reds are bright red; this is because of fire control.”

Mr Lee has worked in Myanmar for 12 years and joined Singapore Kitchen about six months ago when the restaurant moved from its original Strand Road location to a new home in the International Hotel compound, beside Summit Parkview.

Like all good chefs, he brought not just experience but also signature dishes.
For Mr Lee, this is Hokkien-style Bak Kut Teh. Literally “pork rib tea”, the dish often features pork lung and liver as well as rib, cooked in a broth flavoured with Chinese herbs and spices.

The exact concoction of the soup is up to the chef but the most potent ingredient is the Chinese herb dang gui (Angelica sinensis).

“This is also a medicinal herb,” Mr Lee says, “which boosts blood circulation. One of the other ingredients is a ‘brain booster’, and another is good for the respiratory system and breathing.”

There are two other crucial ingredients in Singapore Kitchen’s Bak Kut Teh — chopped chilli pati in soy sauce for dipping and locally-grown Chinese tea to clear the palate.

The tea is particularly important for this dish, says Singapore Kitchen owner Jackson Jang, because of the strong flavour.

“The tea clears away the aftertaste of the dish, which can be a bit potent for those who aren’t used to it,” he says.

Another new dish Mr Lee has brought in is Teochew-style porridge, which is accompanied by a plethora of side dishes such as braised egg, vegetables, tofu and chicken feet.

The porridge is only served between 10pm and 3am and has been popular with young people leaving the nearby Pioneer nightclub. This is almost an homage to the restaurant’s roots; in Singapore, many dining venues stay open 24 hours to accommodate late-night customers.

Singapore Kitchen also has specials for each day of the week, such as Malay-style Nasi Lemak and Hainanese Chicken Rice, as well as many daily options, including Dim Sum and barbecue.

Many of these well known culinary delights can also be tried at Micasa Hotel Apartments’ Tapas Bistro, which serves a mixture of Malay/Singaporean and Western food. But executive chef Steven Twang says that customers shouldn’t expect the dish to taste the same at both eateries.

Much of the flavour is created by the chef’s own taste, their background and cooking style, says Mr Steven, who has been at Micasa for 14 years.

“Different chefs have different preparation techniques, for example,” he says. “So we can’t necessarily generalise and say that our food is this style, our food is that style — a lot of it comes down to the chef.”

“We can say that perhaps 90 percent of the preparation, cooking, the ingredients also, is similar from chef to chef but that last 10pc – the differences, they are very important.”

Mr Steven, who is also Micasa’s food and beverage operations manager, says he has made an effort to make the menu appealing to local tastes and has tried — with some success — to encourage local customers to try new food.

“We often have people from the Malaysian and Singapore expatriate community come in but the majority, about 80pc, of our customers are now locals,” he says. “Many Myanmar people have been overseas, maybe to Singapore or Malaysia, and they now have a taste for these kinds of dishes.

“Our most popular one, our signature dish, is Hainanese Chicken Rice, and our Laksa (rice noodles in coconut curry) and Horfun (flat rice noodles) are also popular,” he adds, before taking a sip of Malaysian-style Teh Tarik.

Teh Tarik, which means “pulled tea”, is similar to Myanmar’s la phet yay but is served in a large glass and with less evaporated milk.

The name comes from the pouring process, in which the tea is “pulled” — poured back and forth between two glasses, cooling the tea slightly and leaving it with a thick frothy top. The process requires great skill and Mr Steven says the bar staff at Micasa are happy to let customers see how it’s done.

Micasa Hotel Apartments – No 17, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Yankin township, Yangon. Tel: 650933

Singapore Kitchen – No 330, Ahlone Road, Dagon township, Yangon. Tel: 720142

Singapore Kitchen will be running a buy-one-get-one-free Tiger beer offer throughout February.