Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Shilin Snacks, Singapore

It's good to see enterprising people bringing in stuff from other countries for us to savor. I'm a big fan of Shilin Night Market and was fortunate enough to frequent it before its major renovation (somehow it's not the same anymore). This place does some iconic Taiwanese snacks such as the fried chicken cutlet, oyster vermicelli and tempura (tian bu la). Although their quality varies from store to store, I usually give into the temptation and still get at least a chicken cutlet whenever I see one because (people who know me will know that) I have a huge soft spot for Taiwan or more accurately; the Taiwanese.

I love to add extra chilli powder to my chicken cutlet. It's almost glistening in crimson glory. This isn't really the best chicken cutlet I've tasted, the meat was too thin and dry and the oil didn't really taste fresh but it sufficed for my little craving then.

Although the chicken cutlet is nothing compared to the ones in Taiwan, I'm always pleasantly surprised with the tempura. This actually tasted better than some I had in Taiwan and believe me, I've tried a lot. From the stir-fried, deep-fried, boiled and grilled versions; I've tried them all. I like to add chilli powder to my tempura as well which is usually not the norm, in fact I had a mini lecture from one server once on how, by definition that "tian bu la" can't be spicy because it's "bu la". In which, I responded with an emotionless blank face and gestured towards the chilli powder. She eventually but reluctantly sprinkled it on.

Ahh, the ORIGINAL Shilin Night Market. That's one happy guy holding a piece of Extra Super Large Fried Chicken Cutlet (literal translation).

D

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

i love shihlin snacks too!! *drool* i like the chicken cutlet so much they'd always gimme ulcers. imagine how much i ate LOL. but their oyster mee sua is a disappointment. it tasted just like any other kind of mee sua.

oh, as for the auntie kim korean restaurant, the sister shop is called 'hankook rice cake house' along thomson ridge. i bought one of their rice cakes in solmart @ orchard cineleisure during CNY period. quite exensive, around $14. but i guess its hallyu (korean wave) now, so everything on korea & their stuffs are naturally expensive!

Gracio said...

I love the shilin's chicken! :) Thanks for posting out the gd foods/hawkers in sg. Time to visit when im back. Mei chin hawker has lots of gd food! the carrot cake who is now made by the aunty's son is delicious! He inherited the cooking skills from his mom. do try it!:)

D said...

evan: Ulcer? Ouch.. but it's worth the pain! Actually Korean things ARE pretty expo in general.. Korean imports are getting as expo as Jap ones.

gracio: Hey, thanks for dropping by. Yup the carrot cake there is really good!

J said...

I miss Taiwan~!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Lets tour round taiwan island one day and conquer the food!!!

Anonymous said...

I used to love Shilin's fried chicken but this changed after i tried the fried chicken from "Ke Kou House". It is located at B2 Plaza Singapura. Like Shilin, this stall also sells Taiwanese snacks.......

The special thing about their fried chicken is that apart from the normal chilli and pepper, they added a powder which gives the chicken tinge a sweetness amidst the fiery and peppery taste. I believe it is the "seng buay" or sour plum powder On top of this, the flour coating is much thinner than Shilin's, you dun get to chew lumpy corn starched coating. This chicken meat is also tender and juicy.

All this combined into one of the best fried chicken fillet i had ever tasted.... After my first experience with Ke Kou House, felt that Shilin's chicken somehow could not measure up to Ke Kou House's.......