If you asked me like, 15 years ago what is the most amazing thing about a plate of opeh leaf hor fun, I’d swear it’s the big succulent prawns. I mean, big juicy prawns are things that kids only get to eat during occasions like wedding dinners so to find it in a pack of strangely wrapped hor fun is one of those moments I relished.
Moving on to now, my pick would be the wok hei. I mean wok hei on the hor fun isn’t something money can always buy. Try walking into 10 kopitiams randomly to buy a hor fun for the right wokheiness and if you can get even just 1, I’d say WELL DONE!
It’s just a pity that our local food’s standard had been dropping over the decades. I understand that the loss of authenticity in food is inevitable at some point but I guess there’s probably something more that can be done to preserve our food heritage? Should we develop some kind of efforts to help preserve it when it is not too late to do so or leave it to the nature to take its course which will almost certainly wipe out the already ‘inadequate’ authenticities we’re seeing in our food culture in the near future? Already we’re seeing restaurants selling Beijing or Sze Chuan food occasionally. My prediction is that it won’t be long before these ‘foreign’ foods become rampant in hawker centres. I guess it’s time we think about the ways to institutionalize the authenticities of our local food.
For those who have lived in Toa Payoh, I’m sure you have heard of Hong Sheng Restaurant. Ok, for those who have not, this is probably one of the oldest restaurants(a cze chat stall in kopitiam) in Toa Payoh. They are probably something like the Fatty Weng of Toa Payoh? Anyway that’s what I was told. I have never heard about Hong Sheng so I am one heck of a suaku turning up at Toa Payoh Blk 203 for a meal.
At Hong Sheng on weekends, the waiting time is minimum 1 hour while 2 hours is the norm. I was lucky. I turned up at 5pm on a Saturday and they’ve just opened for business. Rumors have it that when Hong Sheng have opened, all the other stalls in the coffeeshop must be closed. Hong Sheng have the exclusive use of all the seats available in the coffeeshop. That’s one of the privilege Hong Seng managed to get it down in the lease agreement.
Can’t really blame them because Hong Sheng have a steady swarm of supporters who visit them on a regular basis. Just the other day, they ran out of ingredients by 9pm because they were featured in a newspaper article the day before. You see, the boss of Hong Sheng don’t believe in franchising the business. He believed in just having 1 branch using 3 trusty chefs whom he trained personally to maintain the authenticity of his food. And it’s interesting to know that Hong Sheng is somewhat related to Fatty Weng, in what ways I don’t know but from a credible source, there is a connection.
Ter tor aka pig stomach
Well, connection or not, there is indeed a similarity even in the opeh leaf hor fun. Ter tor(pig stomach) which you can find in the Fatty Weng’s pack is used here as ingredients too. You only need to have $5 to enjoy an opeh leaf hor fun orgasm here. I thought at that price, it’s a steal. Ok, can’t really compare the ingredients in this with a $10 version but for $5, you will be hard pressed to find something of equal quality and quantity.
There is no single thing that is truly outstanding here but rest assured that all of thr things are a few notches above the average plate. And of course I mean the gravy, the wok hei and the ingredients are quite good.
Hong Sheng Restaurant Opeh Leaf Hor Fun $10
The gravy had the correct tempo and almost comparable to Fei Lao’s version, ALMOST. I guess it just lacks a bit of oomph to become really impressive but make no mistake, it is good. The ingredients should be considered as generous with the colorful assortment. Prawns were medium size but quite tasty otherwise while the sotong, pork and ter tor just makes you feel that for $5, it is a fair deal. And if you are really a ‘fibre’ person, you’ll be glad to know that the choi sum was so much that it looked like a good 500gram(at least!) of it were dumped into the wok. I was seriously having trouble finishing the greens more than anything else, but yet truly enjoyed every moment of it.
The hor fun had a good wok hei but sporadically only. I guess if there’s one thing that needs urgent rectification then it is the wok hei. But then no dark soya sauce was used so it’s good that there is no manipulation of the wok hei color there. For $5, one can’t really ask for the sky right? This is not the classiest plate around but classy enough to make me feel worthwhile.
Hong Sheng Restaurant Opeh Leaf Hor Fun $5
Price: $5
Conclusion: This opeh leaf hor fun reminds me of the Fei Lao version where old school ingredients are used and cooked in some kind of tasty gravy. Wokheiness, ingredients and gravy loses out to Fei Lao but the consistency is there. It’s all above the average. It only cost you $5 and served on an opeh leaf, not the best but no serious flaws too. Extremely value for money.
Likes: Portion is good enough for 2 at least. Amount of Choi sum looks like plenty enough to charge you $5 on another plate. Gravy is quite authentic. Ter tor added extra dimensions in overall flavour. Pork lard served.
Dislikes: Hor fun a bit thick. Wok hei can be improved.
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Ingredients: 8/10   Gravy: 7.5/10  Wok Hei: 7/10 Authenticity: 8/10 Value: 9/10 Overall: 8/10 |
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