Traditional pork aspic & contemporary shark meat at Berseh Food Centre

How typically do you come throughout a hawker stall or restaurant in Singapore that sells pork trotter jelly (also called de kar tang in Teochew)? It’s so uncommon you could most likely rely with one hand. Lao Liang Pork Trotter Jelly & Shark Meat situated at Berseh Food Centre is likely one of the few battle warriors remaining which nonetheless practices the laborious activity of creating this conventional old-school Teochew pork aspic dish.

I headed down on a dismal Sunday morning round 11am, and was fairly stoked about eating right here for the very first time regardless of passing by this hawker centre numerous of instances. I started trying to find the stall on the second flooring, and needed to do a double take earlier than my thoughts registered that it was the stall I used to be on the lookout for.

The signage of the stall was all written in mandarin, so I may solely decipher half of it with my half-past-six Chinese. The stall has been round for the previous 50+ years and is operated by an aged couple.

What I attempted at Lao Liang Pork Trotter Jelly & Shark Meat

Presenting the spotlight of my go to, the Pork Trotter Jelly (S$5 for small, S$8 for medium, S$10 for big). I ordered the S$5 portion as I used to be afraid it will not be my cup of tea.

The sheer look of it jogged my memory of terrine, which is a conventional French delicacy involving meats and/or greens organized properly in a mould, and left to set in aspic. It’s a labour-intensive activity and my ex-chef colleagues over on the chilly part used to always pray that the dish wouldn’t seem on our menu for VIPs.

The Pork Trotter Jelly was served with a sprinkling of contemporary coriander and ice cubes. I’ve handled aspic earlier than and know that they soften very simply underneath scorching situations. I assume the addition of ice cubes was to stop that from occurring.

As quickly because it entered my mouth, the heat of it began to barely dissolve the brownish jiggly jelly, releasing a refined flavour of meat broth. Happening in good concord had been the creamy flavours coming from the pork trotter fat and the meat which had completely no gamey style. “Oh wow! This actually tastes pretty yummy.” I believed to myself as I needed that I’d ordered the medium portion as a substitute.

The do-it-yourself chilli dip that was served collectively had a refreshing tangy kick to it, and was spicy in an underwhelming manner, permitting you to completely expertise the style of the Pork Trotter Jelly with out stealing its limelight.

There was a Guo Zhi Set (S$4 for one pax) which had the standard tau pok, pig’s intestines and all, however I needed to avoid wasting my abdomen for the shark meat that was to come back. I opted for a plain bowl of Kway Chap (S$0.50) which might be the proper accompaniment to the opposite dishes.

It was topped with fried shallots and the color of the broth was a couple of shades lighter than what I used to be anticipating. What astounded me was the style as quickly as I had my first spoonful. It gave off sturdy gingery notes, a savoury rendition of ginger soup which is normally served with tang yuan for dessert.

Was it bizarre? It truly tasted fairly distinctive and paired rather well with the Pork Trotter Jelly chunks— maybe a greater choose can be to order their Guo Zhi Set on my subsequent go to right here to see if it actually works!

The final on my checklist was the Shark Meat (S$8 for small, S$10 for medium). The S$5 possibility was taped up, suggesting that shark meat is expensive these days (nothing shocking as meals prices on the whole are rising like no one’s enterprise).

Looking like a plain Jane with only a garnish of contemporary coriander on high, it was served chilly and there was solely a reddish sauce with grounded peanuts on the aspect. The pleasant aunty on the stall jogged my memory that this sauce was to be eaten with the Shark Meat.

Upon performing some digging, I learnt that the reddish lump was truly product of preserved plums— how attention-grabbing!

I attempted the Shark Meat by itself, permitting me to completely admire the freshness of the flesh which possessed no terrible fishy aromas or style. Some elements of it had been barely rubbery, and different elements, extremely tender. As with any massive fish, the meat was barely powdery..

Upon giving the plum sauce concoction a very good combine, I dunked the meat in giving it a brand new lease of life and slightly persona. The style of the Shark Meat was enhanced with the nutty and crunchy peanut bits, whereas the refined plum flavours delicately performed a supporting function within the general expertise— a really good mixture!

Final Thoughts

With stalls like Lao Liang Pig Trotter Jelly & Shark Meat that battle to take care of Singapore’s hawker heritage, it saddens me to assume that such conventional dishes could be a factor up to now quickly.

I really feel honoured that I’m given an opportunity to style the road meals of Singapore’s previous whereas they’re nonetheless round. If you’re curious too, head all the way down to Berseh Food Centre and take a look at these non-conventional hawker meals for your self— they could simply depart you gobsmacked!

Expected injury: S$5 – S$12 per pax

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