Addictive Korean & Taiwanese road meals like rabokki & lu rou fan beneath $5 at Whampoa

If I advised you that you would get legit Korean & Taiwanese meals similar to oden, tteokbokki and lu rou fan at a hawker stall, and that majority is affordably priced beneath S$5, would you consider me? I headed to NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice at Whampoa Food Centre to test it out for myself.

Whampoa Food Centre, additionally generally generally known as Whampoa Makan Place, is damaged up into 3 blocks: the moist market is at block 92, whereas the hawker centre occupies 2 blocks at 90 and 91.

The meals right here is aplenty and covers most bases: Teochew porridge, hen rice, nasi lemak and extra, however when you’re craving one thing distinctive, I urge you to search out NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice at block 90.

Adorably named after their 2 youngsters, NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice is run by 37-year-old Ryan Tan and his Chinese-Korean spouse, Liu.

Ryan has Taiwanese dad and mom, and this explains the odd mish-mash of menu objects that span from Taiwanese classics to Korean staples.

What I attempted at NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice

When you’re putting your orders on the entrance of the shop, you’ll discover a number of trays containing oden and tteokbokki, nearly resembling how Korean road snacks stalls would dole out these consolation meals by the aspect of the street.

I went forward to order the QQ Cheesy Tteokbokki (S$3.30), and to my shock, Liu advised me: “There’s a secret menu hack— add Ramen for S$1.50 and you’ll get yourself a bowl of Rabokki.”

Lo and behold— an off-the-menu bowl of Rabokki that solely value me S$4.80!

One single look at this had bought me falling in love. I completely adored how loaded the bowl seemed, with loads of handmade tteokbokki, a beneficiant quantity of kimchi, spring onions, and sprinklings of cheese.

This was such an excellent bowl of Rabokki that my eating companions, Rachel and Ansel, had been preventing to seize a chunk.

Cheesy, mildly candy and extremely addictive, this bowl of Rabokki rendered me speechless at my first chunk. All I may do was proceed consuming. I liked how the ramyeon had soaked up all that scrumptious creamy goodness, such that each one you would actually do was slurp all of it up.

The kimchi and gochugaru added a well-needed kick of tangy spice, whereas the chewy textures from the melted cheese and tteokbokki gelled the whole lot collectively.

As if I hadn’t been already gained over by the complete bowl of Rabokki, one factor I have to level out is NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice’s handmade tteokbokki, which was cooked completely proper— these rice truffles had been springy and chewy, however on the identical time, they didn’t require plenty of jaw work to get by.

Located on the entrance of NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice’s stall is a tray of oden, comprising in style decisions similar to assorted eomuk (fish cake), sausages, balls, daikon and konjac.

Here’s the attention-grabbing half— you get to choose your oden your self! An actual expertise, I have to say, which the children will certainly love. 3 items of Oden value S$1.50, so I went forward to seize 6 items for a complete of S$3.

I picked character-themed eomuk like Hello Kitty and Minions, in addition to some sausages and different fish truffles, which made me really feel like a child yet again.

Savoury and appetising, the broth tasted like a thicker model of dashi broth, and I preferred the way it was full of a tiny pinch of pepper and soy sauce.

Admittedly, the eomuk wasn’t something particular— in spite of everything, it truly is simply fish truffles— however I liked the complete idea, in addition to the lovable themed eomuk which made the complete expertise extra particular.

Eagle-eyed followers of NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice will know of one other hidden menu merchandise— Kimbap.

These rice rolls are made by Liu, and are solely out there after 4.30pm because it’s made recent day by day. The flavour of the day can be rotated, so that you’ve bought to move to their Instagram account and hold your eyes peeled for his or her Instagram Stories, which is able to announce the kimbap flavour of the day. Prices may even rely upon the flavour of the kimbap.

On the day that we visited, we managed to snag a few Kimbap rolls. These got here in two flavours: Spicy Pork and Beef Bulgolgi (S$5.80 every).

Though it’d look easy, kimbap is definitely actually onerous to excellent— you’ve bought to have the correct steadiness of the whole lot. NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice’s kimbap hit the nail on the top because it had the right ratio of rice to substances, and I loved the nice mixture of textures, because it had the crunch from the carrots, softness from the eggs, and juiciness from the meat.

The Spicy Pork packed extra savoury warmth whereas the Beef Bulgolgi was a traditional. Both rolls had been hearty and addictive, and I couldn’t cease popping every roll in my mouth.

Now, onto the Taiwanese aspect of the menu. NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice provides Braised Pork Rice (S$4.70), which comes with braised pork stomach and lean meat, a braised egg and pearl rice.

If I may describe NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice’s Braised Pork Rice in a single phrase, it’d be consolation.

This was hearty, aromatic and actually yummy. I liked how the star anise from the braised meat got here by strongly, including that fragrant contact, whereas the braised meat was lip-smackingly scrumptious.

We additionally managed to attempt NiuNiu Tea & DuDu Rice’s Taiwanese MeeSua with Shredded Chicken & Oyster (S$4.70). I liked their presentation— tremendous neat, with every ingredient aesthetically positioned.

Featuring silky rice vermicelli swimming in a robust bonito-based inventory, this bowl of mee sua was easy and hearty. I liked how the flavours of the bonito and mee sua weren’t too robust— the truth is, I’d say they veered on the lighter aspect of issues.

Above all, the substances had been the principle gems. I liked how beneficiant that they had been with the plump oysters (I have to’ve counted about 4 or 5), in addition to the hen meat, which had been shredded so finely that it resembled tremendous string.

Final ideas

All 3 of us agreed that our favorite dish of the day was the Rabokki. There was simply one thing in regards to the cheese-laden bowl of tteokbokki and maggi noodles that satiated our urge for food, and regardless of it trying extraordinarily heavy due to the overload of carbs and cheese, we ended up sharpening it off.

Even after we had completed our meal, our whole eating get together was nonetheless in disbelief that each one these genuine Korean and Taiwanese meals had come from a humble hawker stall. These may’ve very simply come from a restaurant or cafe, or perhaps a road aspect stall in Korea or Taiwan— it was that good.

Not to say, the whole lot is so moderately priced too, with majority of its dishes costing S$5 and beneath. This is one hawker stall you positively should attempt whilst you’re within the Whampoa space, and you’ll guess I’ll be again in the future!

Expected harm: S$3.30 – S$5.50 per pax

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