LG Han: Ang Moh Chicken Rice
Chef Han Li Guang from one Michelin-starred restaurant Labyrinth has a thing for Hainanese chicken rice, particularly the one cooked by his grandmother to be specific. He shares that his grandmother's family was from Hainan, China, and she was once a cook for a British family around 50 years ago. These influences led her to combine traditional Hainanese chicken rice with a Western cooking style.
In Han's grandmother's recipe, the chicken-based pouring sauce is strengthened by a roux of flour, butter and mushroom. In addition, she used chicken stock to prepare the rice and chilli sauce.
“We gathered every Saturday for a family meal, and she would often make us her chicken rice,” he recalls. His grandmother’s passion and creativity for cooking were the decisive factors in Han’s career choice, influencing his move from the banking industry to F&B. The liberty she took to marry discrete elements together provided the blueprint for Han’s contemporary Singaporean cuisine. For instance, the chicken rice dumpling in Labyrinth’s menu is directly inspired by Ang Moh Chicken Rice.
“I consulted her when I was creating this dish. The use of chilli and ginger is taken from her recipe,” says Han.
Miller Mai: Chendol
“I have loved sweet food ever since I was young, and chendol has been my favourite dessert up until now,” said Ding Dong’s chef Miller Mai. When he was studying in primary school, his parents often brought him to a dessert shop near Bukit Panjang.
“My parents have a sweet tooth like me. We are the regulars of that shop,” Mai recalls. For him, the sweetest childhood food memory is a chilled bowl of chendol that he had with the family after a long day at school.
“Unfortunately, the shop closed as the owner retired. I wished it would come back to business one day, so that I can retrace my old days. That place really gives me a lot of memories, especially with my family,” says Mai.
His love for chendol hasn’t diminished a bit. But all the stores still in operation can only vie to be his second favourite.
“I still remember the fantastic taste of that shop’s chendol vividly. Although there are so many places making the same dish now, but that one is irreplaceable,” Mai said.
The dessert dish coconut snow, pandan jelly noodle, gula melaka ice cream at Ding Dong is an ode to his past.
“I try to keep the traditional flavours in it. But different from chendol, I use coconut cream mousse instead of shaved ice. There’re also the additions of coconut meringue, red bean cake to enrich the composition. It’s my interpretation of the familiar taste,” Mai explains.
Nicky Ng: Satay
Nicky Ng, the executive head chef at Mitzo, has been in the industry for 32 years. He worked in a number of different eateries back in his early days. As he recalled, “I had worked at the restaurants in Jorong and Tiong Bahru and lived nearby. Because of my busy work schedule and the inconvenient transportation system at that time, the food I am the most connected with comes from those areas.”
It was at that time Ng got hooked on satay.
“From then till now, my taste hasn’t changed much. Traditional dishes like satay is always my favourite. Whatever you could find then – chicken, lamb and so on – was very fresh, because everything is taken from local villages. As for cooking method, charcoal grilling was the most common,” he recalled.
Following the progression of time, many of the old joints have either moved or closed. To recover the flavours of the lost era, Ng collaborated with LG Han earlier in a four hands dinner showcasing local and Cantonese classics.
Russell Misso: Devil’s Curry
Locals with a Eurasian background are no strangers to Devil’s Curry. Those include Russell Misso, the chef at Open Farm Community.
“I can’t forget my grandmother’s Devil’s Curry. Her secret recipe was something we talked about every time at a family gathering. It’s surely our collective memory,” Misso recalled.
The curry mainly employs meat such as chicken, beef or ham in combination with vegetables to conjure up a delicious mixed stew.
“As a chef, my palate keeps evolving, but Devil’s Curry would always remain as my favourite. Sadly, I haven’t had this dish since my grandmother passed away. Anyway, its taste will be something I remember forever,” Misso noted.
Moving on from the past, Misso focuses on forging his signature flavours.
“Many of my creations are a take of the food I loved in childhood. I’d try memorable dishes from the past, find out what touches me the most at present and recapture those emotions in an artistic way. To me, this process of interpretation is the essence of modern cuisine.”
