Famous zichar joint Keng Eng Kee’s signature coffee pork ribs get an upmarket makeover draped in a caramelised tamarind curry courtesy of modern Indian restaurant Thevar; Chef Kang’s Bib Gourmand-rated wanton mee is made even more indulgent with A5 Wagyu fat by Japanese grill house Yen Yakiniku; Keong Saik Road neighbours Cure and Man Man have joined hands to create a Silverhill Farm duck takoyaki with unagi glaze, while Song Fa Bak Kut Teh’s namesake dish is the inspiration for Akira Back’s savoury Korean hotteok pancakes.
These are just some of the dishes to expect in the MICHELIN Guide Kitchen Takeover, a series of four 4-hands collaborations between MICHELIN Plate restaurants and Bib Gourmand street food establishments taking place across January to March 2021. Each menu is priced at $88, comprising a three-course meal for two persons, exclusively available on GrabFood.
Singapore’s hawker culture has returned to the spotlight, having recently been added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. However, the casual nature of street or hawker cuisine—and how readily available it is—often means it is taken for granted. To encourage Singaporeans and residents to rediscover local dining offerings in a new light, the MICHELIN Guide has partnered with the Singapore Tourism Board under the SingapoRediscovers campaign to celebrate the creativity and potential of the establishments in its selection, working together to create a perfect vehicle to showcase crossover flavour pairings by bringing together street food with fine cuisine. The one-off collaboration menu is available to everyone at a $10 flat island-wide delivery fee in partnership with GrabFood exclusively.
RELATED: A MICHELIN Inspector’s Singapore Hawker Adventures
Soul brothers: Thevar (MICHELIN Plate 2019) x Keng Eng Kee (MICHELIN Plate 2019)
Thevar and Keng Eng Kee (KEK) are two MICHELIN Plate restaurants that may seem very different to some, but could not be more similar. Chef Mano Thevar combines his childhood and tradition from his Indian roots with European techniques to create Indian-inspired cuisine with a modern gaze. KEK is a household Singaporean zichar restaurant that serves classic dishes from different dialect groups while creating their own unique signatures with third-generation chef Wayne Liew at its helm.
Expect classic zichar dishes with flavours transformed with the touch of traditional Indian spices and ingredients. The first is spiced curry leaf and coconut chutney cereal prawns, with the touch of Indian spices and light coconut chutney giving a welcomed kick to the wok-fried prawns. Next is coffee and caramelised tamarind pork belly, recreating a KEK signature but with tamarind for a tangy twist. And finally, pepper fry claypot chicken rice, combining Chinese sausages and Chinese marinated chicken typically used in claypot rice with specially selected spices from chef Mano.
Capped at 100 sets. Pre-order from 18-22 Jan. Delivery on 24 Jan, 11am-2pm and 4-8pm only. Click here to order.
Grill artistry: Yen Yakiniku (MICHELIN Plate 2019) x Chef Kang’s Noodle House (Bib Gourmand 2019)
Yen Yakiniku is an unassuming Japanese BBQ-centric restaurant serving the creme de la creme of Wagyu beef and seafood. Chef Kang’s Noodle House is a nondescript canteen stall affiliated to one-MICHELIN-starred Chef Kang's, famous for its charcoal-roasted char siew and special springy jook sing noodles. In this collaboration, both establishments showcase their artistry of the grill, the former in robust chargrill flavours, and the latter in the painstakingly perfect bowl of char siew noodles, right down to the daily roasted char siew.
In the wafu seaweed salad with pulled abalone, Yen presents its signature salad with Chef Kang’s special pulled abalone. Fans will be delighted to sample the BBQ Dream Duo ‘Shuang Ping’, comprising Chef Kang’s char siew with Yen Yakiniku’s A5 Omi Wagyu, presented with homemade BBQ sauce. And not least, the Wagyu fat wanton noodles crowns the hawker dish made of springy egg noodles and delicate wantons with A5 Wagyu fats and crispy pork lard for a decadently memorable feast.
Capped at 60 sets (20 sets a day). Reservations from 22-24 Jan. Delivery on 26-28 Jan, 6.30-8.30pm. Click here to order.
Neighbourly link: Cure (MICHELIN Plate 2019) x Man Man (Bib Gourmand 2019)
The chemistry between chefs Andrew Walsh of Cure and Teppei Yamashita of Man Man Unagi is fortuitous. Chef Andrew first stumbled across Chef Teppei’s eponymous omakase joint in 2011 when he arrived in Singapore. Fast forward 5 years and both chefs have now become neighbours who bond over beer, with Man Man opening just two doors down the street from Cure. They have come to find so many similarities despite their cultural differences. Both chefs stand firm in using high quality produce – Man Man’s unagi comes solely from the Mikawa Isshiki region which is famous for high quality unagi, while Chef Andrew’s famed Nua Irish cuisine uses top quality produce from different regions of Ireland, such as duck from Silver Hill Farm, grass fed beef from John Stone, and Irish cream from Avonmore Creameries.
With a shared passion for provenance, both chefs have carefully sourced ingredients for these dishes. The appetiser of Silverhill Farm duck takoyaki is enhanced with unagi glace and katsuobushi for added umami, while still allowing the clean flavours and fattiness of the hybrid duck to shine. The main event of BBQ unagi and Irish corned beef porridge sees toasted unagi bones for the grain, as well as aged Irish beef and Cashel blue cheese. To end, Avonmore macha cheesecake is an inspired combination of Irish oats cookie and shiso.
Capped at 70 sets (35 sets a day). Reservations from 17-20 Feb. Delivery on 22-23 Feb, 11am-3pm. Click here to order.
Boldly rooted: Akira Back (MICHELIN Plate 2019) x Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (Bib Gourmand 2019)
Culinary traditions form the backbone of these two visionary restaurants, from distant cultures yet
coming together in their staunch iterations of authentic flavours. Each boldly represents their
heritage even as they expand their brand overseas. Chef Akira Back has parlayed his success from one MICHELIN-star DOSA in South Korea to an international empire of restaurants in America, Dubai,
Hanoi and more, while preserving his brand of playful creativity and innovation. Song Fa Bak Kut Teh is a homegrown Singaporean restaurant established in 1969 serving its iconic Teochew-style peppery pork rib soup using their own heritage recipe. In the forward-looking hands of the second generation, the brand has expanded to 12 outlets in Singapore and overseas to China, Indonesia and Thailand.
In this collaboration, pork takes centrestage in unexpected and delightful renditions. Kurobuta Bossam, a beloved Korean pork wrap dish, is given a fresh twist as its condiments are augmented with typical bak kut teh ingredients of salted vegetable and sweet peanut, alongside apple fennel kimchi and XO sauce, wrapped in butterhead lettuce. Ngoh Hiang Maki intrigues the tastebuds as it brings together black pork, smoked daikon and king oyster mushroom in a signature Japanese rice roll. The creative crossover highlight is Bak Kut Teh Hotteok, a genius reinvention of Korean pancake that takes the usual sweet pancake to savoury heights, using Song Fa’s premium pork ribs and a handmade pepper dipping sauce.
Capped at 80 sets (20 sets a day). Reservations from 24-26 Feb. Delivery on 28 Feb, 12-2.30pm; 1-
2 Mar, 12-2.30pm and 6-9.30pm. Click here to order. *Note: Menu subject to changes.
