Having mentioned in my previous post (Dinner at Hua Ting), my mum has a card which gives her discounts and vouchers. One of these discounts is that you get a 50% discount off your bill, when you eat with two people. Having been in Europe for so long another item on my ‘must-eat list’ was dim sum. Dim sum is a Cantonese tradition whereby you have small portions of food, which are usually presented in a steamer basket or on small plates. You usually have both steamed and fried dishes, and dumplings form a major component of this selection. Fortunately Hua Ting is considered to be one of the best places for dim sum in Singapore, it’s always busy, so you need to make sure to order well in advance. Even better is that my mum’s card can be used here, making it much more affordable. As usual I have my standard favourite dishes, which we always order. We ordered a portion of Siu Mai (shrimp pork dumplings), Har Gow (prawn dumplings) and Char Siu Bao (barbecue pork bun). These are dishes we always order whenever we have dim sum. The siu mai was tasty and, at Hua Ting, they even add a thin slice of scallop and some crab roe on top. The har gow, were great, as usual. Look at how thin the skin of the wrapper is, you can see the succulent prawn peeking through. This is how a good har gow is meant to be. Often you get a really thick, chewy wrapper and this just isn’t really very tasty. I love the char siu bao here, their pork filling is nice and sweet and their buns are so light and fluffy. Just a little cloud.
We also ordered some fried dishes – prawns in beancurd skin and fried seafood roll, which they recommended. The prawns in the beancurd skin, were extremely succulent and fresh and my dad particularly enjoys this dish. Sadly enough he didn’t join us this time round. The seafood roll was a mix of prawns and scallops with mango and then deep-fried. Although, the seafood filling was nice, it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. I’d been craving the local fried carrot cake and was hoping to get it here. On the menu they offered the steamed and pan-fried square version (it’s like slices of the radish cake), but they didn’t seem to have the hawker style fried with eggs. My mum insisted that they wouldn’t have it, but stubborn me proceded to ask the waitress anyways. She informed me that though it’s not on their menu, it is possible to order it. I was so glad I asked and immediately ordered a portion. I immediately attacked it once it came and it was just as good as I’d hoped it’d be. Soft cubes of carrot cake with fried egg and beansprouts in a slightly spicy XO sauce. It was delicious and I happily devoured most of the dish.
One dish that is a must-order at Hua Ting is their signature chicken mango tart. It’s a mixture of chicken and ripe mango baked in a slightly sweet pastry shell. The pastry is very nice and crumbly and just melts in your mouth. It’s very popular, so sometimes, if you’re unlucky, it’ll be sold out. Hence, we always tend to order a portion in advance when we make our reservation. The sweet tangy flavour of the mango combines perfectly with the tender chicken. Just thinking about it right now makes me hungry.
Dim sum is not complete without ordering the Liu Sha Bao – also known as golden custard buns. These are soft sweet pillows of dough filled with a warm molten custard. The key to a good custard bun is for the custard to still be molten inside and for it to ooze out when you bite into it. If it doesn’t ooze out and create a mess, then you know that it’s not a good one. Also the dough of the bun shouldn’t be too thick, it needs the perfect filling to dough ratio. As you can see the custard bun at Hua Ting is a good one. Just look at all that golden lava flowing out. These are just delicious, however it’s always a challenge to eat it without all of the custard flowing out. Having eaten the custard buns, my mum and I were stuffed. I couldn’t resist taking a glimpse at the dessert menu, though. BIG MISTAKE. My eyes spotted a dessert that I just needed to try. Cold Black Glutinous rice with vanilla ice cream served in a young coconut. It just sounded too good, since pulut hitam – another name for the glutinous rice dessert – is a childhood favourite of mine and I hadn’t eaten it in over a year. After weighing it over and discussing with my mum – I convinced her to share it with me – we ordered it. I must say I don’t regret it. It was really tasty and surprisingly it was also really good cold – traditionally we eat it warm, and i’d never had it cold before. It was a pleasant discovery and I’m definitely going to order it again the next time I come here.
All in all, it was a delicious yum cha lunch and it was nice having been able to spend some quality time alone with my mum. Not having seen her for 8 months, I’d really missed her and it was great catching up with her again. Lucky for me she’ll be coming to visit me in three weeks and I can’t wait to see her again.
Restaurant: Hua Ting
Address: Level 2, Orchard Hotel, 442 Orchard Rd, Singapore
Website: http://www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/orchardhotelsingapore/dining/hua-ting-restaurant.html
Hungry Bubbly Berries 