Not Quite Fair

Petunia's braised pork, cooked sous-vide for 9 hrs at 70 C. 

Let me put it this way: nobody who ate it, raved about it. It is impossible to compete with Chuan Kee Braised Duck. This said, I am going to try and improve my recipe. The first time I made it, I gave myself gluten poisoning using some questionable pre-mixed spices. This is my 2nd attempt and I used real herbs. The next time I make it, I will do 80 C for 8 hrs to improve the tenderness. Maybe, one day, my family will rave about my braised pork too.

Since I am celiac, eating out can be a gamble. There is hidden gluten everywhere. When I find a place where I can eat safely (without tummy cramps, diarrhoea and hypothyroidism) I keep going back. I don't choose where I can eat. The place that I eat at, chooses me!

Within a single foodcourt, there are usually not more than 2 stalls that I can eat safely at. In Chong Pang Market, there are NINE, and this is because Chong Pang has really a lot of hawkers who make everything from scratch. A woman laughed at me when I asked her if her food came from a central kitchen. She said, "I am not successful enough to afford a central kitchen," which I found ironic because if she had been successful enough to afford a central kitchen, I might not have ordered her food.

Often, before I even start buying from a stall, I would have stood outside and peered in to see their kitchen processes. Only when I ascertain that food is made with good ingredients from scratch do I even approach the hawker to order their dish.

Having stared (discreetly) at all of them so much and so often, it occurs to me that our hawkers are the true artisans of Singapore food. In Italy, anything that is "artigianale" like this parmigiano- reggiano or this balsamic vinegar is priced at a premium in recognition of the expertise that goes into producing the food. The famous and outrageously priced iberico ham that I blogged about HERE retails at $10 for 4 slices at Huber's Butchery (the last time I bought). In Singapore, the true artisans are hawkers like -

- Shaj, at Marsiling Market
- Chuan Kee, at Chong Pang Market
- Herbal Mutton Soup, at Chong Pang Market
- Lian Yin Soya Bean, at Chong Pang Market
- Seafood Pirates, at Yishun Park Hawker Centre

... make real food with deep expertise at every step of the food production process. Yet, for some reason, they do NOT charge a premium. The Waterfall Cafe charges $25 a plate at least for pasta (which really is Italian bak chor mee). It does not take skill to make pasta. Petunia makes kick ass pasta, al dente and flavoursome but there is no way I can make braised pork the way Chuan Kee does, nor will I ever be able to replicate the mutton soup at Chong Pang. How can people not respect the extent of these people's expertise? How come we can get away with paying them so little for the high level work that they do?

After a certain quality threshold, these people are not hawkers. They are chefs like Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay.

These days I simply walk past the mid-priced (aka between $15 to $25 per pax) restaurants in the malls), without even looking twice. I would rather meet friends in a hawker centre than a mall restaurant. Firstly, I cannot observe the kitchen processes in a mall restaurant so there is no way of ascertaining if I will be gluten-poisoned. Secondly, even if the food were safe, it is mostly factory made and heated up on site. No love, no pride goes into the making of that food. Usually, it tastes horrible and I refuse to waste my calories on yucky food (even if the ambience is nice).

For a third that price, I can get better made food in a hawker centre. Of course, I am happy that I can get food that is cheap and good. I just feel that it is so unfair, though. Singaporeans pay for looks and ambience, instead of looking past the marketing and branding to ascertain quality. Singaporeans pay too much Fool's Gold and under pay for what is real gold.

Stupid, right?

Seafood Pirates at Yishun Park Hawker Centre is made without msg. Opposite the hawker centre is a lovely little park. On cooler days, sitting under the trees with a book and my music is pure bliss!

Seafood Pirates' crayfish seafood soup.