Chwee Kueh @ Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre

The one thing you just cannot get in Sydney is Chwee Kueh. No way. Dim Sum (they call it Yum Cha there) yes, Curry and Prata yes, even chicken rice and char kway teow yes. But not my all-time favourite breakfast food - chwee kueh.

So one rainy morning, I made my way to Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre for breakfast. Some say the best chwee kueh is at Tiong Bahru. Lies, I tell you. The best food is found right here in the East.

There are 2 stalls selling chwee kueh here. And in the interest of giving you my dear readers the latest scoop on the best chwee kueh in town, I tried both stalls. It's not because I am a glutton. Stop sniggering. I hear you still doing it, DS.



This is Bedok Chwee Kueh, it is the stall that faces the interchange.


The queue is significantly longer here, but it moves quickly.


This is a branch of the famous tiong bahru chwee kueh.


No queue, except that there was a lady in front of me.


And now we begin the taste test.



The chwee kueh from the bedok stall. The kueh was soft and wobbly and very good. The chai poh (preserved vegetable) on it was spread in the middle, but there was a good ratio of chai poh to chwee kueh. The chai poh here is clearly the star. It was fragrant, slightly oily, and mixed with white and black sesame seeds, which released a distinct nutty sweet and salty aroma. It was delicious.


The chwee kueh from Tiong Bahru. The kueh was comparable to the one above. The chai poh was meticulously portioned out on each kueh. The ratio was right. The chai poh, although very good, did not impress me. It just did not have the oomph and fragrance of the chwee keuh from bedok, and it also did not have that nutty bite. It was also slightly oily.


With a warm cup of soya bean milk... it was a comforting breakfast.


The thing about eating at hawker centres is that these old people will approach you to buy tissue paper? And while I hear a lot of criticism about funding this trend because they could be from syndicates and whatnot, i just find myself unable to refuse. It seems so callous, especially when the sellers are so old and they look like they should be staying at home. And I really find that I am very blessed in so many ways... so it's just one way for me to share my blessings.



But, sometimes, they spread the word and I get a few sellers all converging on me.

haha.

Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh @ Bedok Interchange

One of the inexplicable oddities of Singapore hawkers is that they like to name their stalls after locations where the stall is NOT located - Rochor Beancurd in Serangoon, Blanco Court kway chap in Old Airport Road etc. (ok, it's actually not that inexplicable, I am told that it is because the stall is named after its PREVIOUS location).


And so we have Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh in Bedok.

Luscious cakes of steamed rice flour topped with crunchy, savoury preserved radish. The topping is not too finely minced, so there is some interesting texture. This is a perfect combination.

This is the more traditional way of serving chwee kueh (compared to the other stall that I patronise which adds more fusion-type ingredients like sesame seeds).

I remember I used to have a colleague whose mom hand-made these delicious things. He brought them to the office for me once, and it had meat-filling inside!! That was awesome!

This morning's breakfast was kindly bought and delivered by YS, who even considerately had the topping and chili packed in separate containers (at an additional cost too!). Thanks YS! A chwee kueh breakfast on a rainy morning just warms my heart and my tummy.

Look, I think Mr K likes it too. Local breakfasts, so common to most of us, are probably something of a Fear Factor thing for Mr K (alright, I exaggerate!). After all, we Asians eat everything, so who knows what goes into these things right?

PS. the photo is deliberately overexposed to protect Mr K's identity. If you can tell who Mr K is, drop me a note, and I will have to find other ways of concealing his true persona.

Bedok Chwee Kuey @ Bedok Interchange

This is my favourite chwee kuey stall. Not in Tiong Bahru. Here in good ol' Bedok.

4 pieces of luscious smooth silky steamed rice cakes, topped with crunchy, fragrant preserved vegetable bits (minced finely and cooked with sesame seeds) for only SGD1. Yes, SGD 1!

With a cup of ice-cold unsweetened soya bean milk (also SGD1!), I had a filling and yummy breakfast this morning.

Sometimes, the best things in life can be had for just SGD1.

Chwee Kuey @ Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre

Rainy, wet morning.

My favourite comfort food for breakfast is chwee kuey (SGD1 for 4 pieces). Steamed round rice cakes, with a dollop of savoury crunchy bits of salty preserved vegetables.

I don't get to eat it very often, but when I do, I get a little philosophical about the best things in life being the simple pleasures that one often takes for granted.

This is a favourite stall of mine, at Bedok Interchange #01-132. They add black and white sesame seeds to the topping, making it crunchy and tasty and fragrant. I can finish 2 servings of 8 pieces at once! But today, I exercised a little self restraint, and ate only 6 pieces.