Ngor Yau Hau Fook
That basically means I had the good fortune to eat delicious food.
A colleague suggested having lunch at Bali-Bali in Sg Dua today. He practically goes there for lunch on a daily basis, so we all went with him.
The stall to look out for is the economy rice stall. There are 2 economy rice stalls there and they have an arrangement that they will not both operate at the same time. The stall we want to patronize only opens for business at 2.30 pm.
Believe me, one will be overwhelmed by the variety of dishes that this stall offers. Can’t blame my colleague for eating up to 5 dishes every time.
Since I avoid rice, I do what I’ll normally do during a buffet and pick out a few dishes. Believe me, they usually add up to a hefty amount.
To my delight, I saw something that one rarely sees on an economy rice stall - Hock Jiu Chicken.
From what I understand, this is a traditional Hock Jiu dish that is normally made on special occassions like birthdays. It is quite similar to drunken chicken only the wine used is made from red rice. Chinese red wine, perhaps?
The result is red. Every thing is red from the pieces of chicken to the gravy.
I was introduced to this dish during my days in the factory. A colleague’s wife will make it for his birthday and he will bring a whole pot of it to work. We have it for lunch with egg noodles.
The owner of the stall, seeing me happily spooning up the gravy, gave me an additional bowl, kar liu to boot. He added more wine for me. The wine definitely enhances the aroma of the soup which was still piping hot since we arrived just when he was opening shop.
I went back to the office a little over stuffed, but happy that I got to eat Hock Jiu chicken today.
