Beijing Time-Honored Cuisine - Pig Trotters Rice @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

To be honest, I have not heard of this stall named Beijing Time-Honored Cuisine before even though it has been there at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre for a while.

I guess it is easy to be overlooked when the stall is sandwiched in between the bigger names like Hawker Chan and Heng Ji Chicken Rice. The situation is made worse when another stall with a similar menu is ]located directly across them. The stall in question is Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long Bao and it had a Michelin 2018 decal proudly displayed on its display window.

I only got to know about this stall when I came across a photo of their pig trotters rice on Instagram which prompted me to come check them out.

Big Dot Chicken @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

I can never resist the lure of fried chicken hence when news of this month-old stall at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre reach my ears, I knew I had to head down for a look.

A joint venture by three entrepreneur friends, Big Dot Chicken is a social enterprise aimed at helping the unemployed by offering them jobs and providing on-the-job training to equip them with the necessary skills required to run their own stall one day. They do not need any F&B background nor even have to pay any franchising fees.

Impressed by the noble cause behind its inception, I support this business wholeheartedly. If this business module indeed works, it can help someone in need to make a living.

On the day of my visit, I dropped by the stall fifteen minutes before the advertised timing of 11am and guess what? An elderly uncle was already seated at the table in front of the stall, enjoying his fried chicken.

Zhonghua Roujiamo @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

My very first rougamo was from a coffee shop behind Clementi Bus Interchange two years ago. It was love at first bite but unfortunately, that stall has since shuttered.

Fast forward to last week. I heard there is a newly opened rougamo stall named 中华肉夹馍 at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre.

According to a 8 Days magazine interview, the stall belongs to a Mr. Sham Hei from Hong Kong. If the name sounds all too familiar, that is because he is the man behind Chef Sham H.K. Vinegar Trotter - a chain of hawker stalls known for their black vinegar trotters and nutritious Cantonese soups.

The craft of rougamo making was acquired from one of Chef Sham's business associate, a native from Xi'an, where the street snack hails from. He has since gone back to his hometown and the stall's day-to-day operation is now handled by Michael, a Singaporean PR from Malaysia. 

You can read more about the interview here.