Jiang Nan Wei Dao 江南味道 is a 3-year-old hawker stall situated within Maxwell Food Centre. Led by Mr Sun and his wife, natives of Shandong, China, the couple offers a variety of authentic Chinese dishes along with fried rice reminiscent of a popular restaurant chain.
Has your curiosity been sparked yet? If you guessed Din Tai Fung, you’re spot on! Mr Sun trained in the kitchens of Din Tai Fung and the Paradise Group of restaurants before venturing out on his own.
To successfully mimic the taste of the iconic fried rice and pork chop, Mr Sun painstakingly spent an entire year just to taste-test and tweak the spice blend countless times until he achieved perfection.
“It was a tiring and difficult process, but I persevered,” he shared.
The menu also features pork wantons and prawn dumplings, meticulously crafted in-house by the couple, piece by piece.
What I tried at Jiang Nan Wei Dao 江南味道
Having had an early breakfast, my stomach was already grumbling by then, and I wasted no time with the first dish, the dry Pork Chop Noodle (S$6.80). At first glance, I mistook it for just a slab of meat; it was so massive that it almost concealed the noodles.
After taking my first bite of the pork chop, I was taken aback at how tender the meat was. It was brimming with flavour with the occasional mild hit of spice emanating from the black pepper bits.
Don’t let the unassuming appearance of the noodles deceive you. They had a delightful texture and were infused with the enticing aroma of scallion oil— what a surprise!
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Upon Mr Sun’s suggestion, we opted to try his homemade chilli, a recipe he’d learned from Din Tai Fung, alongside the noodles. Thank you, sir. It didn’t overshadow the scallion fragrance; rather, it enhanced it with mild, smokey notes of spice together with the textured bits of chilli flakes.
It was already a 10/10 for me, but with this addition, the experience skyrocketed to a whopping 20/10!
A hawker has a million things on his to-do list which doesn’t seem to end and so naturally, most of them rely on ready-made products to increase efficiency and production speed. Well, this is not the case for Mr Sun. Using dried scallops air-flown from Japan, he diligently crafts his very own XO sauce to use as the focal ingredient for the XO Seafood Egg Fried Rice (S$7.20)— talk about dedication!
The grains of rice took on the golden hue of the egg, and was dressed with bits of spring onions. chilli and the pieces of pulled dried scallop coming from the XO sauce.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the epitome of umami flavour! The XO sauce boasted robust hints of scallop and dried shrimp, akin to a flavour grenade exploding in my mouth with every spoonful of rice. As this was short-grain rice, the texture was slightly starchier which amplified the richness of the entire combination.
I also gave the Pork Chop Egg Fried Rice (S$6.50) a go. Even without the XO sauce, the rice was still tasty. If someone had brought this dish home and claimed it was from the restaurant chain, I would have believed them without hesitation.
I then moved on to the La Mian With Sliced Fish in Pickled Vegetable Broth (S$6.50). It had strands of la mian doused in a light yellow broth, topped with fish slices and pickled mustard greens.
Just before it was served, Mr Sun spooned over a ladle of minced garlic, Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilli which were steeped in sizzling hot oil.
The noodles instantly jolted my senses, much like a sour plum. Its robust acidity and spiciness were definitely not for the faint-hearted. The mustard vegetables provided a delightful crunch, while the Sichuan peppercorns gradually numbed my tongue with each bite
The fish itself was fresh and devoid of any unpleasant smell or taste.
As each of the previous dishes was jam-packed with flavour, the Prawn Wanton Soup (S$10.50) acted as a palate cleanser.
The soup was incredibly light yet flavourful enough. Had we not wasted time snapping pictures for this article, I’m certain the experience would have been even better with the soup being piping hot.
However, I believe that if a customer visited his stall and only ordered this particular dish, they might find the soup a bit underwhelming.
Handmade items always taste superior to over-the-counter ones. The meat and prawn filling exhibited multi-layered textures, and I appreciated the smooth, thin skin— if I wasn’t reaching the point of a food coma, I would have devoured the entire bowl myself.
And finally, we got to our last dish, the Pork Wanton in Chilli Oil (S$5.50 for 8 pieces) topped with specks of fried garlic and spring onions. Just imagine smooth, delectable dumplings bathing in a perfectly-balanced vinegar-chilli oil concoction. It had just the right amount of spice and tanginess.
Speckles of carrots and bok choy were embedded in between, injecting a burst of freshness. Despite being on the brink of explosion, I found myself reluctant for each dumpling to end.
Final thoughts
I left Jiang Nan Wei Dao 江南味道 with a happy belly. *Burp. Ok, maybe I had a little too much. I enjoyed every dish from this stall. Mr Sun even sought my honest feedback regarding his food.
When I mentioned that everything was great, he seemed to be in disbelief. It gave me the sense that he was hoping for some constructive criticism to help him improve further.
If you’re visiting Maxwell Food Centre, be sure to swing by Jiang Nan Wei Dao 江南味道. Hopefully, you’ll have the same delightful experience as I did.
Expected damage: S$4.50 – S$13 per pax
* This post was brought to you in partnership with Jiang Nan Wei Dao 江南味道.
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