Sunday, April 15, 2012

同心居 Special Shanghai Tim Sum

Simply one of my favourite stalls. They had been at the Margaret Drive Food Centre for almost 40 years, and I have been going there and bringing friends there for almost as long. They moved to Mei Ling Street Market over a year ago, after the old Margaret Drive place was demolished for redevelopment.


After they moved to this new place, it took me a while to find them again. So I brought the family for a simple dinner there on a Saturday evening. Surprisingly, it is not as crowded as it used to be. Perhaps many of their old customers are not aware of this new location. Normally, at dinner time, one would have to wait at least 45 minutes for the food to arrive. Today, it took less than 5 minutes.


The Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣湯) has a generous amount of prawns, squid, pork slices and tofu cubes cooked in a thick broth. It is mildly spicy and with just the right amount of sourness to make this soup very appetizing. Always a good start to the meal.



The Steam Dumplings (狀元水餃) did not disappoint either. The juicy minced meat and vegetable filling wrapped in thin flour skin was cooked just right, and was made more fragrant with a dash of sesame oil. The black vinegar and ginger strips complemented the taste of the dumplings.



The Fried Dumplings (三鮮鍋貼) were also very good. Fried almost submerged in oil in a flat pan, the dumpling skin results in being crisp and yet still supple. The chilli dip that accompanies the dish also blends well with the taste of the dumplings.


Finally, we had the Shanghai Rice Cakes (上海年糕), which is slices of rice flour dough stir-fried with seafood and pork slices and Chinese cabbage in a corn-starch gravy. I especially like the chewy rice cakes which has a totally different bite and texture from noodles or hor-fun. A delight to eat.


Found out that they are moving again in about a month's time, to Maxwell Food Centre. So hurry if you want the convenience of catching them in the West before they move to the city.


Despite moving to the new location, the food is still as good and it is still one of my favourite stalls to go to for cheap and good food.
 

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