A Great, Gastronomic Adventure at Colorful, Quaint Joo Chiat Road

Last Saturday, I had a very interesting, cultural evening. I went on a walking Culinary Adventure at Katong/Joo Chiat Road in the eastern part of Singapore. I was introduced by a very good friend to a lovely Israeli lady named Karni Tomer, the owner of Wok 'n' Stroll a company that specialises in "off the beaten track" culinary adventures.

Karni invited us to a meeting onsite to present Wok 'n' Stroll activities that are usually conducted by three local tourist guides who are trained as food explorers and who share with her a strong passion for Singapore's local cuisine.

So how was Wok 'n' Stroll born? Karni describes herself as a foodie and a food explorer. She comes from a family that loves to cook, who take pictures of what they eat, and this was even before the era of Instagram and Facebook! She herself is a trained cook and came to Singapore from Israel five years ago to follow her husband who was already working here. She didn't know anything at all about Singapore, but when her husband's company decided to relocate him and his family, Karni went on a look see trip. After being here for the first few days, she found herself going alone to Tekka Market with her backpack, looking at the local delicacies and trying out the famous Nasi Biryani....followed by Afternoon Tea at the Raffles Hotel on the same day....followed by dinner with Israeli compatriots at Jumbo Seafood in the evening.

And after that fateful day of sampling the local delicacies, the rest is history....Karni was captivated by the variety of the food and the local culture in Singapore, and she decided to follow her husband, with then two kids in tow (one was later born here), to live in Singapore. At first, she missed the food from home. She started cooking her Israeli and Greek food at home (she is half Greek) but later on, she mulled to herself, "What the hell am I doing?? I am in the middle of a gastronomic paradise. Why am I not exploring the food around me???" Soonafter, she decided to do that and her business Wok 'n' Stroll was born.

Last Saturday, I met Karni to sample the local fares at the Katong and Joo Chiat areas. I have only been to this area once (and that was to eat at Awfully Chocolate!), as I live in the opposite side of town.

She had a "Bites Ticket" for us, but it was a very flexible tour. She added a few more stops, to our delight, depending on what we wanted to taste and explore. Aside from the food tasting, she shared some very interesting, historical tidbits about the area.

Our first stop was at a small shop selling Nyonya dumplings and other local delicacies, along with  Peranakan ware.

At the second floor of the shop is a store, showcasing some local furniture, kitchen ware, cloths and clothing worn by Peranakan women.

Wooden molds used for shaping kueh.

Our first treat was the Nyonya dumpling, made of sticky rice and minced pork flavoured with much more spices than the Chinese Five Spice Powder, which is comprised of cinnamon, star anise, Szechuan pepper, cloves and fennel. The dumpling is wrapped in a piece of bamboo leaf.

The Nyonya dumplings, hanging by the store front.

While we were enjoying the tasty glutinous rice, Karni talked about the lives of the Peranakan women in the old days, how they lived life everyday, learning the fine craft of embroidery and cooking their delicious food. Truly, they were the queens of their homes, while their husbands were away trading and running their businesses. They were very affluent women.

These handmade slippers are very exquisite! Look at that beadwork.

The Peranakans were from the mainland, and yet their ceramics are uncharacteristically pastel, unlike the typical blue, white or red of the traditional Chinese.

The kebaya is so beautiful. It does not have buttons but instead, it is held in place by 3 gold pins.

Look at that colourful, ornate day bed behind us.

Before leaving the shop, we also got to sample Ang Ku Kueh, which was just freshly cooked by the owner.

It is soft and glutinous outside, red in colour to symbolise luck, and filled with sweet, ground peanuts inside. It reminded me of the Japanese mochi, and the Chinese rice ball dessert, served in a warm, sweet soup.

I love the taste and colour of that kueh....and I love those tiles on the floor, of a typical Peranakan house.

We took a stroll further down the street and Karni took us to this Hindu temple, the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple. We had passed a few temples like this during our many years of stay in Singapore, but it was our first time to enter one.

At the entrance of the temple was a nondescript box, which had some broken coconuts in it.

I would not have noticed it, but Karni explained a special ritual where devotees pray and break the coconut by smashing it into that stone in the middle. Apparently, it symbolises the fact that in life, man has a hard ego, but when you break that ego, we are all white, pure and soft inside. A very relevant thought to reflect on indeed.

Later, we saw it in action:

Inside the temple, there was a small stall by the door where you could buy coconuts to break your own ego. :)  There were also leis, made not of flowers, but grass, because the god Ganesha, who is worshipped in this temple, is half elephant and elephants eat grass....

The temple was beautiful, and Karni went on to tell us some stories about the Indian deities and the other rituals of the religion. Being Jewish herself, Karni said that this was very interesting and unusual to her, as in the Jewish faith, they are not allowed to worship or have statues and other artifacts.

The rat is one of Ganesha's "vehicles", and it is worshipped as well.

Colorful ceiling of the temple.

After the visit, it was time to sample the famous Katong Laksa, which is a few steps away from the temple, along East Coast Road.

The shop used to be a typical hawker, and you could see the old guy make the laksa right there and then, which was a great point of interest during the walking tour. But due to its fantastic success over the years, the shop is now enclosed and air-conditioned. The owner said that a lot of local residents really like the aircon, as Singapore is really so hot and humid. But Karni is a bit sad that the fast modernisation of the area has sometimes led to some authentic practices being stopped, and shops being taken over by burger joints, modern quick service restaurants, chain restaurants, and the like.

Eating that famous laksa. Soooo good!

The laksa broth is the best! So full bodied and flavourful!

We also ate the laksa with Otak Otak, spicy fish paste wrapped in banana leaf.

We took a walk further down East Coast Road, and turned into the quaint Joo Chiat Road. The buildings here are lovely, and there are lots of intricate shop houses adorned with quaint tiles in their pastel colours.

Halfway through our tour. We had eaten Nyonya dumpling, Ang Ku Kueh, Otak Otak and Laksa by this time, and it wasn't over yet! We were just halfway through our tasty meal!

Our last stop was Dunman Road Food Centre, to sample some Rojak for dessert, but the stall was unfortunately closed. :(  Dessert then turned into....tadaaah! Frog leg porridge! It was from the Dragon City stall. It's a dish we have never tried before.

The porridge is cooked in a huge vat, and is placed in a claypot over a huge fire so it comes out piping hot. It is so hot that the claypot is placed on an aluminium plate.

Then it is served with the frog legs and there is a choice of spicy soy sauce (which we got) or garlic.  It is served in another claypot, along with the claypot with the porridge.

So how do you actually eat this dish? Karni obliged us by serving us; you basically put the porridge in a bowl, and top the porridge with the frog leg stew.

"Dessert" was sooo good! The porridge's rice was so fine, and it was thick, but the sauce with the frog legs was the killer! Very tasty that we all had seconds, and that was already after having laksa! And yes, we cleaned out the pot...

We also tried popiah, as a side dish, from the Jia Dong Shu Shi stall in the hawker. This was unique in that it had Chinese sausage in it.

Karni also bought some local cakes from the Nyonya shop earlier, but we were really too stuffed after having Frog Leg Porridge for "dessert." :)  So we took this home and ate them the next day.

Onde Onde: poached rice flour dumplings covered with shredded coconut and filled with  melted  palm sugar.

The Kueh Lapis Kukos or Nyonya Kueh.  I have tried it before in many local gatherings. I usually eat it by biting into one end of the kueh all at once.

But apparently, Karni shared that there is a "local" way to eat it! You deconstruct the cake by taking each layer and eating it one by one! So that's exactly what we did the next morning!

It was a great gastronomic experience indeed. Not only did we enjoy the variety of local food that we sampled, but we also learned a lot from the interesting historical facts about the neighbourhood and local culture that Karni shared, as well as exchanging stories about our foodie adventures and unique cultural backgrounds. Karni regaled us with her stories as an officer in the Israeli army during her youth, as well as the many rules of Kosher dining. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and found a new friend!

If you are interested to go on one of Karni's tours, you may contact her via her website: Wok 'n' Stroll.