Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen (Chinatown Complex)

Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen's signature dish is the quintessential Cantonese classic - sweet and sour pork.

Whilst most stalls use tomato sauce for this dish, C&c mixes deep fried slices of pork with sweet caramelised onions, sweet tomatoes and crunchy bell peppers and coats them all in a sweet tart and tangy hawthorn sauce, giving it a slightly different omph.

Although all I had were some takeaway leftovers, I guess I was fortunate in a way that i at least got to sample their food before they hung up their wok for good.

Unlike most stalls which serve either drumlets or winglets for their prawn paste chicken, Claypot & Chicken Food Kitchen serves theirs using chunks. I'm not a big fan of this because it usually means that you get weird ends of bones in each piece.

Thst said, the chicken was well marinated and oozing with juices. I like that the marinate permeates through the meat to give this dish a deeper depth in flavour.

I'm bummed though because I was really looking forward to trying their fish maw and claypot liver!

Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen was a little hidden gem of a stall that specialises in Cantonese style tzichar.

Runned by an elderly couple, they officially open at 11 am but unofficially, they start taking orders at around 10.15 to 10.30 and are usually 'sold out' at around 11.15. They are closed at around 1 pm. Despite this, they attract a steady group of regulars.

I have made at least 3 attempts to dine at their stall but never succeeded due to various reasons 😂😂😂 the parents however loved their fish slices with ginger onion for its bold savoury flavours and fresh sliced fish!

On my latest attempt last Wednesday, the elderly couple was there cleaning up their stall because they have decided to give it up for good 😭😭😭

Sweet & Sour Pork ($7)
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Extended deliberation on whether to post about this crazy value for money tze char place located within chinatown food centre. The menu isn’t extensive but every dish is executed with finesse and perfection. This sizzling hot claypot of my favourite sweet and sour pork is only $7 and the portion could easily feed 4. The unique selling point of this dish is that its sweet and sour sauce was made with hawthorn instead of the usual pineapple, vinegar and ketchup. Expect to find quirky senior folks running the shop and not taking no carbs as an acceptable reason to skip ordering rice and this stall only opens for a short 2 hours, making it a feat just to order successfully.

Recommended by the butcher from the wet market downstairs, this stall always sells out quickly and we finally got to try it yesterday. After a grueling wait due to their many customers, this spread that only costs $34 (for 6 ppl!) arrived in cute, homely claypots. While I found the dishes slightly too oily for my taste, the wok hei was undeniable. Order the generous serving of 姜葱pork liver that has that tender, "medium rare" perfectness.

When the wok was heated to extremely heat, it caused something called the "wok hei". This wok hei helped to remove most of the gamey taste and not losing any the meat natural sweetness. Stir fried with ginger and spring onions improved also its sweetness. To achieve such perfect texture of the liver takes years of practice (I mean yearsssssss of hard work and the ability to endure the heat of the burning stove.) According to the auntie, they have no actual closing time. When they sold out, they closed. So do drop by early!
Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen
Smith Street Food Centre #02-83
Open from 11am till Sold out
Closed Alt Wed and Thurs
Phone: 81008265