After trying several dumplings this year - these are my favorites: 1) Hoo Kee from Amoy, 2) Kim Choo Kueh Chang (note that they're not related to "Joo Chiat Kim Choo"), and 3) the set of dumplings from each of 5 celebrity chef restaurants at RWS.
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I always order from Hoo Kee, but this year I missed my collection date as I was in Melbourne (and I booked 2 months in advance!)
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Kim Choo Kueh Chang is the humble looking stall at Joo Chiat that doesn't send media drops, so I had to go down to queue for them personally.
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Some of us may recall the days when as a little boy/girl we sat at the table with lots of rice, helping grandma separate the good rice from the bad, till late night, and only the good ones went into making dumplings. Surprised to know these old school dumpling stalls still do this. Dedication to quality indeed.
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There are broadly two types of leaves used for dumplings - the darker green leaves are pandan leaves, while the light brownish green ones are bamboo leaves. Kim Choo Kueh Chang uses pandan leaves for their nonya chang (as with most nonya chang), so that there would be the smell of pandan in its dumplings.
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Pictured is the premium X.O. dumpling, with five spice flavored glutinous rice, pork, shitake mushrooms, chestnuts, salted egg yolk, Japanese scallops and mussels. But at Kim Choo I'll recommend the Nonya Chang instead. A peranakan auntie I know told me that their nonya chang tastes closest to that made by her beloved grandma.
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If you know of any other chang that you really like, let me know so that I can try them as well :)

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