Today I was craving for something spicy and tasty and Ma La Xiang Guo came to mind again.
I made my way down to Chinatown for a bowl of the spicy stir fried dish by myself over lunch.
I picked the following items:
1) Pork Balls
2) Beef
3) String beans
4) Mushrooms
5) A bunch of leafy vegetables
The above, together with a bowl of white rice, cost $8.50. It is rather expensive because of the meat. The beef slices alone cost $3.
The way it works is you queue from one side of the stall to order, then make your way to the back to collect your order with a number tag. The waiting time is about 15 minutes on a regular weekday.
It gets rather warm in the hawker centre so it is recommended that people who are prone to perspiring heavily when having spicy food find a breezy spot to settle in, or have them pack the food in a box to be taken away.
It seems I made a poor selection of the ingredients today because the experience was not as satisfying as the previous one.
I had forgotten to request for less oil (although I requested for mild spicy) and the leafy greens that had settled to the bottom of the bowl were soaked in oil. They were a bit too generous with the meatballs (the serving size is about 8 meatballs) and towards the end of the meal I got rather sick of them. The beef slices were tough and difficult to chew through.
The portion size was also a little too large for one person, but that was my fault for being too greedy.
All in all, I think this stall is good for visiting in a pair or larger group, and do remember to ask for mild spicy and less oil if it’s your first visit there. It is easy to underestimate the potency of the Sze Chuan spices. Choose lots of vegetables and for meat, I have found that luncheon meat goes very well in the stir fry as it soaks up just the right amount of spices.
Bon appetit!
Chubs Go To Lunch 