Quick Eats: Lagoon Curry Puff

You all know that I love my curry puffs. My favourite is the one at Marine Parade Hawker Centre. The one at East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre is an offshoot but doesn’t serve the exact same puff. The crust was perfection, just the right combination of crisp outside and softly melting flaky inside.

Too bad I wasn’t too keen on the filling. It’s different from the Marine Parade one, it’s darker and heavily spiced with cumin seeds and curry leaf. The flavouring is more to Indian-style curry. I found it a bit too rich and heavy for the puff. If you’re into that style, then it would be a winner for you.

Lagoon Chicken Curry Puff
East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre

 

My Current Favourite Curry Puff

I’ve been on a curry puff frenzy lately. Each time I pass by a good stall, I must grab one, even if I’d just had a big meal before. The one at Marine Parade Hawker Centre is no exception. In fact, I often go there for lunch just so I can get my curry puff fix after.

I think we all have our days. Some days the hawkers make things taste extra nice and some days we’re just more receptive to really good food. On previous visits, the curry puff was good though not mind-bogglingly so.

This time, as I bit into my curry puff I had an epiphany of sorts. The dough was soft yet extra flaky and yielding. There was a lovely fragrance to it. The filling was rich and flavourful. I don’t know how they cooked the potato, but this stuff was pretty much It. The bits of chicken gave little bursts of extra flavour. It was all very yummy, another of those died-and-gone-to-heaven moments.

By the way, there’s no egg in this version. I like it either way. Hey, you’re only paying $1 here!

Katong Chicken Curry Puff
Marine Parade Food Centre
01-132

Vanishing Food: Maxwell Oyster Pancake

While I ate a disappointing curry puff at Maxwell Hawker Centre’s Tanglin Curry Puff, I spotted the friendly aunties at Hong Jia Oyster Pancake chatting animately with a customer. Such friendly people had to make good food, so I asked for a $2 pancake (with oyster). I got chatting with them and the younger auntie has been making this for over 20 years after taking over from her mother’s itinerant stall.

These little babies are pretty expensive considering that it’s just a snack, but you pay for the labour involved. It’s basically crispy batter studded with crunchy peanuts encasing a filling of chopped vegetables, minced pork and prawn. That’s the $1.50 version. If you shell out for the $2 version, you get an oyster inside too.

It’s quite special and yummy with lots of contrasting texture and taste. The older auntie who helps out likes it so much she eats at least one a day! Just be warned, it’s a tad on the oily side.

Hong Jia Oyster Pancake
Same row as Tian Tian, next to Tanglin Curry Puff
Maxwell Hawker Centre