Mother knows best

Pu Tien
Tampines Central
B1-K19/27
Tel: +65 6781 2162

One of the major differences between my mother’s palate and those of her offspring is that she tends to lean towards gentler, more refined flavours. Not for her the spicy brashness of Szechuan or Hunan cuisine, nor even the earthier notes of say, Taiwanese cooking – but her true allegiances lie in the simple, light nuances of Heng Hua (or Xinghua) cuisine. So it was that when her birthday rolled around, she asserted the right to pick the restaurant with minimal hesitation. We were going to Pu Tien.

Putian is a prefecture in Fujian province, whose people are referred to as Heng Hua. The cuisine is, as I said, light and non-spicy, and – because it is coastal – lean heavily on seafood as both a base for stocks and broths as well as a final product. Pu Tien is a chain of restaurants in Singapore purporting to replicate the Heng Hua classics, a job which it does quite well.

The original and flagship Pu Tien outlet is along Kitchener Road, but it is a nightmare trying to find parking there so we settled for the suburban alternative in Tampines Mall. I have to say that shopping malls are way more complicated now than the days of my youth – a large part of which was wasted hanging around shopping malls. Back then, the format of malls was the same everywhere: a boxy layout that facilitated walking around in a structured manner, with cookie cutter shop spaces clearly marked and defined. Nowadays your average shopping mall is likely to be proliferated with kiosks set up along the walkways, and – to me at least – always seems to be laid out in the most confusing manner possible. Maybe the trick is if they make you walk around enough you will eventually buy something.

I walked around for three minutes trying to find the restaurant and of course, chose the perfect time and place to give up and ask for directions. The lady I asked looked at me as though she thought I was crazy – and then pointed out the Pu Tien storefront which I would have seen had I only taken three more steps. It’s a good thing I am accustomed to looking like an idiot.

Everyone arrived more or less on time, and we began the exciting process of selecting dishes almost immediately. The captain was very persuasive in recommending the set meal for 4 – which at $88 was quite frankly a steal – and so we went with that while picking out other dishes that we wanted to eat as well.

It was a slow day, and we were one of maybe only five or six parties. As a result, we were fussed over by the waitstaff, who were all efficient and personable. Very few restaurants make the leap from service to hospitality successfully, and while this restaurant certainly is nowhere near some of the other establishments I have had the great fortune of dining at, it was at least a very refreshing departure from the typical terrible service in the Singapore restaurant scene.

The food was good without being great, but what is particularly impressive is the Pu Tien chain’s ability to replicate quality across a number of locations. I have eaten at one other location, and I must say that the food has the same taste, the same feel at either one. Stocks had similar heft, sauces hit all the same notes. It was a testament to how good the management had been at buttoning down recipes and processes, and I silently marvelled at this success.

One dish that bears particular mention was the longan pork. This was a variation of sweet and sour pork – breaded pork nuggets flash fried in a sweet and tangy sauce, which in this case was made with the addition of longans. The fruit gave it a piquancy that brought out the other flavours very well. But what was also impressive was the skill of the chef in flash-frying the nuggets. The exterior was crisped perfectly, while the meat inside remained tender and moist.

Other standouts included the Heng Hua bee hoon. I find it very difficult to cook bee hoon well because the individual strands are so thin. It takes skill and experience not only to prevent clumping, but also ensure that each individual strand is covered in sauce, or flavoured with the accompaniments. One thing peculiar to Heng Hua cuisine is the use of clams in their base stock. You can actually taste the difference in the final product. My mother cooks Heng Hua white “lor mee” as a Sunday treat from time to time, and tries to mimic the Pu Tien recipe (as well as that of other Heng Hua establishments); but she never uses clams in her stock, and it is never as good as the restaurant versions.

There were some misses, though – the bamboo clams were quite poor and tasted of garlic but not much else. For the price you pay for these (a lot) it was definitely not worth it. The herbal prawn soup in bamboo was interesting in that they make individual size bowls out of bamboo stems (which are hollow in the middle) and then boil soup in it. The version here had a strong ginseng taste, which to me is a big no-no. The best ginseng is always understated.

To further echo that theme, it was an understated birthday meal, of understated cuisine – which was just what my mother wanted. As you get older you grow a little more tired of celebrating birthdays – for all they do is remind you of your age. That’s what my mother thinks, anyway. Yet I am still of the opinion that you only get that one day in a year where everyone has to be nice to you, so you might as well make the most of it.