Gan Lao Zai: Loaded chilli crab & overnight braised pork noodle bowls from $4.50
Amoy Street Food Centre is home to an eclectic range of hawker stalls from Asian fusion to Japanese, to Western and more classic local delights. It’s little wonder that it’s such a popular lunch destination for the people in the area. Among the newer stalls is Gan Lao Zai, whose presence I discovered via social media.
They’re located along the same row as TempuRamen, with a striking yellow and red signboard. The menu revolves around noodles – specifically, dry noodles tossed in some kind of sauce.
The stall is run by 31-year-old Xun Man, and he’s no stranger to the F&B world. “I’ve worked for different restaurants for the past 10 years,” he said. “I felt that it was time to open up something of my own.” He also thought that it was “good timing for a new generation of hawkers to be in the scene”, and wanted people to try out “a new style of food”.
I noticed that the noodle dishes featuring mashed potato were marked unavailable. I had been curious to try them and asked why. Xun Man explained that the combination was not well received, and preparation of the mashed potatoes was difficult in the small space he had.
He elaborated that he would be revising the menu soon and offering new dishes, including shrimp dumplings.
What I tried at Gan Lao Zai
I asked Xun Man for his recommendations, and he said that the Honey Glaze Pork Noodle (S$6.50) was his most popular, while his Chili Crab Noodle (S$8) was what he considered one of his signature dishes. “I wanted to offer a very Singaporean flavour,” he said. I decided to try both.
Also, for those with bigger appetites, Gan Lao Zai offers free noodle upsizes, so don’t worry about not having enough.
The Honey Glaze Pork Noodle came with chye sim, slices of braised pork belly drizzled with homemade honey glaze, and braised mushrooms.
I tried the pork first. I don’t usually enjoy pork belly due to the layers of fat, but the ratio of fat to meat in this cut was good. It wasn’t too salty, and the honey glaze added a subtle hint of sweetness that complemented the savouriness perfectly. It was also melt-in-your-mouth levels of tender.
Xun Man later showed off his big pot of pork belly bubbling away in the back of his stall. He stews the pork for one and a half hours, then stores it in the braising liquid overnight to allow the flavours to fully soak in. The pork is then sliced and gently steamed the morning after, resulting in incredibly flavourful and tender bites.
The braised mushrooms are equally delicious and I appreciate the fact that they’re sliced quite large, which makes each bite much more satisfying.
The noodles are the same kind used in la mian, and tossed in a sauce that’s both savoury and slightly sweet. The noodles had clumped together as a result of being left to sit while I was busy with photography, but when I loosened them up to take a bite, they had managed to retain their al dente texture.
Onto the Chili Crab Noodle next. This variant comes topped with crab meat, mantou croutons, tobiko (flying fish roe) and a sprinkle of spring onions. The chilli crab sauce it’s tossed with is Xun Man’s own concoction. He buys a sauce base from a supplier, and then adds his own personal touch to it.
I thoroughly mixed the noodles (which took some effort as they too had suffered from my extended photography shenanigans) and was greeted with a flavour and texture explosion. The sauce opened with that characteristic slightly sweet, tomato-forward taste we all love from chilli crab.
The heat didn’t start until a few more bites in, and it was the kind that kept building in intensity. It eventually reached a point where I had to stop and let my mouth recover from the fiery assault. If you love your spice, this sauce is for you. (My tolerance level is “wimp”.)
The crab meat had a slightly sweet, briny taste and melded well with the sauce, while the tobiko added additional texture and flavour.
Unfortunately, the mantou croutons had become mushy by this time and it wouldn’t be fair to review them in that state. I sheepishly asked Xun Man if I could have a couple of fresh ones to sample and he kindly obliged. They were everything a good fried mantou should be – crunchy and moreish.
Each bowl of noodles is served with a cup of this unassuming seaweed soup. I didn’t think much of it at first, but the first sip caught me by surprise. It was full of vegetable sweetness and clean-tasting, and served as a great palate cleanser between bites of noodles. I appreciated that he put thought into making the soup just as palatable as his mains.
Final thoughts
I am happy to say I enjoyed my experience at Gan Lao Zai. The noodles I tried were delicious and incredibly satisfying, and it’s clear that Xun Man takes pride in his food. Prices are also reasonable for what you get. I’m looking forward to the upcoming new menu and what else he has in store for the future.
Expected damage: S$4.50 – S$8 per pax
The post Gan Lao Zai: Loaded chilli crab & overnight braised pork noodle bowls from $4.50 appeared first on SETHLUI.com.
