127 Kitchener Rd, Singapore 208514
Nearest MRT: Farrer Park
Contact: (+65) 6295 6358
Website: PUTIEN
The PUTIEN franchise first began in Singapore at Kitchener Road, by a humble man who longed for his hometown food from the province of Putian. Today PUTIEN restaurants dot the planet, and in the Singapore Michelin Guide 2016, this PUTIEN restaurant was awarded its first Michelin Star.
I had the greatest honour to grace their Michelin-winning restaurant and to try some of their signature dishes. Read on to find out what I had at PUTIEN Kitchener.
‘Bian Rou (Wanton) Soup’ is a Fujian-ese specialty with more than 500 years of history. At PUTIEN, no efforts is spared in keeping this precious craft that originated from the Chinese imperial dynasty of Qin. The delicate Fujian-style wonton wrapper is made of pork meat.
Each time, 3 hours of continuously pounding and rolling on the meat paste is required before it becomes as thin as paper, making the handcrafted wanton springy and palatable with every bite.
The soft and tender chinese spinach is first stir-fried on high heat for flavor, then stewed in rich supreme-stock mix of century egg and salted egg to give it a burst of flavour.
Deep fried to light golden brown, the meat is tender and moist on the inside. The lychee is a perfect complement with its added burst of sweetness to the sauce.
PUTIEN Heng Hwa Bee Hoon is the only sundried vermicelli milled by hand in Putian. Unlike machine dried bee hoon, drying manually under the sun at the crack of dawn ensures that the bee hoon is translucent, silky, fine, chewy but not brittle.
The rich, milky stock of pork bones and old hens is cooked for hours and infused with 10 sumptuous ingredients that adds flavour to the bee hoon. It is definitely one of their crowd favourites!
Rating: 4/5
My two cents:
You can probably tell from the food pictures above, the dishes served by PUTIEN are not foreign. We have had them before, in one way or another. And if so, how does PUTIEN stand out?
That was the question in my mind, and all it took was a single bite of a dish for everything to click into place in my mind. PUTIEN stands out from its competitors for its elevated flavours within a simple common dish. They paid attention to the smallest details, from the skin of a wonton, to the addition of lychee for a burst of sweetness, and fresh hand-crafted rice vermicelli that is flown in from Putian.
I love all four dishes that I have tried, but my favourites would be the Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychees and Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon.
We have all had sweet and sour pork before, but their Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychees is so different from all that I have ever tried. The crisp of the deep-fried pork, to the perfection in sweet and sour blend from the sauces, to that umami finish at the end of bite.
As for beehoon, I am a huge critic of it because I am not a fan of coarse beehoon. I hate it when the noodles have gone soft and limpy and breaks everywhere. The Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon from PUTIEN was, however, a surprise. There was a sort of QQ texture to the noodles, and it was so silky and fine. I wiped my bowl clean in a matter of seconds, for I could not help but to eat in mouthfuls. It was the best fried beehoon that I had ever had!
If you are looking for a casual dining space to host your family dinner or a laid-back venue for official affairs, this is the place to go. Make your reservation at (+65) 6295 6358. For more information, check out their website here.
Note: This post was sponsored by PUTIEN and Affluence PR.
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