PUTIEN At Marina Square

Our friends took us to a new-to-us restaurant, PUTIEN (莆田) at Marina Square. I've eaten at its original Kitchener Road outlet many years ago and remember nothing of it. Somehow PUTIEN is never really on my dining radar. Today, they've expanded to a number of outlets conveniently located across many malls in town, and in different cities. Its cuisine hails from Putian (莆田市) in Fujian Province in China, sited near the coast between Fuzhou and Quanzhou. The menu offers a change of palate to the usual Cantonese-style dishes. We left it to the friends to order.

Out came Drunken Cockles (一品醉蚶) which I merrily inhaled because of its garlic and chlli sauce. Mmm. The Shredded Meat with Buns (黄金荷叶包) were fun. Fried mantou and onions. We packed the buns ourselves. Winner. The fried version to the other Hokkien version of 'kong bak pau' (扣肉包)- braised pork belly in soy and eaten with steamed buns. The familiar Spinach with Salted Egg and Century Egg in Superior Stock (上汤苋菜) was not great. The table loved the Stir-Fried Yam (酥炒芋头); I'm not hot about it because, yam, and its outer layers were caramelized with sugar syrup so it was weirdly sweet. They couldn't resist snacking on its signature Oyster Omelette (一品海蛎煎). That was interesting because the dish didn't contain starch and the oysters were stir-fried with egg white instead. Quite tasty.

Had carbs via its much raved about Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon (兴化米粉) and the in-season Stewed Yellow Croaker Rice (黄花鱼焖饭). Those were good! Not overly salted. They went perfect with the chilli sauce. Oh my! The chilli sauce! I really liked pairing it with food. I doused it over everything. Tangy and spicy. Great flavors. I'd return to its outlets solely for this chilli sauce. In fact, I love it so much that I bought two bottles home.

PUTIEN's signature Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon (兴化米粉).