Piping hot and fragrant, food cooked in a claypot somehow just tastes better. There’s this smokey delight to claypot dishes as the dish winds with scent when being served to the table.
If you’re a fan of claypot dishes like me, I am pleased to introduce Grandma’s Daily Pot – a hawker entrepreneurial start-up at Maxwell that offers its very own heritage sizzling hot recipes that’ll make you salivate.
Founder of the stall Julie, together with her partner Yu Quan were featured as two of Singapore’s Gen Y Hawker Entreprenuers passionate in preserving heritage food cultures.
Julie explained that all of Grandma’s Daily Pot’s recipes don’t contain MSG, chicken stock nor corn starch – an interesting fact that appeals to me in this day and age, as the more delicious gourmets are often heavily seasoned.
Claypot Chicken Curry ($5, comes with a bowl of rice)
For the claypot chicken curry, the chefs in-house strive to keep it to a local flavour. At the same time, the curry has the taste of lontong curry – a light texture with a silky flow.
Made from scratch, the curry has no MSG and does not make use of chicken stock in brewing. With these facts in mind, I was most surprised to find the gravy very flavourful. The curry was sweet and savoury, and exudes a spicy aftertaste.
Claypot Fish Curry ($5, comes with a bowl of rice)
Adopting the style of South Indian cuisine, the gravy for the claypot fish curry is thick and rich in flavour. I find it similar to the usual fish curry we dip our roti pratas in, just that this one has a bittersweet tang to it. Not a taste that I’d fancy, but I guess it sure does make this dish special at Grandma’s Daily Pot.
The plus point for this dish is the batang fish used in whipping up this bowl of curry. Chef Julie mentions that they only make use of either batang steak or the tail for their claypot fish curry.
They served us the batang tail, and the choice of fish part was very rich in terms of meat content. At the same time, the meat is very fresh. The pairing with the curry was very much luscious.
Claypot Sesame Oil Chicken ($5, comes with a bowl of rice)
Personally, I have always loved eating sesame oil chicken. As such, I was most delighted upon knowing that I’m in for tasting the claypot sesame oil chicken here at Grandma’s Daily Pot.
Not failing my hopes at all, the sesame oil chicken served was a special form of conjure, in the good way. Unlike most other sesame oil sauce, I love this one in that it ain’t too thick nor too sweet. Basically, the texture was just very light and not too greasy, with the absence of the use of corn starch.
At the same time, the ginger slices gave the dish a fragrant taste of spice. According to Chef Julie, they had taken past the longest time to master the recipe for this sesame oil chicken, so as to achieve a blend of taste that is both unique and appetising.
Grandma’s Herbal Soup ($5, comes with a bowl of rice)
After tasting three heavily flavoured claypot soup dishes, I was most glad to arrive at the last dish which Grandma’s Daily Pot has to offer. Julie had highlighted that this grandma’s herbal soup was first introduced simply as a palate cleanser to the other claypot dishes on their menu.
Nonetheless, the popularity of this healthy and delectable herbal soup has earned it a place as a main dish on the menu. I like it that the herbal taste ain’t too strong, unlike most of the other herbal soups which I have tried.
Warm, light and savoury, I believe that this dish is a good start for getting the younger generation to better appreciate dishes that belong to the more traditional and heritage food cultures.
Oyster Sauce Veggie ($2)
Now we come to the side dishes – food items which form a well-rounded set meal with the respective claypot dishes. The first of which is the oyster sauce veggie.
Blanched in a brilliant way, the fresh green kai lan was soft and crunchy upon biting into the stem. At the same time, the leaves were clean and crisp, thoroughly absorbing the oyster sauce it was soaked and prepared with.
This side dish pairing offered a very refreshing taste, and it very much completes the diner’s meal here at Grandma’s Daily Pot. Claypot chicken/fish with rice and accompanied by a healthy platter of veggies – what other way to perfect a nutritious meal for the day?
Century Egg Tofu ($2/$3)
Besides the oyster sauce veggie, Grandma’s Daily Pot also offers the century egg tofu as another side dish that diners can pair with their claypot soup and rice. If you are a fan of tofu and century egg like me, I’m sure this is good news to you.
I say so, because I find that unlike the century egg tofu which I find elsewhere at Japanese or Chinese restaurants, the one here is awesome with its rich texture and taste.
This is especially so for the tofu which I wish to emphasise. The tofu was firm but chewy, and I felt as if I was biting into a piece of jelly – sweet and delicate.
Note that the option for a set meal here at Grandma’s Daily Pot consists of both the oyster sauce veggie as well as the century egg tofu. The addition of $2 to the main claypot soup and rice entitles the diner to both of the side dishes.
Overall speaking, I very much love the claypot soup dishes here at Grandma’s Daily Pot. I had felt that the four different flavours were very well selected, and formed up a good selection range in terms of their degree of thickness as well as richness of flavour.
Groups of friends or large families can come together to indulge in all four flavours, and I believe that everyone will benefit from tasting a good blend and balance of taste. Indeed a very hearty and well-rounded meal at Grandma’s Daily Pot.
Expected Damage: $5 – $10 per pax
Grandma’s Daily Pot: 1 Kadayanallur St, Maxwell Food Centre, #01-29, Singapore 069184 | Facebook | opening hours: mon-fri: 11am-9pm
The post Grandma’s Daily Pot: Classic Claypot Dishes in Maxwell Food Centre appeared first on SETHLUI.com.