Jin Hang - Sichuan Food @ North Canal Rd

During a recent visit to Jin Hang (a Szechuan/Sichuan food outlet that I've been frequenting for the last few months), the owner told me that he is considering giving up his business. One of the reasons was higher rental costs. My regular Sichuan lunch buddies and I were sad to hear such news as we've grown so accustomed to getting our Sichuan fix at least once a month (ie. I get my fix once a fortnight).

When TSH and I went on a recent visit, they weren't serving Shui Zhu Yu as they didn't have any fish that day. We ordered Shui Zhu Niu Rou (the beef version) instead. It arrived topped with a spoonful of chopped raw garlic.

It's quite different from the fish dish as instead of a soupy base, it had a thick and starchy gravy base. The accompanying vegetable in this dish was sliced cabbage instead of soy bean sprouts. The gravy base also had some vinegar in it which made the dish spicy, salty, sourish and starchy. That said, it was delicious as the sourish gravy helped to cut the heavy feeling of the starchy gravy and whetted the appetite. We got pretty addicted to this dish. The only thing we didn't like so much was that the beef slices were a little over-tenderized, we could taste a little of the tenderizer though its flavour was largely masked by the spiciness and tanginess of the gravy. In spite of the tenderizer issue, this is still a Must-Try!

During another visit with Joyce, they'd sold all the Tofu for the day and so we ordered Lao Gan Ma Chicken [Lao Gan Ma is the brand of Chili Paste that is popularly used in Sichuan food] instead. The chicken pieces were coated with the spicy paste and were succulent and tasty. It was a great complement to a bowl of steamed rice. If you had to choose only one chicken dish, you should give the Chong Qing Spicy Fried Chicken (aka La Zi Ji) a try instead.

Jin Hang Restaurant Pte Ltd
16 North Canal Road,
#01-01,
Singapore 048828
Tel: 6534-1622