I really adore Chinese food and whenever I see a new place which serves Chinese food, I always make it a point to check it out. This is not the normal Chinese food that we see all over the world but lately in Singapore, there have been a lot of regional Chinese food popping up all over the place. As you well know, China is a huge place, so it is natural that there are regional cuisine that arises.
One of the places I try to visit more often is this simple little place in Smith Street known as Yang Gui Fei 羊贵妃. This place specializes in Xi’an 西安 cuisine. Xi’an was the capital of countless Chinese dynasties and has been around for thousands of years. While the Xi’an cuisine is not considered one of the major cuisines of China, it has somehow made its mark in China and somehow made it here to Singapore.
The store itself is rather bare with only a few faux terracotta warriors on display to remind them that they are in Xi’an. However, I was not after their interiors but rather their food. My friends and I went as a big group so we could order and share more stuff. In true Chinese tradition, the dishes are shared by all. We had the Old Bowl Fish 老碗鱼, which was basically something similar to water boiled fish 水煮鱼 of Sichuan fame. I’m not sure what the difference was but I couldn’t tell. All I know it that they served it in a massive bowl fit for everyone to share.
For appetizers we had the Chili Numbing Chicken 椒麻鸡, which was a cold dish but it came with this heavenly sour and spicy sauce which will tingle your taste buds. One thing to note is that one time I went there the cold dish was a little too cold and it seemed like it came straight from the freezer since some of the meat was a little crunchy just like frozen meat. But not to worry, this meat is cooked. You might want the cold dish to warm up a bit to room temperature before eating it though.
Xi’an is considered to be in the northern part of China, unknown to many, this place was a significant Muslim population, and with this culture, came their own influences in food. Barbequed meat on skewers are a very popular item in Xi’an and it is not surprising that they also have it. The meat is seasoned with chili and some cumin that gives it that distinctive aroma and flavor. The meat comes in beef, chicken or lamb varieties.
A visit to Yang Gui Fei is never complete without the star of the show. The Gui Fei Lamb Ribs 贵妃羊排 is undoubtedly their most delectable, albeit most sinful, dish. The ribs are a whole rack of lamb ribs grilled to a nice melt in your mouth texture. The meat was literaly falling off the bone and despite it being lamb, it doesn’t have that very strong lamb scent that is usually associated with it. Of course too much of a good thing is bad too, you can easily get tired of eating the ribs so be careful not to eat too much of it. You can use the chili powder to dip the lamb for that extra burst of flavor.
We have visited Yang gui Fei enough to be recognized by the staff, but most importantly, we have also noticed some variations in the cooking of the dishes, most importantly the lamb ribs. I think it depends on the cook whether you get a good rack or not. But make no mistake, even on their “bad” days, the lamb is still as mouthwatering. If you love Chinese food and are willing to try something different, try to visit Yang Gui Fei on Smith Street in Singapore. I’m sure you will not be disappointed.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/YangGuiFei.kmz}]