Eleven Finger (Eu Kee) Scissors Curry Rice
by Brandon Lee
One of my favorite Hainanese curry rice places (Wisma Atria Food Republic's isn't too shabby if you're in town) is located in a grubby little kopitiam, or coffee shop, called Rong Liang Ge Eating House, behind the new Iluma mall. The closest MRT station is Bugis, but you can walk over from Sim Lim Square. It's down the alley directly across from the large Chinese temple in that area.
Like most local street food, it's not much to look at, but for between $2.50 to $4.50 you can pile on slices of rich, stewed soy-sauce pork belly, chicken curry, fish cake, tofu, fried eggs, boiled cabbage, and cheap "ma-ling" style luncheon meat fried to a delicious crisp. The whole lot over white rice is rendered unrecognizable with thick curry sauce and a dark mysterious essence of soybeans for contrast. Your arteries will strain to make sense of it all, as will your eyes and wallet, but the net effect of these ingredients upon your palate will be one of perfect, albeit greasy, unity.
