杂菜 炒饭 / Mixed vegetable fried rice ($3)!
A budget vegetarian plate: wok-fried rice topped with sliced potato and stir-fried greens with minced soy. $3.
About as honest and cheap as a meatless lunch gets: 杂菜 炒饭 (mixed vegetable fried rice), $3. 😋
What I had:
- Fried rice topped with sliced potato and stir-fried greens (kangkong and lettuce) with minced soy
This is the cai-png approach laid over fried rice rather than plain rice, which makes it a bit more flavourful as a base. The fried rice underneath is wok-fried so it picks up a little smoky wok hei, savoury and loose, and then you point at a couple of vegetable dishes to pile on top.
The sliced potato was soft and comforting, almost like a gentle braised potato, while the stir-fried greens brought freshness and a garlicky savour, with little bits of minced soy through them standing in for meat. You mix it all together so the rice soaks up the juices from the toppings, and it eats like a complete, balanced plate.
It is plain, wholesome, feel-good food, the kind of unfussy vegetarian eating that still leaves you full and content. And at $3, it is the sort of foundational hawker value that is increasingly rare. Simple done right.
Overall: 4.4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Savoury wok-fried rice with soft potato and garlicky greens, humble and great value at $3. Would re-order.
