Big prawn hor fun + minced meat tofu ($31)!
Outram Park Michelin-listed zi char: big prawn hor fun loaded with whole prawns in egg gravy, plus minced meat tofu in dark sauce. $19 + $12.
Dinner at the Outram Park Michelin-listed zi char. Big prawn hor fun + minced meat tofu, $31 total ($19 + $12). 😋👍🏼
What was on the table:
- Big prawn hor fun: wide rice noodles under the egg-streaked seafood gravy, six-plus whole prawns arched across the plate, choy sum through it, the gravy stained orange from prawn fat
- Minced meat tofu: a slab of soft tofu blanketed completely in dark minced-pork gravy, coriander on top
The big prawn hor fun is the dish that justifies the listing. The gravy is the tell: it goes orange because the prawn heads are cooked into it, their fat and brain emulsifying through the egg-thickened base. That prawn-head intensity is what separates a $19 zi char plate from a $6 hawker hor fun, and you taste the difference in the first spoon. The prawns themselves were the big deshelled-tail type, snappy and sweet, clearly fresh rather than freezer stock.
The wok hei underneath still matters at this level: the hor fun ribbons get their toss in the wok before the gravy lands, so there’s a faint char under all that prawn richness.
Minced meat tofu is the humble-looking dish every serious zi char kitchen is judged on: silken tofu that must survive the wok intact, under a minced pork gravy that has to taste of stock reduction rather than cornstarch. This one wobbled properly and the gravy had real depth. Spoon it over rice and it disappears fast.
$31 for two dishes at a Michelin-listed zi char is the right kind of splurge: festival-tier prawn cookery at neighbourhood-restaurant pricing.
Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 The prawn-fat-stained gravy was the standout by a distance. The tofu the quiet supporting act. Would absolutely return.
