Pork cutlet egg fried rice ($6)!
Chinatown hawker pork cutlet egg fried rice: a whole bone-in fried pork chop sliced over golden wok hei egg fried rice. $6.
Lunch at Chinatown: pork cutlet egg fried rice, $6. ๐
What was on the plate:
- A whole bone-in pork chop: wide, pan-fried, lightly peppered, sliced into thick fingers and fanned across the rice, the bone still attached at the side
- Egg fried rice underneath: golden, the egg worked through each grain, scallion flecks, the grains separate and slicked
The pork chop is the da pai (ๅคงๆ) style: a broad cut pounded thin, marinated in the soy-white-pepper family, dusted and pan-fried so the surface crusts while the inside stays juicy. Keeping it bone-in is the more old-school presentation, the bone adds flavour as it cooks and signals the cut was not just a pre-portioned slab. Slicing before serving lets the juices run down into the rice.
The egg fried rice is the base the whole plate rests on, and the test is wok hei: day-old rice, egg scrambled through so it coats rather than clumps, enough heat for the toasty edge without dark soy doing the colouring. The golden colour here is egg and heat, the honest version.
The combination is the wok-stall staple: a savoury fried rice that needs no sauce, topped with a peppery protein that brings the sharp notes. Everything on the plate has a job.
At $6 for a whole-chop fried rice plate in Chinatown, this is honest hawker value while the cafe versions charge double.
Overall: 4.1 / 5. ๐๐๐ผ The peppered chop over the golden rice was the reliable standout. Would re-order.
