I bet that 90% of Singaporeans have never heard of the dish "Mao Cai" before. So what exactly is Mao Cai (冒菜)???
As quoted from Wikipedia,
"Maocai (Chinese: 冒菜; pinyin: màocài) is a stew-like dish originating from the Chinese city of Chengdu, in Sichuan.
It is composed of a variety of vegetables as well as meat and/or fish in a stock made of mala sauce.
Although it is similar to styles of hot pot common in this region, its chief difference lies in the fact that the ingredients are already cooked when served, and hence no simmering is done at the table."
How did I ever encounter Mao Cai in my life?
It happened when I went for the Work and Study programme (NTU), which flew me to Shanghai for a 6-months internship.
(and also let me clear 6AUs worth of unrestricted electives.)
During my stay in Shanghai from February-July 2016, I chanced upon Mao Cai thanks to 饿了么 (eleme) , a well-known food delivery app in Shanghai.
At that point, I did not realise the ingenuity of the dish yet - that it was a "hotpot for one person".
I merely ordered it because it had my favourite vegetables and meats such as potato slices, beancurd skin, pig intestines, pig stomach, duck blood (SINGAPORE BANS THIS and I only discovered my love for it in Shanghai at the age of 22).
PLUS, it was soupy and I wanted to try something along the lines of 麻辣 (mala), which was what it appeared to be in the pictures.
I ordered 微辣 (slightly spicy) which is even lesser than 小辣 (level 1 of spiciness), because I can't really take spicy food hahaha.
AND IT TURNED OUT TASTING SO GOOD, it was like 麻辣 (mala) without much of the 麻 (numbness that comes from Szechuan peppercorns), the soup base was really savoury and salty enough for me.
Most of the times when I ordered it (yes I ordered this almost every week in Shanghai), I devoured all the soup.
And so, here I am, more than a year later, CRAVING so desperately for Mao Cai, and finding it very hard to hunt it down in Singapore.
Everytime I google Mao Cai, this store, Si Wei Mao Cai 思味冒菜, always comes up on the front page.
I've tried every iteration of "Where to find maocai in Singapore"
"Mao Cai Singapore"
"新加坡哪里有冒菜"
"新加坡冒菜“ in both Google and even Baidu.....
...and it appears that there is no other place in Singapore that sells Mao Cai - but I shall be the kind soul to debunk this myth and hunt down more Mao Cai places to eat at.
Although Mao Cai is a part of the restaurant name, all the blog reviews on Google seemed to have no mention of Mao Cai at all, leading me to doubt whether this restaurant really offered what I was hunting for.
Last Sunday, after more than 2 months of doubting, I finally went to Si Wei Mao Cai 思味冒菜 for lunch. I made reservations and I highly suggest you do too, because the place is really small and seems to be popular even amongst China people.
We ordered the Mao Cai (DUH) with pig intestines, lotus roots, potato slices, beancurd skin and glass noodles.
It's $10 for a serving of meat, and $2.50 for a serving of vegetables, and 小辣 (level one of spiciness).
Of course this price is ridiculously expensive compared to Shanghai, with a serving of vegetables and meat only costing up to 5RMB (SGD$1) and 10RMB (SGD$2) respectively. But I need (need, not want) to eat this, so....
We also ordered the Century Eggs which was served with chilli oil and soya sauce.
This appetizer arrived first, and the moment the sauce touched my tongue, I knew this was the one.
It tasted so similar to the Mao Cai that I had in Shanghai, it may have well been called Century Eggs served with Mao Cai stock instead.
The taste of it was so similar to mala, yet quite distinct that I would know it wasn't mala, due to the soya sauce added.
When we were almost done with our century eggs, our Mao Cai finally came.
I've been waiting for this moment for so long!!
I took a spoonful of soup to taste.
How does this rate compared to all the Mao Cais I've eaten in Shanghai???
There was a very strong smell of sesame, something not commonly found in Shanghai's maocai, and I definitely would tell the servers not to add sesame seeds the next time I come around - so I can really taste if the soup is what I so desperately miss.
There was also a tinge of sourness and sweetness, something from than Shanghai's maocai.
After a few more spoonfuls of soup and eating the ingredients, my tongue was numb due to the szechuan peppers and hence I couldn't really taste the sesame anymore.
Of course if you're eating Mao Cai for the first time, do note that the level of 辣 (spiciness) and 麻 (numbness) is the same as normal Ma La hotpots!!
I highly recommend everyone to try Mao Cai, especially if you're craving for hotpot but can't find friends to eat it with.
You can easily order just enough for 1 person, for less than $20 (unless you're a big eater).
Si Wei Mao Cai appears to be popular for other dishes which I will come back for next time!
Take note that the dishes are sold at typical restaurant prices.
We were also served by Chinese nationals, and I noticed that the chef was also a Chinese national, which added to the authenticity of their dishes.
Si Wei Mao Cai is located at
33 Mosque St, Singapore 059511
and is open from
11am - 2.30pm (last order at 2pm), and 5pm - 11.45pm (last order at 11pm).
Don't forget to make reservations, either by directly calling them at 6223 1170 or through reservation apps/websites such as Quandoo, Hungrygowhere and Chope (highly recommended!).
I've been using Chope since Shanghai days (Feb-Jul 2016) simply because making a reservation at any restaurant earns me 100 Chope Dollars (sometimes they have promotions that lets you earn up to 200 Chope Dollars!!), and I can redeem a SGD$10 voucher with just 400 Chope Dollars, for any of the participating restaurants under Chope!!
This is definitely not a sponsored post, I'm praising Chope so much because it's saved me so much money in Shanghai when I was looking out for western/cafe food, simply by making reservations and then redeeming my Chope Dollars!
I'm on the lookout for more places to try and relive my Shanghai days of eating Mao Cai, so do hit me up if you know of any places I should try!!!
A kind soul has told me of the existence of an inconspicuous Mao Cai stall in Vivocity, at level B2's Kopitiam, and I will definitely be there to try it when I'm back from Hokkaido (travelling 23-31 October)!!
Shoutout to Bjorn Goossens, he loves cosplay and games, and constantly uploads videos of gameplay, vlogs, how-to videos, convention videos and cosplay videos! So subscribe to him on Youtube: CosMania !