Spicing up CNY fare

If the mere thought of another week of Lo Hei Prosperity Raw Fish Salad is making you blanch, you're not alone.

Consider the daunting prospect of more steamed or fried prawns, steamed or baked fish, bak kwa of various flavours, braised chicken, monkey nuts and pineapple tarts.Just how much more mushroom, dried oyster and fatt choi stew can you handle?

Did you also notice that these old-school Chinese New Year dishes are often lightly flavoured? It's basically soy and oyster sauce, meat stock, a dash of pepper, sugar, some Chinese wine, a splash of sesame and maybe a speck or two of chilli, for colour.

Yearning for something different because you are spoilt for choices in our multicolour, multicultural and multiflavour makan city? We have some interesting options for you.

SQUID INK CURRY SOTONG

Nasi Padang Lor 1 Geylang

They braise this over very low charcoal fire in a lightly spicy black curry hued with the squid's black ink, till it gets soft.

All you'll ever need at this stall is this black ink sotong with its sauce over steamed rice and their stunning sambal.

I dare you to resist slapping on their mutton rendang, sayur lodeh and fried sambal fish slices.

The couple hold day jobs and operate this stall for four hours in the evenings.

SOFT SHELL CRAB IN GREEN CURRY SAUCE

Yummy Thai stall

You may expect a humble Thai food stall to offer the same old staples - just as you'll expect to rattle off the same old orders like pad Thai, tom yum, grilled pork collar (moo yang), glass noodle salad (yum voon sen) and som tam (papaya salad).

But the folks here take things up a notch. They fry up soft-shell crabs and toss it in a thickened green curry sauce, which is rich and has a slight sharpness and tang.

They've also come up with this mean lemongrass fried rice with crab meat chunks. The hint of lemongrass complements the robustly done fried rice.

SATAY BEEHOON HALAL STYLE

Alhambra Padang Satay stall

This Teochew dish is getting rare to find in our markets and is unique to Singapore. And this is even rarer because it is about the only Halal version I've come across.

Sam is a second-generation Malay satay hawker whose father hails from the original satay club row along Beach Road, outside the then Alhambra Theatre.

His satay beehoon does not use Chinese style five-spice powder, "which the Malays are not so used to", he says.

His nutty satay sauce beehoon is topped with seafood and bigger prawns but there are no cockles, due to feedback from his Muslim customers.

Makansutra

1. Nasi Padang Lor 1 Geylang

487 Geylang Road (junction of Lor 27)

Opens: 5pm-9pm, closed on Sundays

2. Yummy Thai

Makansutra Gluttons Bay, next to The Esplanade taxi stand, 8 Raffles Ave

Opens: 5.30pm-2am daily

3. Alhambra Padang Satay

Makansutra Gluttons Bay, next to The Esplanade taxi stand, 8 Raffles Ave

Opens: 5.30pm-2am daily