One rather irritating thing I face as a Hainanese, is that people like to ask me, "So, do you know how to cook Chicken Rice?". *roll eyes* Usually I will retort, "So, you are Hokkien, can you cook Hokkien Mee?"

Hainanese cuisine, I admit is not as refined or developed as Cantonese cuisine, but it is so much more than chicken rice and pork chops! It's mainly hearty peasant fare, and the taste is highly dependent on the quality and freshness of the ingredients. I went back to my Hainanese village years ago, and was BLOWN away by the plain boiled chicken there. There is NO WAY our farm-reared, abbatoir-slaughtered, chilled/frozen chickens can compare to a freshly slaughtered one that spent all its life foraging in the countryside. Don't even try. But I digress...

My parents are the sort who need to be dragged out, cajoled and threatened to eat out, especially to try out Hainanese eateries (too many disappointments), but they approve of Jin Wee!

We had the Stewed Pork Belly (oooooh!), the Pork Chop (ok, 'standard' lah), steamed fish, a fried veggie. I think we are all in love with the stewed pork belly, it has the suitable balance of saltiness, sweetness, thickness. The gravy is DIVINE with plain white rice.

I would say Jin Wee is more for dinner. I went there for lunch alone once, and the offering was plain 'chai-png' fare. Nothing special. It is best to speak to the servers, and to find out if there are any 'specials' of the day.

"hidden" away from the fanfare of the siglap cafe scene is this old, decrepit coffeeshop/eatery call Jin Wee. If you have a hard time locating this unattractive joint, it is two shops down from NTUC tucked between Denise wine shop and a dentist or just behind the bus stop. The boss, this old uncle likes to sit across the raod and chat with the car park attendant all day... they have been doing that for ages it seems... anyway back to the food...

Few favorites here worth noting:

The Hainanese Kong Ba is a blast if you don't mind / love the intense flavors and texture of pork belly (read fats). Good dish worth ordering and it is enough to feed 4-6 person. Not sure they have a small one cos they always serve the same size so please don't order it if you are a party of two...you will die of fat overdose.

The hainanese pork chop is also a favorite comfort food. Taxi uncles (few of them) complained that they seem to keep running out of it. "Too early for dinner not yet ready, too late run out... wah kao!" =) For me, it is just childhood food from a school canteen? I mean it is not bad but it is not a culinary masterpiece as well. It is a commoner dish that brings smiles.

Steam fish is another popular dish here. But again you need to have a decent sized party unless you are big eaters it is a tad too much fish for two pax unless they have a smaller fish that day...

Homemade barley is a delight - but they do run out ... Come for lunch they have some pretty decent (and relatively cheap) mixed rice. Parking is ample with the URA carpark but can be a HUGE pain when it is raining heavily.

They say Hanainese are good cooks and I'm glad I married one because Mr Porky sure can whip up a storm in the kitchen (plus he does the dishes after - ahh the sweet bliss of married life).

If you're not married to a Hainanese, all is not lost and I guess the next best thing you can do is to eat at a Hainanese eatery and have a Hainanese chef cook your meals. And my recommendation for homely Hainanese meals would be Jin Wee, an old-style coffeeshop along East Coast Rd at Siglap.

I've been eating at Jin Wee since my teens and trust me when I say that there are tons of other loyal followers out there. During lunch time, you can simply order the pre-cooked dishes - their beef stew is superb and so is their hay bee hiam. For dinner, it's probably better to order off their menu, but be prepared for a long wait if you don't get there early as there is only one chef in the kitchen that cooks one dish at a time. It can be a pretty agonising wait sometimes, especially when you're starving and looking longingly at the delicious dishes being served to other tables - so try and get there early if you're the impatient sort.

Must trys are their steamed fish (fresh and steamed to prefection), hainanese pork chop (you cannnot not order this dish if you are at a hainanese eatery!!) and kong ba/stewed pork belly (sinful but oh so so so very good).

I'm getting hungry just from writing this review and thinking about the food at Jin Wee. If we can't make the trip there for dinner today, I guess I'll just have to herd Mr Porky into the kitchen tonight....