Rojak, Popiah & Cockle (啰惹.薄饼.鲜蛤), located in Maxwell Food Centre, is a really direct name — the stall serves its signature rojak (Nanyang fruit salad), popiah (Hokkien / Teochew-style spring roll), fresh cockles and others. Even without a name, the stall is recognised by Singapore Michelin Guide since 2018.
Rojak is a Malay term that refers to a fruit salad dish in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The fruits used need to be ripe and fresh as no cooking is involved.
The Rojak (啰惹) has slices of fresh pineapple, cucumber, fried dough fritters (you tiao / 油条), turnip and beansprouts stir-mixed in a sweet dark sauce, made with shrimp paste, chilli (optional) and sprinkled with minced peanuts. It is a crispy and crunchy dish from the toasted fried dough and fresh ingredients with well-balanced flavours between savouriness, sweetness, sourness and spiciness (optional) and is nice-tasting with no discomfort in the throat from too much thick, sweet sauce.
The Popiah (薄饼) has really thin popiah crepes that hold the ingredients firmly with the aid of fresh lettuce. Other ingredients include cooked turnips in delightful sauce, fresh beansprouts, hard-boiled egg, crushed peanuts and spicy chilli (optional). It has nice flavours with crunchiness and the crepe does not get in the way when munching on the snack. It is delicious indeed.
The Cuttlefish + You Tiao + Tau Pok + Century Egg (鱿鱼+油条+豆卜+皮蛋) is a single dish with a long name — or just called it “cham cham” meaning “mixed”. The 4 main ingredients are served with more cuts of cucumber underneath and sprinkled with lots of minced peanuts on top. Accompanying the dish is a rojak dipping sauce — similar shrimp paste sauce that is used to stir-mix the rojak dish, with more minced peanuts and chilli (optional).
The you tiao (fried dough) and slices of cuttlefish are slightly roasted to make them crispy and the cuttlefish gives off a nice roasty aroma. The tau pok, or tofu puff, is stuffed with bean sprouts, lettuce and cucumber, giving crunchy textures. The whole century egg is topped with pickled ginger slices and is a nice treat itself with its unique flavour. All the little stuffs can be savour as they are or after dipping into the rojak sauce. It is an interesting dish to sample a bit of everything.
The stall’s fresh cockles are of varying sizes and some of them are as big as ping pong balls — although I know cockles can be really big, it is the first time I see such big ones at a food stall. I would love to try the big cockles but I will not be able to finish a plate by myself. Maybe someday…
Rojak, Popiah & Cockle offers really nice local traditional snacks that are suitable as side dishes with any meals or as light bites for afternoon tea.
Address:
Maxwell Food Centre, #01-56
1 Kadayanallur Street, Singapore 069184
Opening Hours:
11:30am to 8:30pm | Closed on Wednesday
Nearby:
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