Many of us have been going back to the office since the restrictions lifted and while there are many safety and hygiene measures in place in dining places, it doesn’t stop us from heading out for good food. Since it has almost 2 months since I last headed to the East part of the island, I really craved some of the food there like this pig trotter rice.
Located within Viva Business park, Lin Ji Pig trotters is the brainchild of the same owners of Bai Nian group. They got inspired by a dish they tried while travelling in LongJiang town, Guangdong China in 2019. It took them multiple trips over 3 months back to the town to capture the flavours and recreate the dish here in Singapore.
The star at the store is the pig trotters rice and they also serve pig intestine rice vermicelli and pig trotters rice vermicelli. They also sell the entire pig trotter for SGD 18 or 28 depending on the size and other items like pickled salted vegetables, intestines for sharing if you have a big party
They were running a 1 for 1 lunch set promotion at SGD 8.90 while I was there for lunch due to the lessen lunch crowd as some offices are still working from home. The lunch set includes 1 pig trotter rice bowl plus 1 plate of stir-fried cabbage and you get another rice bowl for free. We ordered an extra plate of pig intestines as it also had great reviews online.
The rice bowl itself comes with sliced pig trotter meat, salted vegetables and sliced pork roll. The meat was glistening from the natural oil of the pig trotter and the rice bowl is lightly drizzled with their braised sauce. Unlike the usual pig trotters you find here, their version of the braised sauce is much lighter as they braised the pig trotters with light soy sauce imported from China instead of the usual dark soy sauce used locally.
I was expecting the meat to be very fatty but I was pleasantly surprised as the layer of fats was very minimal but yet provides that right juicy oiliness expected of a pig trotter. The light sauce used also complements the meat very well so you can still taste the original sweetness of the meat and the sauce.
One of the key flavours was the chilli provided which I believe is the same one provided for the Bai Nian Yong Tau Foo. As the sauce and the meat have very light flavours, the chilli provided that extra kick.
The braised big intestines were also nicely braised and had a very clean flavour while the fats melted in your mouth. The intestines were soft and tender without being overly chewy. There was absolutely no ammonia taste to the intestine which is what prevents most people from trying pig intestines.
The vegetables were general but provided a good balance to an otherwise overly meaty meal.
Overall, I am greatly surprised by Lin Ji Pig trotters as it presented a flavour which is very different from the local heavy flavoured ones we are used to. Instead of using dark soy sauce, the light soy sauce was pleasantly sweet and flavourful. While I like the local dark soy sauce version as well, I welcome this as it provided a light palate for lunch,
Address: 01-24, 750 Chai Chee Rd, Viva Business Park
Operating hours: 11 am to 9 pm
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