I still remember the first time I met Chef LG Han at Labyrinth, when it was located at 10 Neil Road, a decade ago. He was an aspiring young chef then, endeavoring to break into the Modern Singaporean Cuisine scene, which was dominated by Wild Rocket at the time. After one tasting, I left without writing a blog post because I felt he wasn’t quite ready. In fact, I honestly believed he might close shop after six months. However, LG Han possessed a dogged tenacity to pursue his vision, and I eventually wrote a review about Labyrinth when they became the first modern Singaporean restaurant to be awarded a Michelin Star in 2017!
I am a staunch supporter of Mod Sin cuisine as I feel that Singapore shouldn’t always be only known for its hawker food. There are many beloved flavour combinations here in our little island which Singaporeans cherish and a celebration of these flavours are a source of pride for us. However, it is a tricky cuisine to serve in a restaurant as the chef needs to create fine dining dishes costing $$$ with flavour profiles reminiscent of $ meals at the hawker centre. Like it or not, the Singaporean palate is still defined by hawker food, like chicken rice, laksa and bak chor mee.
Anyway, I am glad Chef Han has managed to run Labyrinth successfully for 10 years, earning a Michelin star and countless other accolades during this time!
We were privileged to be invited to taste his very special 10th anniversary course where he showcases his favourite creations over the last ten years. Unfortunately, the menu is no longer available, but the dishes are a reflection the evolution of his style over time! And don’t worry about not being able to taste a previous version of Bak Chor Mee, it just means that he made a better version of it for his current menu!
Homage to My Singapore
Liu Sar bao pregnant with a creamy salted egg custard with a piece uni embedded inside. It’s not something you’d find even at the dim sum restaurant.
I have always felt that our curry laksa is one of our most flavourful exports! I couldn’t quite taste the local mussels but the little cubes of crunchy jicama was quite a revelation.
Chicken Rice is one of those things that very difficult to reimagine as its flavours are quite subtle, unlike something like laksa whose flavours are bold and distinct. But, when you bite into the dumpling, you will probably say, “Yes, that’s chicken rice, alight!
Truffle and eggs are a perfect match and he managed to cook the yolk to a jelly consistency while getting the outside crispy and golden brown. The curry, unfortunately didn’t quite gel with the truffle flavour.
The combination of prawn paste, lime juice, sugar, chilli paste, ginger torch flower and ground peanuts is a flavour combination which will cause every homegrown Singaporean to cry rojak! To bring it to the next level, Chef added blue pea flowers, jackfruit and a crispy tempura perilla leaf.
I remember eating version 1.0 of the chili crab dish years ago. Chilli crab continues to be our unofficial National Dish. Madam Cher (God rest her soul), of Palm Beach Seafood, the creator of the original dish would have been proud see how her simple chilli tomato ketchup sauce has been transformed into ice cream and eaten with crispy fried soft shell crab.
What I thought were flat egg noodles turned out to be thinly sliced squid that had been dyed with turmeric and the fish cakes turned out to be battered whole scallops. Instead of minced pork, Han created some kind of dust using some techniques from the molecular gastronomy playbook. He has since been using minced pork for his latest rendition of the dish which reflects the waning trend of molecular gastronomy. The taste is unmistakably bak chor mee, but there is no bak chor, nor is there any mee!
Poached codfish served in a seafood broth. Nice but not quite as memorable as some of the other creations.
Thin sliced Wagyu beef slices presented with fried rice noodles and an egg yolk which Chef cooked from the inside out! I do miss the rich gravy with the Hor fun though.
I am a little confused with the Ramen Risotto. Since when did Ramen become Modern Singaporean food?
Spherical coconut jelly encased in a pandan flavoured “skin” and served with a gula melaka dip. Imaginative, but nothing beats a nice bowl of cendol!
What looks like toast was actually meringue which sandwiched a thick slice of butter, a dab of kaya and topped with Caviar. Caviar with kaya toast, anyone?
Conclusion
Congrats to Chef LG Han on Labyrinth’s 10th anniversary! For visitors to our little island, this would surely be one of the fine dining spots on your itinerary!
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