Poised Cantonese cooking with a healthy slant at Yue Bai

NEW RESTAURANT

Yue Bai 33 Duxton Road Singapore 089497 Tel: 9721 8055 Open for lunch and dinner Tues to Sun: 11:45am to 3pm; 5:45pm to 10pm. Closed on Mon.

THERE’S a school of thought that says delicious food can’t be healthy. But this school of thought also dislikes acai bowls and argues that if not for the word ‘delicious’, the word ‘greed’ could not even exist because no one is a glutton for healthy food. To safeguard ‘greed’s’ position in the dictionary and partly to spite acai bowl makers, this school of thought has actively sought to disassociate delicious from healthy, perpetuating the belief that ‘food to die for’ will eventually kill you.

But this school of thought didn’t go and eat at Yue Bai, which is a Chinese restaurant so steeped in authentic Cantonese cooking philosophy and techniques, you barely notice how healthy the food actually is. 

Unfortunately, Yue Bai exists in a world of acai-haters who prefer the crowded, MSG and refined carbohydrate-filled halls of mainstream Chinese restaurants, so this intimate Duxton Road eatery sticks out like a yogi in a roomful of lager louts.

If your tastebuds veer away from alkaline-laced dumpling skins and bicarbonate-treated meat, put yourself in the able hands of Singaporean chef Lee Hongwei. Seemingly out of nowhere, Lee doesn’t claim any fancy credentials apart from working stints in Macau and Taiwan and now in this venture with the SPRMRKT group. But his intriguing background in medicinal food and calligraphy adds refreshing depth to the cooking, making this calm, beige-grey minimalist space a unique find in a sea of Chinese restaurant sameness. 

THE BUSINESS TIMES INSIGHTS

Powering Asean's Future 2026

Find out how enterprises are navigating power constraints and sustainability targets

ACCESS THE INSIGHTS

After all, it takes some serious skill and creativity to turn muddy, nutty burdock into a pile of seriously addictive chips like Lee does. The seven-flavoured deep-fried burdock (S$14) strips are a crunch-a-minute, coated with sesame seeds and a sprinkle of chilli powder. As a bonus, it helps to “smooth defecation”, so what’s not to like?

If regular carrot cake does nothing for your qi, get it flowing again with pan-fried organic purple rice cakes (S$16) that contrasts a crisp surface and soft steamy insides. Topped with dried shrimp XO sauce and rice puffs for crunch, this easily surpasses the conventional version, while warming your spleen and preventing excess bedtime urination at the same time.

Cold crab (S$14 per 100gm) is just cold crab with no magical properties apart from lightening your wallet a little more than you want. It’s not a must-have, but it’s acceptably meaty with creamy yellow roe, served with a hoisin-tinged syrupy vinegar dip.

SEE ALSO

Asia Grand makes a comeback with familiar Cantonese cooking

Double-boiled soups are the hallmark of any kitchen, and the deep, heady aroma that hits you when the cover is lifted off the black silkie chicken soup (S$22) is proof of Lee’s brewing process. He may be a little flower-happy with the jasmine blooms that make it more distractingly perfumey than we like, but otherwise the depth of the broth sweetened with dried longans fills your insides with detoxifying joy.

A similar broth of clear superior stock (S$22) – this time more natural with the fruitiness of Korean pear and a whiff of dendrobium, is also a win.

Crisp-fried pork cartilage in crispy yam ring (S$38) has its pros and cons – thumbs up for the yam ring which dispenses with the plaster of paris-like stodgy tuber in favour of a crisp crackling base of beancurd skin and tender millet. But there are mixed feelings about the pork cartilage – deep-fried into luscious chunks of crunchy-melty fat and tender soft, but drenched in a cloyingly sweet, caramelised tangerine peel-infused sauce. 

Meanwhile, braised duck and sea cucumber in a hawthorn sauce (S$58) is a kong bak doppelganger presented with flourish in a black ceramic ‘egg’ – a clever layer of glutinous rice masquerading as pork ‘fat’ between layers of fork tender duck meat in a savoury brown sauce. A bouncy piece of sea cucumber adds a bit of luxury while the hawthorn tries to prevent us from getting a heart attack.

Finally, a dramatic pouring of rich, milky fish soup into a bowl of egg fried rice and silky cod fillet (S$38) is a simple bowl of comfort with no special medical benefits attached.

For a sweet ending, a cleansing double-boiled snow pear (S$12) has the added freshness of mint leaves. Black sesame mochi (S$12) could be chewier, but the squares of crunchy nutty mochi are pleasant enough when dunked into a pile of osmanthus-scented sugar.

Lee’s cooking style is understated and elegant, perhaps not robust enough for mainstream tastebuds but you can well appreciate the poise and thought behind the cooking. It’s a Chinese restaurant first, and healthy second – whatever school of thought you subscribe to, this is as close to healthy delicious as you can get.

Rating: 7