La Porpo has moved around a few food centres over the years, and these days you will find the Muslim-owned stall at Redhill 85 Food Centre.
The name itself is quite unusual. Owner Haswandi Hashim is a big P. Ramlee fan, and “La Porpo” came from a catchphrase in the 1972 film Laksamana Do Re Mi that he and his childhood friends used among themselves.
The fried chicken recipe also has family roots, combining ideas from both Haswandi’s and his wife Nur Hafizah Ahmad’s families after quite a bit of trial and error.
At Redhill 85 Food Centre, the menu is broader than just ayam goreng, with fried rice, noodles, Mee Rebus ($4.50), Gado Gado ($5) and Nasi Kerabu from $8.
But I was really here for the chicken and sambal.
There are three options, starting with Sambal Loca, followed by Sambal Penyet and the fiercer Sambal Geprek.
As this was my first time at the stall (and it was early in the morning), I thought I should play it safe by ordering the less spicy options.
The true star was indeed the fried chicken, which itself had a crisp, well-seasoned exterior, with the turmeric giving the crust that familiar golden-red colour.
The meat remained juicy enough underneath, so I could happily eat parts of it even without piling on the sambal.
As for the sambals, the Sambal Loca was the green version, made mainly with green chillies, onion and garlic.
I would say great for first timers, as it had a fresher, less aggressive heat, with enough savouriness to go with both the chicken and blue rice.
You could still taste the fried chicken quite clearly without the sambal taking over.
The Sambal Penyet came with the red sambal made from red chilli padi, onion, garlic, ginger and belacan. This was SHIOK with more depth, but the heat also crept up very quickly.
Somehow it did not feel particularly punishing at first, especially when mixed with the rice, but towards the end I could definitely feel my stomach getting a little warm. Haha.
The blue rice itself was fairly mild, so most of the flavour came from whichever sambal you paired it with. I quite liked the soft fried tofu too.
Next time, the Sambal Geprek.
La Porpo
Redhill Food Centre #01-11, 85 Redhill Lane, Singapore 150085
Opening Hours: 11am – 7:30pm (Tue – Sun), Closed Mon
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