I never knew about Lim’s Fried Oyster until recently, when the foodies met for supper at Jalan Besar Food Centre. Hidden in a corner at the ground floor of the food centre, they have been around for about 4 decades. Lim’s father used to open a roadside stall in Jalan Berseh. When the food centre was built, they moved in and it is now managed by the second-generation Lim.
Here, the Teochew Ah Hia makes the batter by himself. They have two types for chilli in the stall. One that is added to the fried oysters during frying, the other is used as dip to go with the ready plate of oyster omelette. He makes the chilli paste that is added into the fried oysters. It has a lovely fragrance from dried shrimps, it is a pity if you decide to skip it.
I like my fried oysters with a heavy egg ratio. And if its sides are crispy with a little burnt marks, it will be perfect. Lim’s Fried Oysters is very well executed. To cook a plate of fried oysters, you really need some skills. The ingredients for this dish is always the same. We have eggs, flour, oil, oysters and fish sauce. So what makes a stall different from the other is probably the batter and the control of the fire.
Each bite was made up of crispy, charred and fragrant skin encasing a morsel of moist, and gooey combination. You get the perfect texture of chewy and crispy starchy bits. The plate I had was moist and it was fried with some chilli sauce to bring out taste even better. The plump and succulent oysters here came from Korea, it’s XL size as compared to other stalls. Each plate is topped with coriander leaves, and please dip it into the thick and tangy chilli sauce. It’s shiok!
I am happy to know that the stall does excellent 唐山炒 (Tang Shan Chao). It is the traditional wet version of fried oyster which we seldom see it here in Singapore. I had it about 10 years back from a food court stall who used to do very very good Tang Shan Chao, but no longer does it. As compared to the usual ones, this texture is softer and less crispy.
Each plate of fried oysters is always stir-fried with some chilli sauce. If you can’t take chilli, please inform them in advance. Each plate is priced at $5, $8 or $10. Must add the chili sauce for that extra ommph!
Lim’s Fried Oyster
Address: #01-32, Berseh Food Centre, 166 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208877
Tel: +65 93860732
Operation Hours: 6pm to 12am daily (impromptu off days)