Maxwell Food Centre was not crowded when I arrived through a heavy rain. It was around 2:30pm and well after lunch time. I walked down the rows of stalls looking for Rojak.Popiah & Cockle — a really direct name. The stall is in the middle section of the food centre.
They served more stuff than the three items mentioned, including cuttlefish, fried dough and tau pok (tofu puff). On the menu, two pieces of popiah (Hokkien spring rolls) were priced at $2.80 — not sure if they entertain an order of one piece. But I had just ate a popiah after lunch, so I went for the smallest portion of rojak ($3) instead.
Rojak, a Malay term, typically referred to a fruit salad dish in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The fruits need to be ripe and fresh.
The $3 rojak that I ordered had common ingredients like slices of pineapple, cucumber, fried dough fritters, turnip and beansprouts topped with shrimp paste and coarsely-ground peanuts.
What would distinguish this stall from others would be in the concoction of the sauce, which was primarily the salty shrimp paste. I could taste a well-balance of salty, sweet, sour and spiciness in the rojak. I ordered it spicy so chilli was added, and the sweet and sour taste could probably be from the pineapple and turnip slices.
I guessed any order above $3 would have additional ingredients like tofu puffs or cuttlefish. I would be back again to try the $5 version next time and see what it might contain. And the popiah and cockles too.
Address:
Maxwell Food Centre, #01-56
Opening Hours:
11:30am - 8:30pm | Closed on Wednesday