Ji Tuo Hong Kong Style Dim Sum - Cooked-to-Order Cantonese

Ji Tuo Hong Kong Style Dim Sum is run by a husband-and-wife team who spent decades in kitchens that specialised in Hong Kong cuisine, with the husband bringing around 40 years of experience and the wife around 30. After rising rents pushed them out of their earlier location, they set up their own stall inside a coffeeshop on the top floor of the SkyTech industrial complex in Bukit Batok, where every basket is made and cooked only after the order is placed. The menu runs to roughly 14 items and stays close to the Cantonese staples, from steamed dumplings to fried radish cake, each one prepared in small batches through the morning.

Siew Mai — $3 for 3 pieces

Each siew mai is densely packed with minced pork and crowned with a fleck of carrot for colour, then steamed to order so it arrives hot. The filling is juicy and holds together without the gamey note that can affect lesser versions, a difference that comes down to the freshness of the meat and the fact that nothing sits pre-steamed in a tray waiting for customers.

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) — $4 for 3 pieces

The har gow is wrapped in a thin, soft, translucent skin that yields easily to reveal firm, naturally sweet prawns inside. Getting this dumpling right is a test of technique: the pleated wrapper has to be thin enough to show the filling through it, yet sturdy enough to survive the steamer without turning gummy or splitting. Here the skin stays smooth and the prawns keep their snap.

Crispy Beancurd Skin Roll — $3 for 3 pieces

A minced pork filling studded with specks of carrot and black mushroom is rolled in beancurd skin and fried until golden brown. The result is a light, crisp shell wrapped around a savoury, textured centre. It pairs well with the house sambal set out at the stall front, a condiment made with tiny dried shrimp that carries plenty of umami at a spice level mild enough for most palates.

Beijing Style Dumpling — $3.50 for 5 pieces

These dumplings are stuffed with minced pork and a generous amount of ku chye, or garlic chives, then dressed in a light vinegar-based sauce and finished with chopped garlic, coriander and red chilli. The presentation nods to chilli-oil dumplings but takes a gentler route, letting the vinegar and aromatics layer flavour over the filling rather than overwhelming it with heat.

Fried Carrot Cake — $3.50 for 3 pieces

The radish cake is cut into blocks and pan-fried so the surface turns crisp while the inside stays sticky and chewy, a contrast in a single bite that sets this version apart. Threads of radish are visible throughout, a sign the cake is made with a good proportion of the vegetable rather than mostly flour. It comes plain rather than tossed with XO, keeping the focus on that crust-and-centre texture.

Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice — $4

Glutinous rice is folded into a lotus leaf parcel and steamed, so that unwrapping it releases a gentle fragrance from the leaf into the rice. The couple use fresh leaves rather than tired old ones, which is what lets that scent come through cleanly. Inside, the rice is studded with meat and black mushroom, and the grains stay distinct rather than turning to a single mushy mass.

Century Egg Pork Porridge — $2.50

This congee is cooked down to a velvety, thick consistency and seasoned so it stands on its own without a heap of garnish. Bits of pork and century egg run through it, with fried crackers scattered on top for crunch. It is the most humble item on the menu and also the least expensive, and it rewards a bowl on its own as much as a side to the steamed and fried plates.

Char Siew Bao

The char siew bao carries on the stall’s Hong Kong lineage, a soft, pillowy steamed bun cracked open to reveal a filling of barbecued pork bound in a sweet-savoury sauce. Like everything else here, the buns are steamed as orders come in rather than held warm in a tray, so the dough arrives freshly risen rather than dried out at the edges. It is one of the Cantonese staples the couple carried over from their restaurant years.

For dim sum made to order by a couple with decades of restaurant cooking behind them, Ji Tuo is worth the trip up to the ninth floor. The prices are low, the staples are covered, and the quiet top-floor coffeeshop with its view over the neighbourhood makes for an unhurried breakfast.

2 Bukit Batok Street 24, #09-18 (SkyTech Building), Singapore 659480
Opening Hours: 7.30am – 3.30pm (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat), 9am – 5pm (Sun), Closed Tue & Fri
Tel: +65 8150 8784
Payment: Cash only