WuXiang's fried chicken (Photo by RUDY LIWANAG)

In the past, as a new employee of the former Far East Bank in Intramuros, I frequently had the chance for adventurous lunches and mastering the value-for-money places in Chinatown. Having only a few hundred pesos as a monthly salary, everyone in that area had their own list of good places to eat that was not heavy on the pocket.

Sincerity, located along Yuchengco Street, was one of those places. It was a kitchenette run by sisters that served Chinese home cooking. Anyway, one always went to Sincerity for their kiampong (glutinous soy rice with peanuts), oyster cake with radish pickles, kikiam and some home dishes such as sautéed liver or kidney and of course, their fried chicken. The only move to expand I remember was a renovation where one had to pass the bathroom to get to the annex dining room.

Being a resident of San Juan, I espied a place called WuXiang House of Chicken hidden along Ibañez St. only to realize that this was a satellite of the original Sincerity Café. The same Sincerity formula of clean, Spartan tables and chairs on the first floor was immediately detected and we were all set to try their classic dishes.

The fried chicken came out hot crisp, garlicky and with a fragrant hint of wood and seed spices. It took me back to my polo barong days, its final hint of controlled sweetness and fragrance never really did leave my taste memory.

The oyster cake had the right amount of chewy starch and is one style that is liked by those who prefer their oysters more done. We had this with the radish pickles that were lightly tart and sweet. Unfortunately, this arrived without the fresh cilantro that seemed to be missed.

The ansio liver and pork kidney had a dark sweet sour glaze with sweet onions, pepper and leeks. Both had very clean flavors. The kidney was particularly well prepared and as surprisingly tender as the liver with no ammonia odors. Our kikiam was a delightful balance of a mix of flavors and had a smooth meat mousse between pieces of cured meat on crisp bean curd skin.

The eight-treasure machang, which at P 100 is stuffed with eight top-of-the-line ingredients such as sausage, pork and chestnut, among others, went well with squirts of chili sauce. Their kiampong rice had also remained unchanged and is a worthy accompaniment to their braised dishes.

Finally, their fresh lumpia had great textures from the bulk of crisp noodles sprinkled with hotee (river moss) and mixed vegetables. It was a particularly sweet style with pleasantly toasted peanuts. We felt no need for their sweet dark sauce that accompanies this huge vegetable roll.

It’s great that another hidden gem with simple but well executed classics have come to this side of San Juan. I’d probably be back to try the tonic soups they have on the menu. I wonder if these would really have the efficacy that my Chinese friends claim…

WuXiang House of Chicken is located at 213-A Ibanez Street corner J. Abad Santos, Little Baguio, San Juan City.