Back in the days before food delivery and 24-hour fast food joints, Teochew porridge stalls were the go-to spots for affordable late-night suppers that wouldn’t sit too heavily in the stomach.
Shift workers, businessmen and taxi drivers would crowd into their favourite joints, sitting elbow to elbow as they supped on belly-warming muay — porridge the Teochew way, with a watery consistency and whole, intact rice grains — paired with staples like steamed fish, braised meats, fish cake, salted vegetables and tofu skin, all cooked, displayed and replenished throughout the day until the wee hours of the morning.
It is a humble but demanding culinary art that, like so many other Singapore food traditions, might see a sunset soon thanks to ever-rising labour costs, shifting tastes and the retirement of ageing hawkers.
Ah Seah Teochew Porridge in Hougang and Maxwell Food Centre’s Teochew Rice & Porridge are among the longstanding stalls that’ve closed their doors in recent years.
While you’ve still got the chance, here are seven affordable Teochew porridge stalls worth travelling down to, whether you’re looking for a late-night snack or really, any other meal of the day.
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1. Ann Hoo Teochew Porridge
Tucked away in the heartlands of Ang Mo Kio’s Cheng San Market & Cooked Food Centre is Ann Hoo Teochew Porridge. The food there is reliably good and always affordable, with prices for a family of four rarely crossing the $25 mark even after an order of steamed fish, Teochew meat balls, homemade fish cake, braised pork belly and chye poh omelette.
Seating at the hawker centre is free and easy (it’s usually busy only in the mornings), and they’ll even deliver your haul to your table for you. Just be prepared for about a 20-minute wait if you pop by in the evening.
Ann Hoo Teochew Porridge
Location: Cheng San Market & Cooked Food Centre, 527 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, #01-126/127, Singapore 560527
Opening Hours: Tues – Sun, 11am – 9pm
Tel: N/A
Website: N/A
2. Tian Tian Fatt Rice & Porridge
Tian Tian Fatt Rice and Porridge is another popular Teochew porridge joint situated within a hawker centre. Just follow the long queue snaking between the rows of seats at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Market & Hawker Centre, and you’ll be duly rewarded with side dish staples like black bean with minced pork, stewed tofu skin, braised pork and stir-fried lala.
Given the ageing residents in the area, these are priced rather affordably, beginning from a dollar or two per dish.
Tian Tian Fatt Rice & Porridge
Location: Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Market & Hawker Centre, 210 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, #01-14, Singapore 310210
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat, 1pm – 11pm (open one hour earlier on Mon)
Tel: N/A
Website: N/A
3. Zai Shun Curry Fish Head (yes, they sell Teochew porridge too!)
When the time to splurge arrives, consider Zai Shun Curry Fish Head for its mix of an affordable Teochew porridge spread and pricier zi char-style dishes for sharing, including its eponymous signature of curry fish head.
The Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient also does steamed fish to order, though those will quickly blow your budget from less than $10 per head to more than double that, depending on the species of fish you’re getting.
Stick to the basics like minced meat with salted egg or bitter gourd fried with egg, and splash on a few extras like the fork-tender braised Dongpo pork belly, but rein it in otherwise — you’ll have plenty of time to consider the menu while braving its winding queue.
Zai Shun Curry Fish Head
Location: 253 Jurong East Street 24, #01-205, Singapore 600253
Opening Hours: Thur – Tue, 7am – 3pm
Tel: +65 6560 8594
Website: N/A
4. Ye Lai Xiang Teochew Porridge
Ye Lai Xiang Teochew Porridge is open daily until 4am, making it a popular late-night destination for taxi drivers looking for a mid-shift pick-me-up. It might just be a smart tactical move on their end, since the early morning wait probably pales in comparison to the snaking queue that you’ll find most evenings at the crowded Bukit Merah coffee shop.
When you do manage to squeeze to the front though, you’ll be confronted with a massive array of cooked dishes including braised duck, a few varieties of steamed fish, salted vegetables and braised tofu skin.
Our only gripe is that there is no visible price list, which means you only really know how much you’re paying if you hold up the queue to ask (though prices are generally affordable, unless you load up on premium stuff like steamed squid and white pomfret).
Ye Lai Xiang Teochew Porridge
Location: 116 Bukit Merah View, #01-217, Singapore 151116
Opening Hours: Daily, 10am – 4am
Tel: N/A
Website: N/A
5. Heng Long Teochew Porridge
Though those living in the northeast are probably already familiar with Heng Long Teochew Porridge, the institution made national headlines several years ago when four customers wrecked its Upper Serangoon flagship over what they felt was a pricy bill ($28 for four, including pomfret, porridge and a few other dishes).
While we do admit Heng Long’s prices run a bit steeper compared to cheaper alternatives in hawker centres (about $4 per meat item), its gleaming display of over 60 dishes nonetheless come with a clear price tag overhead, meaning you most likely won’t be caught flat-footed.
We dig the tender, savoury braised pork and hard-to-find stir-fried shark with fermented black beans, along with the convenience of its multiple late-night outlets along North Bridge Road, Upper Thomson and more.
Heng Long Teochew Porridge
Location: Various
Opening Hours: Various
Tel: +65 6844 3545
Website: https://www.facebook.com/HengLongTeochewPorridge/
6. Kheng Nam Lee Teochew Porridge (aka Lim Joo Hin Eating House)
For satisfying and decently affordable Teochew porridge in air-conditioned comfort, turn to Kheng Nam Lee Teochew Porridge, a stalwart with about 40 years of history.
Also known among its fans as Lim Joo Hin Eating House or simply Havelock porridge, the Teochew porridge joint is best known for its well-executed classics along with harder-to-get dishes like Teochew cockles smothered in a dark spicy sauce paired with candied peanuts and pig trotter jelly. It’s open early at 9am, all the way into the early morning with a closing time of 2am.
Kheng Nam Lee Teochew Porridge
Location: 715 Havelock Road, Singapore 169643
Opening Hours: Daily, 9am – 2am
Tel: +65 6272 9871
Website: https://www.facebook.com/p/Kheng-Nam-Lee-Teochew-Porridge-100071946732827/
7. White House Teochew Porridge
The story behind White House Teochew Porridge goes like this: Its original owner Peh Li Soon once ran the popular Soon Soon Teochew Porridge, before selling the business off to retire.
However, his retirement didn’t quite take, so he waded back into Teochew porridge with White House, which he now runs with his 29-year-old son Darryl. It’s a rare story among Singapore’s Teochew porridge pioneers, which is why the joint deserves some support.
Signatures include homely classics like steamed fish, braised pork belly and chye poh omelette, which you can enjoy in their breezy corner lot shophouse along Serangoon Road.
White House Teochew Porridge
Location: 1096 Serangoon Road, Singapore 328193
Opening Hours: Daily, 11am – 11pm
Tel: N/A
Website: https://www.teochewmuay.com/
