Belly Comforting

Taking over the stall that was previously occupied by Western Barbeque, Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu offers an affordably priced range of soondubu jjigae as compared to SBCD. There werepork, seafood, vegetables soon tofu set.

The silky tofu here is made using Korean premium soybean while the broth contains 10 ingredients that contribute to a robust flavour. That probably explained why it was so easy to slurp up the silky tofu and getting addicted to the stew. While I appreciate that the amount of ingredients in the small bowl of tofu chew and the fact that the pork slices were rather tender, I found it difficult to justify for the price of $7 given the tiny bowl of stew. Nevertheless, it is still one of my to-go choices on a rainy day.

Comes with rice, a packet of seaweed and a small portion of kimchi.

Rainy weather calls for a hot piping bowl of comforting kidney/liver/lean meat mee sua at Seng Kee! Need no introduction, you could see someone slurping up a bowl at almost every other table in the hawker centre. For someone who doesn’t like mee sua, I found the mee sua flour taste here more receptive and its texture about right, not overly gooey. Innards lovers will surely enjoy this, as the innards are pretty well cooked, not over till rubbery or powdery. The herbal soup came as a surprise for I was expecting something more soupy but the consistency was a little thicker. A touch of sesame oil lifted the overall aroma of this homely bowl of mixed innards mee sua.

This aromatic coconut milky laksa broth is the perfect rescue to a rainy day! While it might look ordinary with the usual ingredients like fish cake, hard boiled egg, beansprouts, tau pok which I simply love soaking in the broth, the addition of shredded steamed hainanese chicken calls for a difference. The shredded slices were not dry like chicken breast, instead tender and of substantial thickness. Read that a laksa can only be defined as Hainanese style with the addition of steamed Hainanese chicken. What was also special in this bowl was the crispy pork skin, my first time trying in a bowl of laksa. I usually don’t prefer eating pork skin as it can come across oily, fatty and sometimes rancid, but the ones here were served crispy and fragrant, or so I thought as they soaked up the laksa broth.

Not only pao fan being one of the hottest culinary trends these days, ex-hotel chefs turn hawkers seems like a rising trend too! Helmed by ex-Wah Lok’s Chef Mun, Mun’s seafood pao fan serves one of the pao fans with lighter taste around. Not that it’s bland, but you wouldn’t find a pao fan rich in umami here either. And that’s because of the ingredients simmering in the soup broth; pork bones and carrots, homely yet excellent choice for the bright orange appearance.

At $7.50, you’d find lala, snakehead fish slices, 2 prawns and a half-shell scallop. Prawns were really succulent and the scallop was juicy, and a sprinkle of crispy rice pops that also contributed to a fragrant fried aroma. Gotta say this is one of those broths that I would keep craving for and wouldn’t leave me thirsty even after finishing every single drop.

For hearty affordable noodle soup bowls on a rainy day, I will probably think of TamJai Sam Gor now! I was definitely spoilt for choice when it comes to customisation of the mixian as they had a wide variety of toppings and soup broths, even down to the spicy level. Just the soup selection was enough to leave me in dilemma for a while. Fortunately they had the Guo Qiao option, which essentially, is the gist of everything here at TamJai SamGor where you get a mixture of pork, beef, chicken, fishball, cuttlefish ball, vegetables, beancurd etc. Of course, you can inform them to exclude toppings that you don’t wish to have. I enjoyed the mixian here for its al dente texture.

We opted for the fragrant clear soup, which was no less tasty than the rest, as it was quite umami and really milky. The portion was a surprise to us since 2 of us were sharing 1 guo qiao mixian. Seemed like the mixian was never ending no matter how much we ate. It just means one thing; value for money! Will be back to try the other soup broths when dine in is possible again.

Expect a bowl of prawn noodle soup brimming with a rich crustacean umami flavour but what’s really delightful was the perfection of umami without addition of sugar and MSG. That, to me, is a whole new level of utilising ingredients in its purest form.

Using Wild-caught gamba listada, blue swimming crab and dried sakura shrimp that are firstly fried in grapeseed oil, then blended as a whole and left to simmer with the pork stock for 7 hours, giving rise to such a robust soup stock. Served with 3 pieces of salt- grilled, wild-caught green tiger prawns and a slice of flame-seared Salmon Creek Farms Natural Pork which was really tender. Choose between Japanese somen or vermicelli (bee hoon), or a mix of both. Also given a set of condiments that comprises chili oil, fried lard and sambal chili.

You would realise that the dishes here are at The Naked Finn are premiumly priced although they seem to be the usual hawker fare. But if you have also read about how founder Chef Ken Loon is so passionate about sourcing the world’s best quality seafood, and give it a try yourself, I am sure you will find every cent worthwhile.

Just like what goes into this bowl of Teochew-style fish soup; line-caught blue cod from New Zealand, known to be the most environmentally sensitive fishing method as the fishes are brought to the surface alive, which means extreme freshness. What was mind-blowing was the rich milky fish stock, that appeared as though milk has been added. But guess what, the richness is a painstaking result of five-hour brewing. Imagine the sweetness in there, that’s also finished with tomato, Chinese cabbage, tofu and deep-fried yam chunks. Served with rice on the side but you could always throw some in to make it a pao fan.

There’s no reason now to not try @xinyuanji.fishheadsteamboat which has now taken over the space of the defunct FarmAppetit that’s just across the street, for its 2nd outlet. Famously known for their fish soup and long queues at the Tan Quee Lan street’s main outlet. Brought the folks who are fish head steamboat fans, but the fish head steamboat was unfortunately still unavailable due to the shortage in manpower.

The folks gave their approval for the fish head beehoon soup instead as the freshness was undeniably evident. I chose the mixed fish to find out how good they really are. Priced slightly higher, there were 4 thick chunks (I wouldn’t call them merely slices) of fresh fish and fried fish each, tender yet firm. With milk added, the broth was brimming with extra sweetness although slightly salty. Belly comforting during this monsoon season!

CBD friends, are you missing Arcade Fish Soup already? It’s been 3 years since I last had it but I have always remembered it as one of the nicest fish soups around.

A hearty bowl comes with fresh mackerel slices of considerable size. Even for the fried fish version, I was delighted to find that instead of being soggy, the batter soaks up the broth pretty well while infusing its savoriness into the broth. That being said, you get robust fish meat wrapped within. Not only are there vegetables and tomato, they also include Sichuan pickles and egg tofu. White rice, brown rice and Beehoon are separately packed. Don’t forget the crispy fried garlic, that elevates the milky broth with its punchy flavor. If you are adventurous enough, try the zesty chili with a sour-spicy zing, bound to be a bomb.

Islandwide delivery at a flat fee of $8 going directly to the drivers. No minimum order. Check out their Facebook page daily for more information on ordering.

#savefnbsg #loveyourlocalsg

On rainy days like these, don’t you just wish for a bowl of heartwarming noodles? This hearty bowl of curry seafood roasted pork noodles by @yapsnoodles came with an assortment of seafood such as prawns and clams, taupok (bean curd puffs), as well as siobak (roasted pork).

Expect an aromatic rempah-filled rich broth, and somewhat creamy, instead of a lemak one. However, possibly due to the creaminess, it was a little hard to fully soak up the taupok strips. Nevertheless, I liked that I got a combination of seafood and meat, especially when the siobak retained its crispiness of the skin even when it was dunked in the broth. Generous with their ingredients, pretty much a brilliant bowl. You can also request to change noodles to kway teow like we did.

If you are seeking for a bowl of comfort in a shopping mall, head over to @ahchiangporridge located at Basement 2 of @jemsingapore. The seemingly endless queue despite the limited seating area does say something about its popularity.

In a hearty bowl of mixed pork porridge, you can find offal such as pig’s liver, sliced pork and a piece of the large intestine. Perfect for offal lovers like myself. I must say they handled it pretty well, appropriate chewiness without any animalic smell. Supposedly cooked over charcoal, the porridge ranged between smooth and silky, though still less creamy than a Cantonese-style porridge but not grainy like a Teochew-style porridge. Served with drizzled soy sauce, spring onion and ginger slices.

A popular side dish was their handmade prawn rolls. Slightly small in size with prawn chunks, but not to personal liking because of the heavy dose of spice powder.

The limelight at 787 Choa Chu Kang S-11 has always been on Feng Zhen Lor Mee, but this Xing Hua noodles from A Yan Fishball Mee truly deserves to be mentioned. Again another undiscovered gem that made me overjoy. No fanciful ingredients apart from egg, cabbage, minced pork, fishcake and shiitake mushroom. The umami pork broth, especially as the noodles and ingredients get soaked in, was belly comforting and imparted a slight smokiness from the wok hei. Slurped every bit despite the substantial portion. There’s also an option of bee tai bak for this homely dish, or a dry bee hoon version that has lesser variety of ingredients. Packs extra punch but don’t underestimate its spiciness, that’s all I would say of the chili.