Piao Ji Fish Porridge: Long Queue plus Pay More, still people come!

With Amagada, ieatjr and ieatprincess

Sliced Fish Soup $5-$7

With the increased emphasis on a healthier lifestyle, I am making a conscious effort to eat more vegetables and trying to substitute meat with fish instead. That does not mean that I am giving up on lard and beef burgers. But as with all things, moderation is the key. So even though you see a post on something really really unhealthy, you must remember that constitutes maybe 4 meals out of a possible 21 meals a week. That underscores what I mean when I say that one should "Never waste your calories on yukky food". Enjoy your food when it is really good and store up your calorie quota at other times.

Smart has been chastising me about not including this fish soup in my series on Amoy St Food Centre. He prefers this one over Han Kee. And since Amagada loves fish soup, I found myself at Amoy St Food Centre one Sunday for lunch after Church. I thought that being a weekend, I would not have to contend with the office crowd.

Boy was I wrong. There was a queue of like 20 people and the queue was moving very slowly. What to do? Die die must try, so Kwai Kwai must queue.

Forty minutes later we finally got our fish soup.

Well, the soup was not quite up to our very high expectations, but the fish was very fresh and moist. The fact that each bowl was cooked individually means that the old man made sure that the fish was not overcooked but maintained its juices. Good but not nearly as good as I expected it to be. My vote still goes to Han Kee. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Would not mind eating it if it wasn't for the long queue and the fact that the smallest serving was $5. So which one is better in your books? Han Kee or Piao Ji?

Piao Ji Fish Porridge
02-100 Amoy St FC
10.30am to 3pm
Closed on Thurs

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon: The Original XO Fish Soup!

Who in the world would think of putting XO into Fish Soup?

A guy who loves XO, that's who. It turns out that the inventor of the XO Fish Soup was none other than an XO salesman who loved his drinks so much that he added it into Fish Soup. And as it turned out, it worked!

Come to think of it, there is no reason it wouldn't work. If you think of the creamy fish soup like any European cream based sauce, putting a dash of brandy in it actually does make sense.

But as luck would have it, our man Ricky struck gold when he came up with the very first XO fish soup some fourteen years ago and sprouted lots of copy cats ever since. (So he claims) According to Ricky, you can't just simply add the XO into the soup at the end. Firstly, you don't just use any old XO, it must the best grade. Then it has to be added into the soup while it is boiling and allowed to cook for a little while (the timing is a trade secret). The dash of XO just prior to serving is but the garnishing at the end of the cooking process.

This stallowner is the type of person who believes in only using the best and freshest of ingredients. Well, there's really no point in wasting good XO on 2nd rate produce is there? So he brags about how he sources his snakeheads (Loi He) from Malaysia and how he only uses the top grade MSG so that it doesn't cause the bad aftertaste. The result is a tasty fish soup with that extra XO kick! One little word of reservation. It's been a while since I ate here but I could have sworn the soup was a little more tastier in the past. Might be just that day's batch. 4.25/5



The other dish that I always order when I am there is the Har Cheong Kai (Prawn Paste Chicken). It's always freshly fried, crispy on the outside, juicy and fragrant on the inside. Again, the use of good prawn paste and MSG with fresh (not frozen) chicken wings really makes a difference. I love to dip the wings into the fish soup for just a quick soak before biting into the piping hot mid wing. Heavenly! 4.5/5

Conclusion

It is written that

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11

Ricky himself admitted that he knows nuts about cooking, but somehow the addition of XO into fish soup became an instant success story. Really goes to show that a lot of success in life has to do with chance and opportunity doesn't it?

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon
Blk 46, Holland Drive
#01-359
67783691
11.30am to 2pm
5pm to 11pm
Ricky Lau 98331003

Jing Hua Sliced Fish Bee Hoon: Ooommmph!

With Damien and smart


This is simply the most delicious fish soup I have had this year. I had my doubts at first when smart was lining up for the fish soup, but my first taste of it was quite a Holy Grail experience. OK I admit it, even though I have always called myself a Teochew Ah Hia, I think that I prefer the Cantonese Style milky fish soup to the Teochew version. Oops! I think I can hear my ancestors all turning in their graves.

Forget all that hype about XO, if you've got a tasty fish soup, you don't need to hide behind the veil of XO brandy. Plus the best thing is that you don't have to pay a bomb for the fish soup because it comes in individual servings. The only problem with it is the long queue even in off peak periods. But there is a good reason why there is a queue and it is because each bowl of soup is made individually. But take it from me, the queue is worth it especially when it is someone else who doing the queueing (Thanks Uncle Smart). 4.75/5



Conclusion

It's really shiok. This one I am certain that many will agree.

Jing Hua Sliced Fish Bee Hoon Stall
77 Maxwell Road Food Centre
11am to 8.30pm
Thursday Closed

King's Fish Soup: Savvy 21st Century Hawkers

With AlecEe, Kathleen, smart, pk, iwatch_ueat, liverpool and zanzoo


It's interesting to observe how our hawkers are evolving. If you think that the typical hawker is your dialect speaking, internet unsavvy, middle aged Auntie/Uncle, then think again. There is a new generation of young and hip hawkers that will transform the local hawker scene during our lifetimes.

These young hawkerpreneurs don't start with the concept of opening just one stall to sell their food. No, they incorporate a Pte Ltd company with the vision of opening chain stalls. They think about the marketing aspects of their dishes, trying to differentiate on quality, and carving out a niche for themselves by focusing on key competitive advantages.

Now why am I saying all this? Well, its because King's Fish Soup is just one great example of the 21st century hawker. The lady (one of our blog readers) who invited us to her stall turned out to be no hawker mama. She's young, attractive and also happens to hold the title of the Business Development Manager!

The food also reflects modern thinking.

Traditionally, fish soup tends to be Teochew in origin, but these people proudly declare that theirs is Cantonese Fish Soup. According to them, its different because its been boiled longer and they have the addition of the shredded deep fried eggs on top. They also make the big point that there is no MSG added to the soup. Rather then using the cheaper Dory for the fried fish, they use fresh Batang for better flavour.



I found the fried fish very tasty and the deep fried eggs are sinfully good. But redemption for that sin comes from the MSG free soup which was tasty and sweet, although with no MSG, it did lack that extra ooomph. 4/5

Conclusion

MSG free soup and fried Batang fish sets this stall apart from the rest. And of course, you get to order from a Business Development Manager cum Customer Relations Officer!

King's Fish Soup
Blk 6 #02-18 Tanjong Pagar Plaza
Tanjong Pagar Food Centre
Mon-Sat 11am to 7pm
64668187
Disclaimer: We were invited to review this stall by Claire

Mei Xiang Fish Soup: Unusually Un-Cheng Fish Soup

With iwatch_ueat and SCS Butter


What do you look for in a Fish Soup? Some people go for Fish Soup that is very "Cheng" (clear). If you are the "Cheng" type, then you will be very disappointed with this soup. But if you are like me who like a bit of ooomph in the soup, then you would like this one.

The soup here is full of "bits" inside, bit cloudy but really tasty. Not sure if this is due to MSG or not, but it sure hits the spot. We ordered the "Black and White" which costs $6 for a big bowl. You get nice, thickly sliced fish and fried battered fish which is quite yummy (bit on the salty side). 4.5/5

This stall is a bit of a Food Nazi. They don't allow you to take away so if you really want to take it home, you'll have to bring your own box! Also note the weird opening times! However, when I spoke to the owner in the afternoon he seemed quite nice and did not quite appear like a Food Nazi. Maybe you have to get him when he is really busy!

Conclusion

Very shiok fish soup but not for those who like their fish soup to be "Cheng".

Mei Xiang Fish Soup
Stall 44
Jalan Berseh Food Centre
10.12am to 3.16pm
Closed Sat, Sun and Pub Hols

Yong Lai Fa Ji: Sliced Fish Head Soup!

With iwatch_ueat and smart

Fish Soup $3

Smart tells me that he visits this particular fish soup at least twice a month although he would not say it is the best in Singapore. It has the combination of being "one of the best" and being "close to home". So as a result, he was willing to sacrifice a bit of ooomph for convenience.

Macpherson estate is one of the oldest parts of Singapore, so the food here is still pretty cheap. The food centre is still very much in its original condition, so I suspect that the "Gow'ment" will probably be renovating it soon. Being such an old place, there were lots of stalls that looked like they served really good stuff that was still not too "sanitized". You know what I mean right? Somehow food that is too clean does not taste as robust as food that may have an element of risk in it. Now, I am not advocating that we should all throw caution to the wind. Just merely stating an observation. Lots of people would agree that the food in JB is much tastier than Singapore and that the best Hawker foods are often found in rustic places rather then spotless spots.

The soup here is indeed very good. The fish is fresh and they are quite generous with the amount of fish. I especially liked the Ti Poh (Fried Sole Fish) which was very "Pang" (Savoury). They make everything themselves here including the Ti Poh and the Ikan Bilis (Fried Anchovies) and the soup is made from boiling fish bones and chicken for at least 8 hours. They also add bittergourd in the soup. Tasty and at the same time good for your cholesterol levels! 4.25/5


Fish Head Noodles $4

I am not one for Fish Head, but smart is. This Fish Head noodle soup is his fortnightly "must eat" dish. The interesting thing about it is that they use the dried egg noodles to cook the dish. These noodles have a unique texture and tastes quite savoury. They are also very generous with the chunks of Batang Fish Head and the soup is sweeter than the normal sliced fish soup. Smart rates it a 4.5/5.

Conclusion

Very good sliced fish soup and real value for money. My only complain is that they only give one or two pieces of the excellent Ti Poh!

Yong Lai Fa Ji Cooked Food
Macpherson Food Centre
79A Circuit Road
5am to 9pm
Closed Sun and Pub Hol

Jason's Fish Soup: Fish Skin anyone?

With iwatch_ueat and gubak


This is another one of those food blogs to make Westerners cringe. (Not all, of course) As is widely known, we Chinese eat anything that has legs and have their backs facing heaven. (Where does that leave snakes and monkeys?) Not only that, we eat almost every part of the animal. That's cos in poverty stricken China, its not every day that you get to kill the prized pig. So don't waste all those lovely innards yah?

Anyway, this blog is not about pigs, it is about fish. But what makes this fish soup special is that they serve fish skin as one of their specialties. Yes, I see you cringing. We both brother/sister, we both.

Me, I'm no fish skin person. But as I say, if other people like it, I am willing to at least give it a try. I was brought up thinking that the skin of the fish is the part that makes it Chor (gives it its fishy odour). I actually grew up not liking fish much because of the fishy odour. So it was already an achievement for me to start eating fish, much less eating the most fishy part of the fish!


Fish skin or Snake skin?

Truth be known , the skin actually tastes alright. It did not have that fishy odour that I was worried about. The texture was like soft pasta and was a bit slimy on the inside. Tastewise, I can't really describe. I guess it tasted like fish. The soup was good and Jason spikes his soup with a generous dash of Hua Tiao Chiu (Chinese Rice Wine) which gave it quite a kick. I arrived too late that day, so the fresh fish was sold out, but I was told by gubak that the fish is usually very fresh and the quantity generous. 4/5

Conclusion

I don't think I will specifically order the fish skin again, but the soup and the fried fish was pretty good and at $3 a bowl, I'd say its quite good value too.

Jason's Fish Soup
Golden Shoe Carpark
#03-25
10am to 3pm

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