Mui Kee Congee, Singapore…Is there a sadder sound than the scraping of your spoon on the bottom of a congee bowl?

If I’ve learned one thing from ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ it’s that Goldilocks had the right idea: you’ve got to be picky about your porridge or congee. The good old fashioned, authentic congee I’ve sampled  at Mui Kee is juuuust right. It serves exactly the kind of Chinese food that you would get in the best of Hong Kong restaurants. It’s a tiny place with no room to eat in, but it’s proper street food with a kick.

There is a great selection of parrot fish belly, homemade pork meatballs and threadfin belly. It is incredibly delicious and well made with the ones with the fish belly having a distinct presence of wok hei in the porridge, which we all love.

Is there a sadder sound than the scraping of your spoon on the bottom of a congee bowl? Paws off, baby bear. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…

 

Yin Ji, Singapore…the rice rolls leave you wanting more

Yin Ji is the kind of Chinese restaurant that feels like it’s been around for ever. In fact it originates from Guangzhou in 1958.

The rice roll (chang fen) are the stars of the show at this unpretentious joint on the corner of Far East Square. The signature fresh prawn egg roll is packed with fresh filling, the casing of my plump, sweet prawn number achieved the perfect balance between elasticity and translucency – a rice roll Holy Grail.

Yin Ji is by no means cheap, but it is worth every dollar and more. So, in the name of sanity, go. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…

 

Congee King, Hong Kong….Yummy!!! One word sums it up.

Congee, also known as jook, is nothing more than Chinese hot cereal, a milky rice porridge. More than two dozen versions of MSG-free congee are served here in Congee King, some with additions as exotic as rabbit fish and boiled fish skin, each served steaming.

Fish ain’t my dish. The rich seafood tasting and uniquely textured baby oyster congee is especially good.  The rest of the menu offers excellent Cantonese and Hong Kong dishes, like the delicious, silky smooth and feather-like textured rice roll (chee cheong fun) with simple savoury mixed sauce.

Yummy!!! One word sums it up. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…

Res Porridge House, Melaka…not fancy or complicated, just good.

This place serves a huge variety of cheap and okay porridge along with some decent side dishes as well.

The preserved egg pork porridge is not watery nor too thick.  It was JUST RIGHT. I also ordered the paddy frog porridge. Fondly known as ‘tin gai’ in Cantonese, paddy field frog (or some all it paddy field chicken) is also known as Chinese edible frog or East Asian bullfrog. The delicate meat is very lean, low in cholesterol and high in protein. Texture wise, it is more like chicken, but slightly chewy and flavour is mild, slightly fishy. The fish fillet with ginger is so light and clean-tasting, the fish is allowed to speak for itself. I was also very satisfied with the shrimp omelette. Of all the dishes I ordered, the one which failed to impress was the cuttlefish with satay sauce.

If you’re within the Melaka Raya vicinity and craving good value, simple Chinese food, this is your best bet. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…