Hong Qin Fish and Duck Porridge – The Best of Three Worlds!

Have you ever seen sliced fish soup and duck porridge being sold at the same place? That is a pretty rare sight, right? Most stalls usually specialise in only an item or two but, interestingly, Hong Qin Fish and Duck Porridge serves THREE different meats — fish, duck, and pork! Hong Qin Fish and Duck Porridge has a long history. It was first opened more than forty years ago by the father of the current owner. They have relocated, but have continued dishing out tasty Teochew fare.

I ordered the signature Sliced Fish Soup, Duck Porridge and Braised Pig Trotters. The bill was slightly under $20 — pretty affordable considering how there were THREE meat dishes!

The sliced fish soup was done in true blue Teochew fashion. Past media clippings reported that pork shank bones are boiled for a minimum of four hours, before fish bones are added. The clear soup contained seaweed, lettuce and firm batang fish slices. Hold a mouthful of soup in your mouth for awhile, and you will be able to detect the subtle, yet distinct, saltiness of dried sole fish. I prefer my sliced fish soup to be sweeter, so the saltier aftertaste of Hong Qin’s sliced fish soup did not really appeal to me. They could have been more generous with the size and portion of the batang though.

I’m accustomed to Cantonese porridge and I expected the duck porridge to be done in a similar fashion. Instead, I received Teochew-style porridge. The ‘porridge’ was made up of steamed rice, and duck broth. I am usually not a fan of Teochew porridge but surprisingly, this bowl of duck porridge was especially homey and comforting. The duck soup tasted just like something my grandma used to make! It was light, sweet, and had the faintest herbal aroma which kicked in only at the end. This is the perfect comfort food! The duck was chunky and flavourful, but the pieces contained a lot of small bones. It was quite a challenge teasing out the meat, which wasn’t much to begin much.

Of the three dishes, the braised pig trotter was the best. You could really “taste” the time and effort that went into the braising of the collagen-rich trotters — the flavour of the ‘lor’ penetrated deep into them. The meat could have been more tender, even though the parts with collagen were super moist and tender. I only wished that there were more trotters! The intensity and richness of the ‘lor’ was telling of the amount of hours that went into simmering the pork stew. Drench a bowl of fluffy steamed rice with the braising gravy, and you’re in for treat.

I visited Hong Qin Fish and Duck Porridge on a public holiday, and noticed that most of the patrons were families. I guess Hong Qin’s homey dishes appeal to both the young and old!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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