Seafood Pirates – MSG-Free Seafood Soup for the Ultimate Indulgence!

We love seeing the younger generation start up hawker businesses. For Darren Teo, 27, and Leonard Chen, 33, cooking has always been a hobby for them.

The duo met when they were in national service, where Darren was Leonard’s subordinate. They shared that they clicked very well and ever since, have remained in contact. Fast forward a few years later, the duo decided to venture into the food and beverage scene, and Seafood Pirates was conceived.

The name ‘Seafood Pirates’ was inspired by the character, Kunkka, in the game Defence Of The Ancients 2, or DOTA 2 for short. He is an admiral that dresses like a pirate. In the game, Kunkka controls water and is linked to the sea and oceans. Since the stall specialises in seafood, they decided to take up the name ‘Seafood Pirates’, in tribute to Kunkka’s water-based skills.

We ordered the Pirate’s Signature ($6.80) and a bowl of Oyster Omelette Rice ($1.50 if purchased with a soup, $3 for ala carte).

The seafood soup came packed with ingredients. For the price of $6.80, the soup had prawns, fish, clams, oysters, and even fish maw, something that is not commonly served in a hawker setting. The duo shared that their supply of fresh seafood arrives every morning.

The broth is very different from the usual seafood soup broth you get elsewhere. It is lighter, thinner and most importantly, sans MSG.

“We wanted something that people could eat daily. The seafood soups elsewhere are usually very heavy and laden with MSG. It gets very jelak,” Darren shared.

The duo uses wholesome ingredients to make the base of the broth – fish bones, chicken bones, prawns and even crabs, add to the natural sweetness of the stock.

When an order comes, the broth, which has been boiled for over four hours, is then scooped out into serving portions, and boiled with the fresh seafood which enhances the flavours of the soup even further. The result is a very light, and flavourful soup that is very palatable. 

For a zesty twist, have the seafood with the homemade tau-cheo chilli sauce, which elevated the natural umami from the seafood and gave it a nice tart contrast.

We really enjoyed the oyster omelette rice, which came with three plump and juicy oysters. After being plated on a bed of rice, the omelette is doused with a hearty serving of kecap manis, which gives a sweet kick to the savoury omelette.

We also had a plate of Spicy Golden Clams ($8) to share. Although it lacked the strong wok hei that we were looking for, the fresh clams were sweet and savoury, with a good kick from the chilli flakes added.

The basis for cooking a great seafood dish is to ensure that the seafood used is fresh. Without fresh seafood, there won’t be any natural sweetness that distinguishes a great seafood soup from a mediocre one. It is heartening to know that fresh seafood is used at Seafood Pirates, despite the extra cost of procuring it.

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