Soon Lee Porridge – Warm Bowls of Comforting Hainanese Porridge in 448 Clementi!

Whenever you’re feeling under the weather, the first food you would think of eating would be noodle soup, or a nice bowl of porridge. One of the stalls in Clementi that everyone recommends is Soon Lee Porridge. This 79-year-old stall has been selling authentic Hainanese porridge in Clementi since 1980. They moved here from their first location in Bukit Timah.

The 3rd-gen owner (on the left) has been learning the craft since he was 9, but officially started working at the stall when he was 20.

Every morning, his father makes a huge pot of plain porridge which they will then make individual portions from. It takes up to one and a half hours to make the porridge. The recipe of the ingredients such as the minced pork, pork balls, and porridge have not changed much since his grandfather’s time. However, some tweaks have been made to cater to the tastebuds of consumers.

Upon receiving each order, they will scoop a portion of plain porridge, and a spoonful of secret sauce into a small pot, before adding the rest of the ingredients.

We got the Pork Porridge, Chicken Porridge, and Fish Porridge. Every bowl is ($3), and you can add $0.30 for an egg.

What sets Hainanese porridge apart from other types of porridges, is that the porridge is thick, but you can still see the broken rice grains. It’s made by using a mixture of old rice and new rice.

The pork porridge comes with pork slices, pork balls, and pork liver. The pork balls were absolutely delicious. They were savoury and meaty. They taste like sausages, but without the casing. It was a comforting bowl of porridge. I can see why this is their signature.

Each bowl is topped with salted vegetables, spring onion, and fried shallot oil. You can also add as much white pepper and soy sauce as you want.

If you add an egg into your porridge like we did, don’t stir the porridge too much as it will get watery. Just stir a few times, then scoop the porridge from the top and work your way down. That way, the surface of the porridge, which is cooler, would be easier to eat.

The chicken porridge was delicious too but the chicken itself didn’t leave much of an impression like the pork did.

The fish porridge comes with fresh slices of batang fish. It came a close second to the pork porridge in my opinion. Taste is subjective, of course, so feel free to try them and tell us what you think.

We tried a bowl of porridge without the egg, and I must say that it had more flavour. Maybe the egg yolk mellows out the flavour of the meat, or it makes the porridge more watery. Nevertheless, Soon Lee Porridge makes a really good, hearty bowl of porridge, and you should definitely give it a try one day.

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

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You may also wish to check out Weng Kiang Kee Porridge at Chinatown Complex Food Centre where its porridge are made with premium rice grains!