Soon Soon Teochew Porridge – Comfort Food for Rainy Days

I’m not sure about you, but for me, there’s something extremely comforting about Teochew porridge, especially on a rainy day. My go-to place is Soon Soon Teochew Porridge as it’s conveniently located near my home.

I love it when I get there at just the right time, and they’ve just finished cooking a fresh pot of porridge. While Teochew porridge may not win in the aesthetics department, it dazzles in the taste department for sure! This is definitely one of those meals that are ugly but delicious.

We ordered a total of eight dishes, and four bowls of porridge for $31 — an extremely reasonable amount if you ask me! The ginger chicken and fried batang fish are popular but are also more expensive. There is just a hint of ginger in the ginger chicken for those who do not enjoy the taste, so don’t worry! The fish is always beautifully crispy and definitely one of my favourite things here. We also got the heibihiam (dried spicy shrimp), a dish not seen at every Teochew porridge store. It was fragrant with a slight spicy kick, and went very well with the porridge.

Being a tofu fanatic, I must always have the tau pok and tau kwa (braised beancurd) with my porridge.  While some tau kwa might be too hard for my liking, Soon Soon’s beancurd is usually soft, while retaining the firmness associated with this particular tofu. Drizzle some of the braising sauce onto your porridge and you have a winner. Since the beancurd tends to be on the saltier side, it goes perfectly well with a mouthful of piping hot porridge.

I’ve always loved their minced pork but, unfortunately, on our last visit, it had a strong pork taste which I didn’t like. Normally we head there for dinner, when there’s the full layout of dishes, more customers, and a faster turnover. This time, however, we went there in the morning so it might have something to do with that. If you’re headed there, I’ll recommend going in the evening to avoid being disappointed!

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