Zhu Jiao Shu Shi – Affordable Old-School Breakfast That’s Lighter in Flavours

Going past Tekka Centre always ignites my cravings for masala tea, but today’s mission involved more than a cup of tea. I happened across an online post raving about Zhu Jiao Shu Shi’s glutinous rice, so of course I had to make a trip to see for myself what’s so good about it and if it fares against the greats like Chinatown Complex’s Millennium Glutinous Rice. 

The stall is run by a humble elderly couple with an equally humble menu of white bee hoon ($1.70), fried bee hoon ($1.20), chee cheong fun ($1), glutinous rice ($1.50), peanut porridge ($1), and liao (ingredients) such as luncheon meat, fishcakes and fried egg for the bee hoon dishes. And while it’s not stated on the menu, you can choose to mix your bee hoon with kway teow as well. 

As I was patiently waiting to place my order, I was a little worried that the glutinous rice would be all out by the time I get to the front of the line as the uncle was packing away scoop after scoop of the sticky rice for the lady in front of me. Thank goodness I was able to snag one of the last few servings! As I expressed my relief, he even told me that he has a regular customer who travels down for ten packets of glutinous rice every Friday. 

The uncle shared that he makes the glutinous rice by hand so I was really looking forward to sampling this dish that is quickly becoming scarce in the hawker scene. The rice was pleasantly sticky without clumping together. It wasn’t as savoury as I would have liked and was fairly mild in taste even with the sprinkling of shallots and boiled peanuts. 

The side of sweet-spicy sambal chilli did improve its taste by a bit, though. 

I had also seen some praise for the fried bee hoon online so I decided to give it a go as well. There wasn’t any vegetables left so I opted for a slice of luncheon meat and a ngoh hiang roll. 

Like the glutinous rice, the bee hoon was very much on the lighter side in terms of flavours, but the portion sure was generous. The same sambal chilli also did aid in boosting the taste of the bee hoon.

The luncheon meat added some saltiness to the otherwise bland bee hoon. As for the ngoh hiang, it was very old-school and tasted just like the ones my grandmother would make.

Judging by the number of elderly folks who frequent the stall, I reckon that the taste of the dishes were adjusted to suit their palates. If you favour traditional breakfast dishes with milder flavour profiles, check them out!

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

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