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Black Vinegar Pork & Fish Head Yam Soup. Onn Kee Jaya. Tampoi ⭐⭐⭐⭐✱

Black-Vinegar-Pork-Fish-Head-Yam-Soup-Onn-Kee-Jaya-Tampoi

JK reader, anak Johor Lena said I should try the 猪脚醋 pork cooked in black vinegar at Onn Kee Jaya in Tampoi. I've been to Onn Kee before a couple of times and liked their fish head in yam soup. They are also famed for their steamed fish. But, I have not tried their black vinegar pork so far.

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Onn Kee Jaya is a humble little eatery, simply furnished, and popular with locals especially families, for their homely dishes. No frills, just fresh quality ingredients and well executed familiar comfort dishes at reasonable prices.


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I am very familiar with the black vinegar pork dish - it's a confinement month dish among the Chinese. When I was a toddler living in the (long demolished) three storey Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) flats in Mattar Road, the aroma of black vinegar pork lingered in the air along the corridors all the time. So was the smell of newborns. Those were the pre-HDB and pre-Stop at Two Campaign days of pre-independence Singapore.

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The black vinegar pork was exactly as Lena said it is. The pork was tender and juicy. I really like the feel of those thick tender chunks of juicy meat, fat and skin in the mouth. Black vinegar laced the heavy bodied stock which has a well balanced sweet-tangy taste. (Sometimes, black vinegar pork has a sharp sour taste but not this at Onn Kee Jaya - I would describe it as perfectly balanced, and was mild enough for me to taste the pork's natural sweetness.).

I love this black vinegar pork - thank you Lena for your recommendation.

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I can't come to Onn Kee Jaya and not have their fish head in yam soup 😂

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I like it that Onn Kee Jaya's fish head yam soup is made with plenty of fresh yam.

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The medium body and milky colour of the broth came from fish stock and melted yam - not from evaporated milk.

This broth is nice - it has layers of mild natural sweetness from the fresh fish head, yam, cabbage etc. An underlying savouriness balances and holds the flavours together.

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The fish head cut into large chunks is boney, so be careful. The meat is tender, juicy and sweet. It is just marvellous 😋

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4-Star (out of 5). A small party 4 or 5 sharing Restoran Onn Kee Jaya's steamed fish, fish head yam soup, and black vinegar pork would be my idea of a simply perfect casual Malaysian style lunch or dinner 😄

You may also add a Pork Belly with Salted Fish in Claypot 咸鱼花腩煲 which I heard is very good but haven't tried so far.

Our mutual friend Viviene treated us to this lunch 😄

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Restaurant name: Restoran Onn Kee Jaya 安记砂煲鱼头汤 
Address: 76, Jalan Dato Mohammed Seth, Tampoi, Johor Bahru  
Map: http://g.co/maps/9w3he  
GPS: 1°29'52.3"N 103°42'06.6"E | 1.497854, 103.701839 
Hours: 11:00am to 9:00pm (Weds off)  

Non Halal



Date visited: 31 Jan 2012, 30 Sept 2016, 2 Jul 2017

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