Soon Lee Fish Porridge & Seafood Soup stall has been operating under the social media radar - I am not sure why. Perhaps, it's because it's relatively inaccessible by public transport and is located in an industrial park. "Cheap and good" Soon Lee is a well kept secret among taxi drivers and factory workers in Defu Industrial Estate.
Soon Lee Fish Porridge is a stall in the large single storey no frills food centre known simply as Blk 4, Defu Lane 10.
Soon Lee Fish Porridge is the corner stall with the longest queue here.
Soon Lee's menu is very simple. It is just fish soup, with carbs (either rice, rice vermicelli or yi mein 伊面) and toppings (choice of fish slices, fish roe, fish belly, fish nuggets, prawns, or fried fish maw).
The soup was light and had a slight savoury sweetness. The various toppings which were cooked in the soup before serving added their respective flavours to the bowl, muddling or enlivening it, depending on your taste. There was hardly any grease in the soup.
For carbs, I chose rice instead of rice vermicelli (bee hoon) because I like rice's sweetness and softness. I used to like yi mein but not nowadays as it changes the taste profile of the soup too much - I like 清清 light tasting food these days (sign of old age 🤔 😂 ).
I like the tender springy slices of fresh Ikan Batang (Spanish mackerel) fish with skin on. I love it that the slices were thick and broad so that I can taste the fresh fish's natural sweetness with a subtle underlying ocean brininess.
Buddy's fish nugget. He likes it. I didn't taste it 😄
Fried fish maw softened by soaking in water and boiling in soup. Mild savoury flavour on its own and from the soup soaked up in the soft spongy fried fish maw.
Buddy's treat, so I am not sure of the price, but it should be less than S$10 per bowl (2018 price). Soon Lee Fish Porridge is popular partly because it gives good value for money.
Next time, I want to eat their fish roe and fish belly.
Restaurant name: Soon Lee Fish Porridge. Seafood Soup
Address: 4 Defu Lane 10 Singapore 539185
GPS: 1°21'35.3"N 103°53'41.8"E | 1.359791, 103.894950
Hours: 8:00am - 6:00pm (Sunday closed)
Non Halal
I tried many seafood soup, SOON LEE @ Defu Lane is the best. Price reasonable the the batang fish slices very beautifully and is thick, soup is vert tasty but not thirsty after finished-up the whole bowl. Fried fish with batang fish cum prawn is the best. MUST TRY!!!
ReplyDelete