I had long wanted to try the popular fish soup stalls Han Kee and Piao Ji at Amoy Hawker Centre. Didn't get to taste them until today because the queues were always sooo.... looong. Finally got the chance today because I was in the area early to visit the historic Thian Hock Keng temple (Telok Ayer Street).
I went straight for Han Kee because the queue is normally the longest. (I wanted to try Piao Ji on another day.)
The order taker (auntie) came to take our orders and collected payment while we were back in the queue. I ordered fish soup and rice, and she said $5.50. As we got to the front of the stall, I saw that there were also $7 and $10 options. I requested to upsize to $7 (since already queued for so long right..?) but auntie snapped "不可以换" i.e. cannot change 😂
So here it is - the $5.50 serving of Han Kee fish soup. I thought it was quite a generous serving.
The clear watery light bodied soup was mildly savoury with a bit of fish sweetness and dotted with bits of savoury fried garlic.
The white slices of Batang fish (Spanish mackerel) were fresh, tender and naturally sweet. I liked it.
After I am done with the Han Kee fish soup, I was only ¾ full.
Just nice lah. I popped over to Piao Ji to top up to full tank 😄 The queue wasn't as long as at Han Kee but today, it seemed to take longer to clear (about 30 minutes).
Like at Han Kee, the much friendlier auntie at Piao Ji came up to the queue to take orders and collect payment. Prices started at $7 for fish soup at Piao Ji, so I ordered that.
The $7 fish soup from Piao Ji (I skipped the rice as this was my second round).
By the time I got my Piao Ji fish soup, it was already 12 noon. Walking around the fully packed hawker centre with my tray of food, I couldn't find any available table.
Several tables were occupied by tissue paper. I had no choice but to sit at one of the "choped" tables and tried to finish my food quickly before the "owner" comes back.
Piao Ji's fish soup was watery light and tasted mildly savoury. There were additional layers of savouriness from fried shallot and also fried pork lard crackling. It was a bit 浊 "chok" compared to the more 清 clean tasting soup at Han Kee.
$7 at Piao Ji gets about the same amount of Batang fish at Han Kee for $5. Piao Ji's fish was sufficiently fresh but tasted slightly more savoury due to the soup.
Oh... I managed to finish my meal and cleared the table before the tissue paper owner returned to his/her "choped" table.
(Though I have never done this before in my 50+ years, if you like to do what Singaporeans do, put a dispensable personal item such as a pack of tissue paper, a business card etc on an available table before going to get your food. That means that you have "choped" the table and have reserved it for yourself.
Table sharing requests are often rejected in Singapore hawker centres, usually with passive aggression and sometimes verbally outright. Other times it is tolerated, and even welcomed 👏👏👏 Shoving is very rare, so it is matter of luck.
Not sure when "choping" got entrenched in Singapore's hawker centre culture. It was not like this during my growing up years, so that is not our heritage 😄 )
👉 Wasn't my intention to do a comparison but since I ate at both Amoy food centre fish soup stalls back to back, why not right...? Truth be told, I feel both are just "ok only". But, since I prefer my fish soup to be cheng cheng (clear and clean tasting), I would opt for Han Kee the next time. This time I shall go for the $7 serving.
Which fish soup stall would you go for? What other stalls would you recommend at Amoy Street Food Centre?
Address: Amoy Street Food Centre @ intersection of Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street, Singapore
GPS: 1°16'46.9"N 103°50'49.1"E 🌐 1.279684, 103.846961
Restaurant name: Han Kee 汉记鱼汤 (stall #02-129)
Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm (Sun off)
Restaurant name: Piao Ji Fish Porridge 標记 (stall #02-100)
Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm (Thurs off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 19 Nov 2018
P.S. I went to Thian Hock Keng temple today to do research for my blog.
👉 Wasn't my intention to do a comparison but since I ate at both Amoy food centre fish soup stalls back to back, why not right...? Truth be told, I feel both are just "ok only". But, since I prefer my fish soup to be cheng cheng (clear and clean tasting), I would opt for Han Kee the next time. This time I shall go for the $7 serving.
Address: Amoy Street Food Centre @ intersection of Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street, Singapore
GPS: 1°16'46.9"N 103°50'49.1"E 🌐 1.279684, 103.846961
Restaurant name: Han Kee 汉记鱼汤 (stall #02-129)
Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm (Sun off)
Restaurant name: Piao Ji Fish Porridge 標记 (stall #02-100)
Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm (Thurs off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 19 Nov 2018
P.S. I went to Thian Hock Keng temple today to do research for my blog.
Written by Tony Boey on 19 Nov 2018
There are plenty of food Nazi types around.
ReplyDeleteI too hate the people who reserve tables with tissue paper. I tell them to eat in the toilet when they come back. None have challenged me. Handphone video taking and a police report can settle any dispute. I am not a Singaporean by the way.
Tony, did you notice the Piao Ji uncle put msg in the soup in plain sight?
ReplyDeleteah.. I missed that.
DeleteHi Tony, where is the best fish soup you have tasted so far ?
ReplyDeleteActually, i went usually go to Piao Ji on weekends and tried their S$10/S$15 fish soup and tried Han Ji on weekdays.
ReplyDeletetbh, if you have really tried fresh fish frequently (i did coz of my heritage)...Piao Ji's fish is really really fresh. To get the same quality of freshness from the market, at around the same price...is quite difficult.
I think u missed out on trying the prawns from Piao Ji...they're much bigger and fresh too. I haven't seen hawker stalls in Singapore offering that quantity of prawns and fresh fish at S$15. If you bring ur gf there, S$15 bowl should be enough for 1.5 pax (ur gf eat 0.5 pax)
Han Ji's one nice for those who prefer simple tasting fish soup. I would buy from there on days when I had fast food for the meal before or after..haha..
IMO, if you are after a good meal, to feel shiok, Piao Ji. If it's to get a "Cleansing" soup, Han Ji...haha..
Great insights! Shall try your suggestions :-D Thanks!
DeleteI feel Han Kee is much better than Piao Kee in terms of price and quality of fish. Han Kee ‘s $5 has more fish than Piao Kee’s $7. Piao Kee served fish with bones not like Han Kee which serves thick slices of deboned fish. So far of many fish soup stalls I tried, Han Kee is the cheapest. Other stalls served you fish soups with few thin slices of fish but with supplements of tofu, tomato slices etc. I have yet encountered any fish stalls offering as many fish as Han Kee at the same price. That is why I still go to Han Kee from time to time inspite of inconvenience to visit there.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think you have taken enough times to make a fair judgement and the fact you ate Han Kee first will also affect your views, I think 😊
ReplyDeleteI eat both of these a few times and I think Piao Ji charge more for a good reason because their fish slices are fresher and they cook each bowl over a wok each time. Also the chilli with ginger is quite special.
Han Kee is really value for money but sometimes the fish slices are seasoned with salt if it’s not fresh. I’ve had enough of it after many rounds and the Aunty is super nasty and will always say no to everything you ask - so I dislike this stall for that. Haha 😆