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What Does Moray Eels Taste Like?

How Does Moray Eels Taste Like? 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

I was still in KL when Uncle Bob invited us to join him to taste Moray Eel at Johnny's restaurant 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT Singapore. Thanks to Johnny and Uncle Bob, I had a chance to taste it when I returned to Singapore today.


Johnny Tan runs 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT with his daughter 小珍. Being in the seafood trade for over 40 years, Johnny occasionally receives exotic fishes from his suppliers. A few days ago, a 6-foot Moray Eel landed at his shop.



Moray Eels are large, ferocious predator fish that live among corals in tropical as well as sub-tropical seas. The Moray Eel we had today was caught off Sabah in East Malaysia.

How Does Moray Eels Taste Like? 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

As supply is on opportunity basis, Johnny doesn't have exotic fish on SZ Kitchen's menu. He just serves it to his friends on goodwill basis. I got a chance to taste Moray Eel through Uncle Bob's friendship with Johnny 😄

How Does Moray Eels Taste Like? 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

Johnny serves the Moray Eel as a fish soup.

How Does Moray Eels Taste Like? 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

The whitish colour, medium body, cloudy soup was made by slow boiling bones, scales and fins cut from the moray eel.

The smooth soup tastes gently, well balanced savoury sweet of the fresh fish kind. There was a subtle underlying Chinese rice wine 绍兴酒 taste and aroma. Minced pork added another layer of gentle savoury sweetness from fresh pork in the soup.

It was delicious.

How Does Moray Eels Taste Like? 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

First looks, moray eel meat looked like crocodile meat - white meat with a thick layer of grayish skin. I was a little surprised by the thickness of the skin.

The white meat was tender with a light firm spring and was juicy inside. It tasted of sweet briny savouriness leaning more on fresh fish sweetness - nice.

The supple gelatinous skin was as thick as crocodile skin but softer and smoother, more jelly like. While crocodile skin has little taste, moray eel skin has a slight sweetish flavour (which made it nicer).

In sum, moray eel is a tasty fish to eat.

小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

Johnny runs 小珍 SZ Kitchen with his daughter 小珍. The little eatery is conveniently located inside Fairprice Hub, right next to Joo Koon MRT station.

小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

SZ Kitchen serves a wide range of rice, noodle, Western, and soup dishes at competitive prices. Opened just a month ago, it is gaining popularity quickly with local residents and workers working nearby.

小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

We also had this more mainstream, deep fried sea bass with rice which sells for $7. It's crispy outside and tenderly moist inside. The crisp outside was mildly savoury and lightly spiced. The inside tasted sweetish with very subtle underlying earthiness. Quite tasty and good value for money.

How Does Moray Eels Taste Like? 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

Information for you 👉 Moray eels taste good! I would love to have it again whenever there is any opportunity here at SZ Kitchen or anywhere else.






From time to time, when Johnny's fishery contacts catch an exotic fish, he will serve it at his SZ Kitchen at Fairprice Hub at Joo Koon MRT Station. Today, he has a 210 kg wild caught giant grouper fish 😱 Johnny simply stews it with vegetables and sauces. The star of the dish is the grouper skin, almost half an inch thick. It is soft and gelatinous. Not pretty, not much flavour in itself but it took on some flavours from the savoury sauce. The main thing is the skin's special texture. The meat is tender like average grouper flesh but slightly firmer. The meat too infused some of the savoury sauce flavours though it has its own natural sweetness. Johnny said the grouper bone marrow yielded some brininess to the sauce too. Next time when you are at SZ Kitchen, ask them if they have any special fish (if you are an exotic fish fan). https://johorkaki.blogspot.com/2019/05/how-does-moray-eels-taste-like-sz.html
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How Does Moray Eels Taste Like? 小珍 SZ Kitchen @ Fairprice Hub, Joo Koon MRT

Restaurant name小珍 SZ Kitchen
Address1 Joo Koon Circle, Singapore 629116 (Fairprice Hub, unit #01-45)
GPS1°19'37.8"N 103°40'45.3"E 🌐 1.327152, 103.679256
Nearest MRT station: Joo Koon
Tel+65 8123 4671 
Hours: 10:00am - 8:30pm

Non Halal



Date visited: 17 May 2019

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