Today, we followed chef Benny Se Teo for one of his favourite places for Teochew porridge at Choon Seng in Pek Kio. The dishes were traditional i.e. familial, nicely cooked using fresh, good quality ingredients. Everything we ate was likeable with relatively mild but well balanced savoury sweet and natural flavours. Prices, especially the fish, were on the premium side.
Restaurant name: Choon Seng Teochew Porridge 春成潮州糜
Address: 43 Cambridge Road, Block 43, Singapore 210043
Tel: +65 6293 0706
Hours: 10:00am - 3:00pm (Sun off)
Five of us, all can eat guys, started with this initial spread. We later added one more steamed fish. Total bill came to $210, most of the money went to the fishes as expected.
We start with the fish - it's a baby giant grouper steamed with tofu cubes, pork fat, preserved plum and garnished with preserved radish, cut chili, cilantro etc.
It was nice as everything just complemented the natural taste of the tender juicy fresh fish, with nothing competing or upstaging the fish for our palate's attention.
Chef Benny Se Teo is the owner of Eighteen Chefs restaurants and MeatHouse by 18Chefs. Chef Benny is one of Singapore's most respected restauranteurs and entrepreneurs. Chef Benny came back from rock bottom, lower than most people will ever go in their lifetime but bounced back to become one of the most authentic, inspiring persons anyone can meet. Watch Benny so eloquently tell his life story and be inspired like thousands have.
We had a second fish which was also steamed Teochew style with tofu cubes, preserved vegetables, preserved plum, fresh tomato, pork fat, spring onion and garnished with cilantro.
This fish came with roe and again it was fresh, so we enjoyed its natural sweetness.
Besides the steamed fish, I enjoyed Choon Seng's other dishes too. The simple spinach with anchovy infused sauce was full of comforting savoury sweet flavours and the taste of fresh soft greens.
Nice home cooked style comforting flavours from this sliced bitter gourd and fried scrambled egg. The bitter gourd was done a little too soft for my liking though.
Even the kiam chye was neither too salty nor flat tasting (thanks to lard).
Must get this minced pork. We had two servings of this minced pork stewed in a savoury salty fermented black bean sauce with soft and some crunchy bits of meat inside. It was so good I was eating spoonfuls of it neat as it was not overly salty.
Remember to order this prawn omelette when you are here. Deep fried to a slight crisp outside, the tender omelette tasted savoury eggy with subtle prawn sweetness inside. The cut prawn flesh inside was fresh, have a certain tender firmness and nice fresh crustacean sweetness. Not greasy at all, not too salty either.
Fresh, well cleaned la la clams cooked with ginger, Chinese cooking wine, light sauces. Don't worry, no sand.
We had their famous signature fish cake but I forgot to take a picture and also didn't taste it 😂
They have braised duck and pork which we didn't order this time. If you have tried these before, please share your experience with us in the comments. Thanks!
Teochew style watery porridge is sweet, so I like to balance it with a splash of savoury lor (braising stock). All the side dishes taste great with the Teochew porridge.
Fresh ingredients, nicely done with well balanced flavours that allow the natural taste to shine through. So tasty, we were scooping up the slurpy sauces after finishing everything.
Date visited: 8 Sep 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments submitted with genuine identities are published