Picky Eater's Guide to Best Teochew Fish Soup in Singapore 潮州鱼片汤

Most hawker centres in Singapore have at least one Teochew fish soup stall and it often attracts long queues. The dish is delicious and growing in popularity as it is perceived as a "healthier choice". Still, Teochew fish soup has a lower profile than other dishes like chicken rice, laksa, char kway teow, bak chor mee, etc.

Teochew fish soup has long been one of my favourite Singapore hawker dishes and here are my personal favourites.

*Actually Teochew fish soup has relatively high sodium content, so eat in moderation also lah.

The most common fish for Teochew fish soup in Singapore is Ikan Batang which is also known by its other name Ikan Tenggiri. This fish is known as Spanish Mackerel in English.

Other fish options include red snapper, grouper and white pomfret.

If you go to a Teochew fish soup stall early, you may see the hawker hand slicing the large whole fish. (Image courtesy of flickr.)

In its simplest form, Teochew fish soup is a clear soup with Ikan Batang fish slices, tomato wedges, tofu cubes and greens like lettuce.

From this most basic form, different stalls have their own versions of the dish. Some have other fish like red snapper, white pomfret, grouper, even prawn and squid. Some have fish roe and even milt. Others have bitter gourd instead of lettuce or tang oh. There are stalls that use kiam chye (preserved mustard), dried seaweed, etc. Each stall have their own recipe and loyal following.

The fish soup may look clear but the best ones are packed with a tasty umami-savoury sweet flavour. It is made by boiling Ikan Batang fish bone with additional flavours from tee poh (dried sole fish), tung chye, kiam chye, dried sea weed etc. Aromatic fried garlic or shallot oil add another layer of flavour and fragrance. Some stalls add bak pok (pork lard croutons), though much as I like bak pok, I personally find it a little out of place in fish soup.

I like my Ikan Batang fish slices to be relatively thick and with skin. The fish slices are tender, neither soft nor firm. It has a nice subtle fresh fish sweetness. Skin and meat together give the fish a subtle layered sweet taste and different textures in every bite. 

Teochew fish soup is eaten with fermented soy bean sauce, cut chili pepper and / or light soy sauce. These sauces' robust flavours and hot spicy sting heighten the sensitivity of our tastebuds to better discern and appreciate the relatively subtle flavours of fresh fish.

Teochew fish soup is eaten with boiled white rice either in a separate bowl or directly inside the soup in the quintessential Teochew way. Some stalls offer options of bee hoon, mee sua and even yee meen (fried egg noodles). 

My Favourite Teochew Fish Soup Stalls in Singapore

Han Kee's fish is fresh, the soup is slightly cloudy, mildly savoury, a bit of fish sweetness and a garlicky taste from fried garlic and oil. Cheaper than its competitor Piao Ji at Amoy Food Centre. 

Stall name: Han Kee Fish Soup 👈 click details

Address: 7 Maxwell Road, stall #02-129, Singapore 069111 (Amoy Food Centre)

Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm (Sat & Sun off)

Piao Ji is the competitor of Han Kee at Amoy Street Food Centre. Piao Ji's servings cost slightly more than Han Kee. The fish is fresh but Piao Ji's soup is more chok 浊 or turbid in flavour as it is laced with fried shallot and pork lard.

Stall name: Piao Ji Fish Porridge 👈 click details

Address: 7 Maxwell Rd unit #02-100 Singapore 069111 (Amoy Street Food Centre)

Hours: 11:00am - 3:30pm (Mon & Thurs off)

I've been a fan of Han Jiang for decades. Love their thick fresh ikan batang slices and clear flavourful soup which has bitter gourd slices.

Stall name: Han Jiang Fish Soup 韩江鱼汤 👈 click details

Address: 409 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, stall #01-15, Singapore 560409 (Teck Ghee Square)

Hours: 12:00 noon  - 2:00pm | 5:30pm  - 9:00pm (Mon off)

Fresh Batang in thick slices with options for roe, milt and also white pomfret. Cleaning tasting soup and this stall at Maxwell Food Centre use tang oh 茼蒿 vegetable with its distinct fragrance.

Stall name: Yi Jia Teochew Fish Porridge Fish Soup 👈 click details

Address: 1 Kadayanallur Street, stall #01-66, Singapore 069184 (Maxwell Food Centre)

Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm (Sun off)

Soup is flavourful with tee poh and fried shallot boost plus cabbage (sans tomato, tofu and such). Ikan Batang slices fresh and thick. Has options for roe, prawn, fried fish etc. 

Stall name: Soon Lee Fish Porridge. Seafood Soup 👈 click details

Address: 4 Defu Lane 10, Singapore 539185

Hours: 8:00am - 3:00pm (Sun off)

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T.G. means Teo Guan. Light full flavour savoury sweet soup powered by tee poh and fried shallot. Fresh fish, thick slices, and nice roe when available. 

Stall name: T. G. Fish Porridge 👈 click

Address: 14 Haig Road, stall #01-50, Singapore 430014 (Haig Road Food Centre)

Hours: 8:00am - 3:00pm

Lighter soup than most, flavoured with tee poh, garnished with fried shallot. Has crunchy bitter gourd slices which I like. Fish is fresh and generous with the roe.

Stall name: Angel Horse Teochew Fish Soup 👈 click details

Address: 270 Queen Street, stall #01-95, Singapore 180270 (stall in Albert Centre)

Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm

Relies a lot on tee poh for flavour, so if you like relatively robust savoury soup, this is boomz for you. Fish is fresh but no skin, relatively thin slices and liberally dusted with tee poh powder. Widely popular, but I am a little ambivalent as I prefer less tee poh and I like fish skin.

Stall name: First Street Teochew Fish Soup 👈 click details

Address: 1014 Upper Serangoon Road, Singapore 534752

Hours: 8:30am - 3:00pm

This place serves both Teochew duck porridge and fish soup. Both are good. They used to be separate stalls - one for duck and another for fish but they are combined two-in-one now. The fish soup is the cheng cheng clear type but flavourful, and the fish is fresh. Their duck porridge is good too. Best of both worlds, really.

Stall name: Hong Qin Fish & Duck Porridge 鴻勤魚粥 • 鴨粥 👈 click

Address: 134 Geylang East Ave 1, #01-217, Singapore 380134

Hours: 6:00am - 3:00pm

216 Bedok hawker centre has two fish soup stalls - this is the busier one (often long queue before stall opens). The Ikan Batang fish slices are fresh and sweet in a mildly savoury sweet clean tasting clear soup with generous amount of lettuce inside. Fried garlic bits add savoury-umami to the soup. Always get the roe if you are lucky enough to see them as they taste great and are sold out very fast. Competitive pricing, friendly hawkers.

Stall name: Hougang Lee Chen Cooked Food 

Address: 216 Bedok North Street 1, stall #01-54, Singapore 460216

Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm (Sun, Mon, Tues off)

Han Kee is the other popular Teochew fish soup at 216 Bedok. The Ikan Batang fish and soup have a slightly different taste as its competitor but ingredients are equally fresh at both stalls. Han Kee use fried shallot for garnish (whereas their competitor use fried garlic). Competitive pricing. Han Kee's fare is milder tasting and have their own loyal following. I like both. (This stall is not related to the Han Kee of Amoy Street.)

Stall name: Han Kee Fish Soup

Address: 216 Bedok North Street 1, stall #01-46, Singapore 460216

Hours: 8:30am - 3:00pm (Mon, Fri off)

There are many Teochew fish soup stalls which I haven't tried in Singapore. So, if your favourite stall is not mentioned, give me a shout out in the comments 🙏  I promise you that I will visit your recommendation.

Thank you 🙏

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Written by Tony Boey on 4 July 2021