Old School Cantonese Peanut Porridge with Dried Oyster & Conpoy @ Tanglin Halt Market 扇貝蚝豉花生粥 @ 美味小吃

Buddy Jem had been telling me about this old school Cantonese porridge at Tanglin Halt. It's not going to be in anyone's Instagram or flex worthy list, but a touchstone of nostalgia for some. It is a very humble dish commonly done in Cantonese families when many Singaporeans still cooked at home.

Stall name: 美味小吃 (no English name)

Address: 48 Tanglin Halt Road, stall #01-02, Tanglin Halt Market, Singapore 148813

Nearest MRT: 5 minute walk from Commonwealth station

Hours: 6:00pm - 12:00 midnight (Weds & Sun off)

Just rice, dried oyster 蠔豉, dried scallop or conpoy 江瑤柱, peanut slow boiled in water. Served with fried shallot, fried dried whitebait and a dash of white pepper.

It's a blend of layered savoury sweetness in a watery soft rice gruel with some residual crisp from fried whitebait. I don't expect this to be wildly popular at hawker centres but I love it as this was the way my grandma and mother made porridge at home.

The exact same taste profile. 

My late grandma used to travel back regularly to Shunde 顺德区 in China's Guangdong province in the 1970s. At that time, Singapore still don't have diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China but the elderly were allowed to travel to their hometown on compassionate grounds. (Singapore recognised the People's Republic of China only in 1990.)

My grandma would pack lots of clothes for relatives when she went to China and returned with foodstuff wrapped in brown paper. Dried oysters and conpoy were a big part of it as these were used a lot in our cooking at home. We would use it sparingly to last us till gramdma's next China trip. (Images courtesy of Wikipedia.)

My grandma was my mum's adoptive mother. Grandma was a Ma Jie 妈姐. Ma Jie came to Singapore in the 1920s from Shunde to work in the homes of wealthy traders and British officials as domestic help. They vowed never to marry and aimed to return to their hometown. So, many Ma Jie adopted little girls like the case of my mum.

Ma Jie were skilled cooks - how good? Ma Jie displaced Hainanese cooks in the homes of traders and British officials which led to the Hainanese venturing into food & beverage (kopi) businesses. That's another story for another post here 👈

This is the only place that I know of to get this peanut porridge in a hawker centre in Singapore. 美味小吃 serve this dried oyster, conpoy, peanut porridge 扇貝蚝豉花生粥 at $1.20 a bowl. Thank you Jem for the recommendation!

美味小吃 stall also serve fried bee hoon / mee, red / green bean soup, bubur hitam and fried chicken wings. If you want something more filling, I think peanut porridge and fried chicken wings would make a good combo.

In this old Tanglin Halt precinct, 美味小吃 enjoys a steady, loyal following. People who live here like this stall but you won't find them mentioned much in social media. Waiting time is about 10 to 20 minutes.

Just informing you about this, in case you also miss this type of porridge.

If you know of other hawker stalls that serve dried oyster, conpoy, peanut porridge, please share with us 🙏 Thank you.

Little Tanglin Halt Market is one of the prettiest hawker centres in Singapore in my opinion.

(美味小吃 have two competitors at Tanglin Halt which I have to make my rounds to next time.)

       

                     

             

             

               

               

             

           

           

           

                         

           

             

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            A post shared by Tony Boey Johor Kaki (@johorkaki)          

       

     

            

Written by Tony Boey on 19 Nov 2021