This is one of the oldest names in Singapore bak kut teh supported by a loyal following, yet it is has a very low media profile. The first time I tried to eat here, everything was sold out by 10:30am. Today, we got here at 9am to experience Double Happy Bak Kut Teh. I said experience because Double Happy is not only about the taste but also the entire experience.
Double Happy is tucked away in a corner of Zion Riverside Food Centre. Most Double Happy customers are regulars, many are seniors who saw third generation owner Goh Miah Liang grow up, hence he is still known as to them as Liang Di (literally "little brother Liang").
In his sixties now, Liang Di's grandfather 吴芳欽 came to Singapore from Chao'an 潮安 district of Chaozhao city in Guangdong province in the 1930s as a coolie. He then became a hotel cook before starting a bak kut teh stall around the old Ellenborough Market area which is today's Central Mall @ Clarke Quay, Merchant Court Hotel and Read Bridge area.
Liang Di's father arrived in Singapore in 1937 by ship at the tender age of 5 and began work at the bak kut teh stall. The Ellenborough Market and Read Bridge area was a Teochew food haven. Ellenborough Market known to locals as the Teochew Market was Singapore's wholesale fish and vegetable market. A little upriver on Pulau Saigon was the abattoir, ensuring the supply of fresh pork to the stalls at the Teochew enclave of Singapore River.
It is said that Ng Mui Song, the founder of Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh was a regular at Double Happy Bak Kut Teh at Clarke Quay. Ng Mui Song started his own bak kut teh stall at Clarke Quay in 1955.
From the Teochew enclave, Double Happy moved to one of the lanes of Hock Lam Street near the Central Fire Station. When Hock Lam Street was demolished in the 1990s, the stall moved into Hill Street Food Centre. When the food centre was demolished in 2000, Double Happy moved to Zion Riverside Food Centre where it remained to this day. Nearly 100 years, Double Happy was never far from Singapore River.
Liang Di's grandfather concocted his own bak kut teh soup. It's a gentle blend of savoury sweet garlicky and peppery from soy sauce, garlic, pepper, pork, scallion, and possibly some sugar.
Compared to contemporary popular bak kut teh like Song Fa, Double Happy's version tastes milder in pepperiness and lighter bodied, almost like a savoury garlicky peppery sweet tea. This old taste of Singapore bak kut teh still has its fans as Double Happy's loyal following of seniors attests. I enjoyed it too, though it is a shade sweeter than I like.
I can't think of any other Singapore bak kut teh that tastes like this though it reminded me of those I tasted in Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia, except that over there they pop chili padi into the soup.
This piece of fatty pork rib was great - fall-off-the-bone soft-tender and oozing with sweet juices. Another leaner piece from the same pot, however, turned out slightly chewy and lacking in flavour.
Double Happy also serve cooked fish or Teochew "fish rice" as it is traditionally called. Liang Di's father learned the craft of cooking Teochew "fish rice" from Ah Yong who was one of the top "fish rice" merchants at Ellenborough Market.
We had rabbitfish, Boon Tong fish 文东鱼 and ikan senangin. Chinese New Year was just over but not the rabbitfish spawning season, so we can still get fish with roe.
"Fish rice" is traditionally cooked by poaching in sea water. Today, it is poached in briny water. No sauce or marination is used in cooking herr png "fish rice". Fish cooked this way is tender and retains its natural flavours.
Of today's fishes, I like this Boon Tong fish the most. Its tender, moist flesh tasted gently sweet with subtle underlying bitter and briny flavour.
The fish is eaten with a garlic and chili sauce but I prefer it neat as sauces tend to overwhelm the fish's delicate flavours.
Some regulars keep their personal fermented bean sauce and soy sauce at Double Happy.
Since Ellenborough Market days, folks enjoy bak kut teh with Nanyang Chinese tea. Workers and businessmen gather over food and tea to share stories and time together by the river. This bak kut teh and tea tradition carries on at Double Happy - the seats nearest to Singapore River is a favourite among seniors to reminisce the old days of Ellenborough Market, Cha Chun Tau 柴船头 (Clarke Quay) and Read Bridge.
Regulars keep their personal tea at Double Happy.
Not quite the contemporary Singapore Teochew bak kut teh but as close to the early versions of the dish as we can get in Singapore today.
Written by Tony Boey on 20 Feb 2022
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