Ah Heng Duck Rice @ Hong Lim · Thong Chai Heritage Braised Duck Trilogy 同濟前阿興鴨飯

This is part three of a Singapore lor ark trilogy, successors of the legendary braised duck stall at the Old Thong Chai Medical Institute. Ah Heng Duck Rice has three successor stalls - a disciple at Heng Gi in Tekka Market, brother-in-law at Hup Seng in Sin Ming Estate, and this stall Ah Heng in Hong Lim Market.

Stall name: Ah Heng Duck Rice 同濟前阿興鴨飯

Address: 531A Upper Cross St, stall #02-64, Singapore 050538 (inside Hong Lim Market & Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: Chinatown

Hours: 6:30am - 4:00pm (Mon off)

Ah Heng Duck Rice was one of the push cart stalls outside the Old Thong Chai Medical Institute at 3, Wayang Street during the 1960s to 70s. (Image courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.)

After retirement, Ah Heng (right) accepted Mdm Tan and her late husband as disciples at the Hong Lim stall.

This stall at Hong Lim Market and Heng Gi at Tekka Market still bear the name Ah Heng (Ah Heng had passed on). Lady boss Mdm Tan runs the stall now with an assistant. 

In the window, there's freshly braised ducks, offal, pork belly and pig head parts. Mdm Tan said her business has been affected by Covid, like many other hawker stalls. The office crowd is not fully back and many older customers are still staying home, minimising outside activities.

I asked for duck breast, my favourite cut of duck meat and opted for kway chap instead of rice. I love kway (rice sheet). So much food for $4 🙏 

I was pleased that Mdm Tan sliced the duck breast broad and millimetre thin like in good Teochew restaurants. One of my pet peeves is hawker stalls that chop duck meat into little sticks almost like "French fries".  

The little pile of meat splashed with dark lor was sitting in a pool of dark unthickened braising stock. In terms of flavours, Hup Seng, Heng Gi and Ah Heng all have the same robust savoury salty, very subtle Chinese spice taste profile. It should not be a surprise as they all have the same Ah Heng DNA. The meat was tender, moist (not juicy) with a slight chewiness to the bite. 

The soft rice sheets (kway) soaking in the bowl of savoury stock were generic and unremarkable. Didn't have rice taste, just the taste of savoury stock.

I like it that the bowl of kway came with a sprinkle of aromatic fried shallot which were fried in-house (nowadays, it is common for hawkers to just use factory fried shallot which tend to be stale and tasteless). So, kudos to Ah Heng Duck Rice.

Ah Heng have two chili sauces. The darker, more pulpy one and a lighter colour one. I don't eat my duck with chili sauce but took the darker pulpy one to taste. It's spicy and sourish. On the palate, it does sweeten the savoury duck (but those who know me, know I don't like sour taste). 

I asked Mdm Tan how come she doesn't provide soup while Heng Gi does and Hup Seng is even famous for their kiam chye ark soup. She told me that Ah Heng never served soup with his duck. 

If you are a heritage Teochew lor ark fan, the Thong Chai trilogy are three boxes you may want need to check.

                  

Written by Tony Boey on 23 Mar 2022