This brilliant braised duck stall in Chinatown is one of Singapore's most underrated. It's one of the best that I've tasted in Singapore and Johor, yet it has more or less zero media mention.
I have only myself to blame for not trying this stall earlier as I passed here hundreds of times without stopping. I heard that Run Ji is a legend in Chinatown during its heyday but the founder had handed over the stall to new owners. But, buddy kept reminding me to give it a try as it is still very good, he said (again just yesterday).
This wasn't in our plan. We ended up here this noon as our earlier foray in another hawker centre turned up nothing inspiring. When we got here, Run Ji's stall display wasn't very awe inspiring either. But, we decided to give it a go anyway as we have faith in buddy's taste.
We ordered a quarter bird, liver and pig skin for three of us to share (we were already over ¾ tank full from our fruitless morning foray).
Lady slam chopped the duck rather roughly like it was a block of wood 😲 She heaped lots of liver onto the plate as if she was disposing of discards 😱 I tried to hold her back but she ignored me anyway. We got much more food than we wanted 😬
Here's what we got after buddy "styled" the mess a bit. Otherwise, it came as an ugly jumbled heap.
All for $15, which was less than what I had expected to pay.
My first piece was a heart. I could already hear my buddies praising the duck while taking my time with this picture.
I was blown away.
The heart was tender spongy. The taste of the braising stock blew me away. It was savoury sweet with much depth of flavours (but no herbal or spice taste at all).
The duck was hacked into a few thick chunks but I was blown away by the tender juiciness and sweet savoury flavours from the braising stock and duck meat. It was an excellently braised, tender duck - it was neither tough nor chewy at all.
You know, I like my braised duck to be sliced thin like slices of ham but Run Ji's duck is so tender, it felt and tasted just as good in chunks. Amazing.
The pig skin was great too. The firm tender strip curled in a tight springy coil.
The liver which the lady chucked onto my plate as if she was trying to clear stock so that she can call it a day early 😅 - they were excellent too. Soft tender and well infused with sweet savoury braising stock flavour.
For carbs, we had rice and porridge. Get this porridge. It has nice depth of savoury sweet flavours made even better with the duck braising stock.
Lovely, lovely porridge.
Leftovers don't lie.
We came here after eating in another hawker centre but swept up the duck anyway 😬 This hidden gem stall serves one of the best braised duck that we've had in a while.
After our meal, we popped by at the stall. Lady boss said her husband worked for Run Ji founder 何五妹 for many years. They are still using the legacy master braising stock 老卤水 from the founder 何五妹 who had passed on a few years ago. The master braising stock was rich with dissolved collagen and flavours from the thousands of ducks that passed through it over the decades. The legendary 何五妹 was selling braised duck since she was 13 years old, before the Japanese Occupation in 1942. She ran Run Ji until well into her 80s.
I'll be back for more.
何五妹 has another disciple who now runs her stall at Commonwealth Crescent hawker centre known as Chinatown Ah Po Braised Duck 👈 click
Lawrence Wong said: "yes she was selling it along open air as a matter of fact middle of Trengganu Rd as like many other hawker stalls then. Oh ,I am giving away my age. And when all of them were relocated I continued to patronize it and I think some time in early 2000, I saw this PRC fellow worked for him and he has taken over her stall. Food still as good. Esply the gravy... awesome, alone I can fire 3 bowls of rice just with the gravy and an lor egg."
ReplyDeleteElita Lim said: "My late grandma always brought me to have the duck porridge during my childhood days. The stall on the roadside before they shifted to fc. I will still eat whenever I am nearby and the taste reminded me of oldies time."
ReplyDeletePeter Awyong said: "in the early 1970s, her stall was next to Kay Lee roast pork in Keong Siak St. I still believe it is one of the better braised duck stalls in Singapore."
ReplyDeleteRichard Yeo said: "I was very fortunate that I was able to get a serving during her time. Taste factor good.. presentation. Nah..
ReplyDeleteThis the stall that doesn't do any fancy or deco to their stall. Only one or two old newspaper cutout on her working for so long...."
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ReplyDeleteLeong Lim said: "That’s great spirit of the retired old lady to pass the stall to one of her workers and not like so many selfish & greedy old hawkers who want to sell for at least $500k for their recipes!👍"
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ReplyDeletezilchtan said "Yes, this stall is very underrated. Used to run by an old ah ma, who retired and sold her recipe to this Chinese couple. I loved Ah ma's duck porridge, and she was a Cantonese with an attitude, doing very good braised duck. I remembered when I asked to add ingredients, Ah ma will chop more bones to the porridge. When I kept quiet, Ah ma will give more meat. Weird old lady. The chinese couple took over and helmed her recipe quite decently. Prefer this stall than other braised duck stall at complex."
ReplyDeletelinuslim247 said: "aunty was a legend . she would share stories about the past and how as a woman growing up.in difficult times she picked up the trade from her father. little details in her juk and prep just make her dishes delicious. her disciples have all been taught well i think!"
Blown away 🤤
ReplyDeleteThe sauce, the duck meat , the chillies sauce 🙌🏻 perfect 👍🏻
Daniel Wong Sylvia Bau said on Facebook:
ReplyDelete"On Sunday , we went to Chinatown food centre in search of this underrated hidden gem braised duck stall recommended by Tony Boey of Johorkaki.
It was after lunch time at 230pm but to our disappointment all the ducks were sold out (though closing time was supposedly 5pm) thus leaving only some braised duck feet and eggs , so we decided to get 4 pcs but the lady told us to take 6 for $2 . No regrets . It was so delicious that we had early happy hour chewing through the duck webs with drinks .
Most braised duck feet are dry and tough but these were well braised and simply delicious .
Not satisfied that we weren't able to taste the duck meat , we return on Monday morning at 930am to ensure that we try the duck meat and it was truly worth the effort to go early and sink our teeth into the tender thick cut braised duck meat .
We also had the liver , gizzard, duck tongue & pig's skin which were perfectly braised !
We had it with a plate of rice & a bowl of plain porridge topped with the ' lor' .
Tenderlicious duck meat .Truly tender and tasty but not overly salty. Could even chew the bones to bits ...that good that we didn't even dip into the garlic chilli sauce! 😅"