Wendy said this porridge is a hidden gem. We tried it - indeed, it is hidden like a speakeasy and it tastes as good as any pork porridge I've come across in Singapore and Johor.
Wendy said "hidden gem porridge", so once we got here, we parked ourselves near the only porridge stall in the hawker centre.
When Wendy arrived, she told us "no, no, no....". and brought us to Tong Xin Gu Wei stall instead 🤔
This stall is run by two sisters selling home made snacks, sauces, biscuits and kueh which they make themselves or resell for home businesses.
Who can blame us? How can we tell that this stall sells good porridge..... correct?
Owner Catherine, in her 50s now, was helping her mum at their kueh stall at the old Lim Tua Tow Market since her teens. Her dad sold drinks at the Lim Tua Tow Market.
Besides food in tins, cans and bottles, they also sell a small selection of hot food.
I call this the speakeasy porridge because I would never have guessed that they serve excellent porridge even if I pass here a few hundred more times. The only clue is this food menu board inside the stall (which doesn't make it very conspicuous amid all the clutter of tins and boxes of biscuits).
The idea of speakeasy originated from 1920s - 1930s Prohibition era USA. Due to the alcohol ban, bars were illegal, so they operated with their facades disguised as laundries, pharmacies, etc.
Wendy discovered Tong Xin Gu Wei by chance. Feeling jet lag from her USA trip, Wendy walked to Serangoon Garden Hawker Centre, reaching there at 4am.
Most of the food stalls were closed, of course. Catherine, the owner of Tong Xin Gu Wei was already at the stall, getting ready to serve at 5am.
If not recommended by Wendy, I would not have known about Tong Xin Gu Wei's excellent pork porridge. Thank you 🙏
I ordered only the basic bowl of pork porridge which came with pork balls. Added an optional egg drop.
Okay... The porridge looked ordinary and overdressed with too much scallion 🫢
Wow.....
I was blown away.
The porridge was smooth though not a Cantonese style congee. The texture was perfect.
It was loaded with porcine sweetness that felt natural i.e. didn't feel like it was from flavour powders. The layering of rice sweetness with porcine sweetness, balanced with savouriness from soy sauce, aromatic sesame seed oil, a bit of egginess, made this basic, seemingly simple porridge so delicious. The fine slivers of julienned ginger and chopped scallion added more flavours to the already flavourful porridge.
There were only these porcine sweet little minced pork balls, that's all, that's enough. No liver, no intestine, no abalone, no, no, no. There's option for fish slices though. Shall try that next time.
We also had their house made yam cake and lo mai fan (fried glutinous rice). Both were good. The sweet savoury sauce was nice and the sambal was excellent. It was rich with umami savouriness with a bit of spiciness like an XO sauce.
I will be back for more pork porridge and slowly check out the other things Tong Xin Gu Wei sells.
Written by Tony Boey on 12 Oct 2023
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