Xiamen Herbal Pork Trotter, Chicken & Duck Tonic Soup @ Marsiling Mall (Woodlands) 厦门十全大補

Xiamen_Pork_Trotter_Herbal_Tonic Soup_Marsiling_Mall_Woodlands_厦门十全大補

This Chinese herbal tonic soup stall have been around for over twenty years from the old Woodlands Centre hawker centre (demolished) to (quite) new Marsiling Mall today.

Xiamen Herbal Tonic Soup has a low social media profile but quietly serving a loyal following of mostly middle age clientele (based on my own observations lah).

Their signature is herbal stewed pork trotter which I have indulged in a couple of times before. Most people are here for this gently herbal, tasty fall-off-the-bone tender pork trotter.

Their herbal chicken tonic soup is also popular (but I have not tried it yet).

The hardworking couple are first generation from Xiamen, Fujian. Mr. Khor came to Singapore in the 1990s as a construction worker. Later, they started this herbal tonic soup stall with Mrs. Khor's family recipes.

The Chinese herbs for the tonic soups are individually handpicked and assembled by the Khors, not factory pre-packed. They are old style hawkers.

Today, I chose the herbal duck tonic soup with rice.

The dark brown colour tonic soup was savoury salty and distinctly yet not overpowering Chinese medicinal herbal. The taste of dangui being the most prominent with a bit of sweetness from goji berries.

Mr Khor gives each bowl of tonic soup a dash of Shaoxing wine before serving.

Steeped in the dark tonic soup was a large piece of duck thigh darkened from infusing the flavours and colour of soy sauce and Chinese herbs.

The duck meat was fall-off-the-bone tender with a slight bit of chewiness but not soft-mushy (爛) which I don't like.

I am glad that the duck tasted fresh with a very subtle hint of sweetish duck taste.

This was quite nice, tasty though it is a Chinese medicinal herb dish. It felt comforting though it is not a comfort or staple dish.

If you feel you need a tonic soup, you can give Xiamen Tonic Soup a try. I came here today because I was advised to drink some herbal tonic before taking off to a cold clime country 😆