Dynasty Fried Porridge Singapore 皇庭炒粥

Dynasty Fried Porridge 皇庭炒粥 | 30 Foch Rd, #01-02, Singapore 209276 (Bistro 8 coffee shop) ☎ 9122 3993 🕙 11:30am - 10:30pm (Sat & Sun 12 noon - 2:30 pm | 4:30pm - 10:30 pm)

Lunch today at Dynasty Fried Porridge at Foch Road. The stall has been around since 2015 and I visited it soon after it opened in the Macpherson area.

During the last 9 years, chef owner John Ng had moved around, entered ventures and collected several media accolades. His stall is now at Bistro 8 coffee shop at Foch Road.

One thing hasn't changed. John is still personally hands on at the wok, his frying skills honed and sharpened every single day 👏👏👏

I respect his persistence and dedication.

During these 9 years, John tweaked his signature fried porridge process a little. The ingredients for the fried porridge were fried a little more vigorously than I remember. The smokiness and aromas were extracted from the aromatics, dried shrimp and dried cuttlefish a little more thoroughly.

Cooked rice porridge was then added and tossed into the wok with the fried aromatics to infuse their flavours and smokiness into the gruel.

The 皇庭炒粥 fried porridge topped with lard croutons was served in a claypot which kept the gruel hot for longer.

No, wok hei wasn't imparted into the wet porridge but smokiness of the fried dried cuttlefish, dried shrimp, ginger, yam, and other aromatics were infused into the gruel. The fried slivers of cuttlefish, in particular, added both umami flavour and chewy texture to the mildly savoury sweet and soft wet rice porridge.

Fried shallot and lard croutons, both house fried, contributed to the taste and pleasure of this dish too. I always give extra points for stalls or restaurants that go the extra mile to fry their own shallot (rare nowadays in Singapore). Freshly fried shallots make a huge difference in taste and smell, in my humble opinion.

大马黑面 KL style fried Hokkien mee or tai lok meen in Cantonese. I was excited as they looked very much like my favourites in Kuala Lumpur. They were even served sizzling hot on a banana leaf and crowned with lard croutons which I already knew were very nice from the fried porridge.

The dark sauce was savoury lardy. Nice but can have a sharper, savoury edge of higher intensity (but that's my tastebuds lah). There's prawn, pork slices, cabbage but missing squid heads and chicken liver of the KL version for their depth of flavour and textures.

The spongy tender fat tai lok mee noodles were the real deal which John imported from Malaysia for greater authenticity.

三楼煎米粉 JB style San Lou bee hoon, commonly known as chao tah or "burnt" bee hoon. (It's a misnomer as burnt bee hoon would be a poor rendition of San Lou bee hoon.)

Here's the origin story of San Lou bee hoon 👈

John's rendition has the coveted crisp, browned outside.

The inside was moist and tender. Nice savoury flavour with a slight smokiness. A bit of sweetness from pork and prawn but missing sotong. John's rendition was not overly greasy.

In JB, they serve it with a spicy sour umami sambal that perks up the tastebuds while cutting through the grease. I miss that.

南乳炸花肉 Hakka fried pork.

It's a good rendition!

The marbled pork was marinated with fermented bean curd (nam yu) and deep fried to a nice browned crisp outside which sealed the tender juiciness inside.

Love this Hakka classic.