August 26, 2005
和记粥 at Maxwell
The next time you go to Maxwell Hawker Centre, you could give 和记粥 a try if it's not too warm a day and you feel like having some porridge*.
They serve chicken, fish, cuttlefish, and frog legs clayout porridge. I decided to try the frog legs porridge since not many places have it. This one costs $8 and is a good portion for two. The porridge was thick and quite smooth, but my mum found it a tad too thick. The seasoning was not bad though.
What I liked most, however, was the 鱼生. It comes in either a $3 or $5 portion. I love the thin, raw fish slices with the sesame oil, lime and spring onion seasoning. Yummy!
Their fried tofu is also good. It's fresh, crisp on the outside and smooth and soft on the inside. It has a slight egg flavour and the seasoning adds just the right amount of saltiness to make it really tasty.
*I still like calling it porridge even though it's more commonly known as congee in other countries. I think Singaporeans associate the word "porridge" with this dish rather than the English oats (which I dislike eating).
Posted by DSD at August 26, 2005 8:39 AMoh looks good!
Posted by: olduvai at August 26, 2005 12:12 PMHeh. Thought it was called "jook".
The fried tofu looks delish!
Posted by: Rodney at August 26, 2005 1:17 PMwell yeah, "jook" is its Cantonese name.
Posted by: dsd at August 26, 2005 1:39 PMI lurrrve raw fish porridge. And the one at Maxwell is legendary. My colleagues and I have once walked all the way there from my office before - in the hot sun - and queued up for the porridge.
It's good for those who love garnishing and generous portions. I like to soak my raw fish in lots of lime juice, cut red chillies and a bit of soy sauce!
I've been to other stalls. I tried the one at Smith St (aka Food St) - I think it cost 4 or 5 bucks with much less fish and garnishing. Nothing great.
Somewhere in between the two stalls (in terms of cost and value) is a cornership along New Bridge Rd, near CK Department store. Costs $3+. I think it also serves frogs' legs. We tend to go there more often as it's nearer to the office.
Posted by: Van Tan at August 26, 2005 11:47 PMoh my... i am so envious! looks absolutely yummm... sigh.
Posted by: tiggie at August 28, 2005 11:27 AMmmm miss the yu sang from maxwell. the famous stall isnt this one though, it's zhenzhen, which usually sells out by 2pm.
Posted by: gwenda at August 28, 2005 10:33 PMhey! i was at maxwell the other day and i went to the hum cheem peng stall. It was quite fun since you fry your own order and they tasted pretty good!
Posted by: joone! at August 29, 2005 3:54 PMgwenda: Oh, i haven't tried Zhenzhen before. Will try to do so if i can!
joone!: I've never had the patience to stand there and fry. Looks like i should give it a try too!
Posted by: dsd at August 29, 2005 4:31 PM