Charlie Chang, 58, a regular of Joe Pork Porridge took over the stall once it was vacated by bidding for it and started selling porridge too. Joe, the owner of Joe Pork Porridge retired and sold its business to a Chinese Pr but things just did not work out and it has already closed last year. Charlie has about 30 years of kitchen experiences, working in Ritz Carlton, Raffles Hotel, Crown Prince Hotel, Oriental Hotel, Fullerton Hotel and also working in Beijing and Miami, USA. He was the Executive Chef in the Grand Millennium Hotel in Beijing before returning to Singapore. He set up the stall with Philomena, his wife, and Stephen Sim, his partner, a supplier of produce and meats that source for ingredients for the stall. He is hoping to preserve the food culture despite having to endure the long hours and also demanding customers.
I wanted to try his Premium Porridge ($5) and the Triple Egg Porridge ($3.50) at the same time. The pieces are kept low despite using premium ingredients. When ordering, I asked, "Can I order the Premium Porridge and added the triple egg to it?" His wife asked him and he suggested I should order the Triple Egg Porridge and added lean meat or minced pork balls. I decided to heed his suggestion and ordered Triple Egg Porridge with minced pork balls. I was given a number tag and asked to come back in about 25 minutes.
The Triple Egg Porridge is cooked using the premium Jasmine rice and it is served with century egg, salted egg, and poached egg. The salted egg is nicely flattened to look like a disc. To start, drizzled with a little soya sauce and a dash of white pepper as it is purposely underseasoned as some of the customers are those elderly folks and they usually want it less salty.
The porridge was rich, smooth and the right thickness, it tasted towards the traditional Hainanese style porridge, its texture is slightly more grainy. Each bowl is cooked individually to achieve the right texture.
Go early if you are interested to try as they usually sold out before 1 pm.
WENG KIANG KEE PORRIDGE
335 Smith Street #02-082 Chinatown Complex Food Centre SINGAPORE 050335
Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 2.00 pm (Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays)