Teochew Goodies

I’m Teochew but as a kid I wasn’t the big fan of the food and I never cook Teochew either. Now, I eat more of it and have developed a greater appreciation for it but I still don’t cook it.

During my last trip to Hong Kong, I feel like I was re-introduced to Teochew food through this small gratifying tasting of Teochew dishes.



We started off rich with braised goose liver. I’ve had braised goose but I’ve never had Teochew styled braised goose liver. We tried to order two plates but the health conscious waiter stopped us in our tracks and advised that we order one to start with because as he advised, “it is very high in cholesterol”. Incredibly smooth and seriously delicious, two plates would have been better than one.



The duo of seafood balls - prawn balls and crab balls – was not too starchy so that the taste of the prawn and crab still came through and not greasy.



The stir-fried pigeon with chestnuts was a little on the salty side but manageable with the lettuce wraps. I like pigeon, and in this dish there was only a slight gamey taste that makes it approachable for most.



We finished off with baby oyster porridge, which is something that I like. The watery broth of the porridge absorbs the flavours of the oysters, dried sole and pork and this bowl was good.

Chiu Mei Ku (潮味居)
Shop D & E, 2-16A Bowrington Rd
Bowring Building, Wan Chai
Tel: 852- 2834-6669

Teochew Muay

Decision making about where to dine for our next meal can be a contentious issue in my family, and on days where everyone has a different craving that needs to be satisfied, it can get pretty heated. My benevolent father would usually put forth his Teochew food request, which is sometimes rudely turned down, ignored or on better days politely declined. But we all learn to give and take, and so sometimes we will suggest something that will cause his face to light up. This is one of those places.



Located on the corner of Beo Cresent, I am not too sure about the name of this Teochew Muay stall other than the fact that it is commonly referred to and known by most as the Havelock Teochew Muay. Although this place is comparatively pricey, there are some reasons, which perhaps allow them to get away with it. Firstly, it is open till late and so if you need some late night hot comfort rice slush with salty vegetables and braised meats, it will be open, and secondly, they have the bragging rights of having Hong Kong celebrities such as Andy Lau visit and they have taken photos as evidence that hang on their wall. The differentiating factor of this place is the variety of dishes that they offer. I think if we were to line them up in a row, they might line the wall of the shop lengthwise and a little more. The variety of vegetable dishes is almost bewildering, and along with that you can get braised duck, steamed fish and crabs. From the selection, we each have our own favourites—cockles, hei bi hiam (spicy dried shrimp), giam chai (salted vegetables), peanuts and ikan billis…—that we order and strategically place in front of our individual bowls of porridge for easy reach and then centre the other communal dishes.





Maybe when I’m old, I’ll turn into some Teochew Auntie and my teeth start to fail, I will constantly hanker for some of this porridge and the sound of “Havelock Teochew Muay” will cause my face to light up. It currently does not have that effect on me, but on days when I crave the simplicity and warmth of the watery rice and the different savoury tones of the dishes, this is one of those places that hits the spot.

Guan Hin Restaurant

Guan Hin Restaurant
Blk 34 Whampoa West #01-01
Tel: 62983179



After reading umami and ivan’s account of their makankaki’s anniversary at Guan Hin, I felt it was almost obligatory for me as a Teochew to pay it a visit. As I stepped into the restaurant, I realized this place wasn’t as new and unfamiliar. I’ve actually been here and used to frequent it with my grandparents years ago. I don’t have much memory of the food except for what we did with the food. As a table of restless and irreverent grandchildren, we raced our quail’s eggs under the lazy susan and squashed them into a flatten mess once we were bored of our egg race.
Nothing much as changed or updated and still packs a healthy crowd of families and extended families on Sunday nights. Still using the reddish-pinking oriental and dragon melamine plates, this place really is old school with no real signs of modernization. Has the menu changed since my quail egg racing days? I’m guessing not.



The food was standard and really reasonable. There were, however, two highlights in my meal. The first was my favourite dish of the night, char kway teow with chai poh that was simple and delicious from the wok hei and the preserved radish morsels. My peasant food choice over chwee kueh. The second was my first taste of pig tendon, which was stir-fried with sea cucumber and an assortment of vegetables. Like most tendons, on its own there isn’t too much flavour, but what is to be savoured its gelatinous texture and its ability to soak up flavours of its accompanying ingredients. Along with that we had a standard steamed fish that passed the fresh test, hei zuo (prawn balls) that were bordering on bad, vegetables that were gloriously fried in lard and ti poh, and the good old teochew classics of braised goose and orh nee.

In addition to the standards dish, there are the more elaborate dishes that require an advance order such as their suckling pig, which is labouriously roasted over charcoal at the back of their kitchen. And of course if you can persuade the boss or perhaps speak in fluent teochew and convince the boss that you are one of their people, you might be able to serve you the cold crab delicacy. And its all very reasonably priced.

More Teochew Dining

Huat Kee Teochew Restaurant
74 Amoy Street
Singapore 069893
Tel: 6423-4747

Ever since we stepped into Liang Kee (At Beo Cresent), my dad the true blue Teochew would constantly crave to go back there on a fortnightly basis. Eager to try something different, we started to search for other Teochew fix alternatives, and so here we are at Huat Kee.

The restaurant is located at Amoy street, which makes it a prime choice for many business lunches for Chinese businessmen and other business dealings. Although the restaurant’s signage reads Teochew Restaurant Huat Kee (Since 1998), in actual fact, this culinary history of this restaurant started in 1969 and 1998 is only a reflection of their time at the current Amoy Street address. We entered into the crowded double storied restaurant and were instantly worried that we were not going to get a table since we did not call to make a reservation, but we pushed our dad to the forefront and get him to charm the staff with his Teochew. Seeing how we were their “ka kee niang”, they managed to sit our family upstairs among a sea of reserved tables.


Steamed fish, Teochew Style

The food is traditional teochew and was good enough for my teochew father to consider bringing my teochew grandma, so, I can boldly say, it is authentic and pretty damn good. The first dish to arrive was our vegetables, Kai Lan stir fried with dried sole. The wok hei-ed lard flavoured vegetables were amazingly aromatic, green and crunchy. Following which we had the classic teochew goose meat and the prawn paste rolls. The goose meat was slightly tougher than I expected, but the prawn paste rolls, were good. The fried kway teow that came next was my favourite dish of the night. The sprinkling of chai poh in the noodles, gave it extra crunch and texture as well as a salty tangy flavour. Then came the plat du resistance, the ikan karua tail steamed teochew style – steamed to with preserved plums, tomatoes, ginger and preserved vegetables to create a subtle flavoured broth and retain the fish natural sweetness – the fish was fresh and sweet and the broth was delicate and clean that focused the attention on the natural flavours of the fish. To end it all off, we had portions of orh nee with pumpkin puree and ginko nuts. The warm comforting sticky paste, was thankfully not pumped up with too much sugar, but was wonderful to enjoy. To send you off, they serve you with a serving of ti guan yin tea to make you feel a little better about all the possible bad elements that you might have consumed during the course of your meal, not too bad eh?

Pay: $20-$30 a person