[Snippets] “Someone’s been eating my porridge!” said Papa Bear

Teochew Muay (rice porridge) is very often our savior to many late night hunger pangs (although some nights like tonight, we’re simply greedy!). Nothing like a nice hot bowl of rice porridge to warm the stomach and help you sleep better! Much like warm milk in some parts of the world…?

This frugal meal of plain rice porridge with simple condiments have evolved through the years and today, it is not as humble anymore as one can get overzealous with ordering and end up eating/ spending much more than expected!

Picture this. Its 2 o’clock in the morning. Your party’s hungry. A large, I mean LAAARGE, spread of food displays before your eyes. Everything from poultry to seafood to dairy to vegetables. From braised, fried, steamed, poached to even raw. They call out to you and well, you answer! Just point and they’ll serve! Before you know it, 14 dishes are summoned when you truly only need 8! But who doesn’t love a tableful of food? So we dig in anyway! Oblivious to our greed and ignorant of our weight (we will ~~reflect~~ regret tomorrow!) At the end of the meal, you wave for the bill. A server comes by, with scrutinizing eyes , he begins flipping, stacking and tippling the many empty plates while mumbling some numbers under his breath and within seconds, like a true Kumon scholar, he shoots you the cost of your meal! Your eyes popped a little as you turn your ear to listen better… Yep, you heard right, a little steep, you thought, but paid anyway since it’s by now 3am, you just wanna crawl into your bed and starting a Mathematical challenge is the last thing on your mind!

A different experience awaits you at Chaozhou along River Valley Road. To start with, the place is clean (✔️), staff is friendly (✔️), menu is diverse (✔️), opened til 4am (✔️)! Instead of a Kumon scholar, a good old cash register breaks down and calculates your order systematically. We’ve heard good things about many dishes… cold sliced Pig Trotters, Steamed Fish, fried Ngoh Hiang, Fried Rice and Fresh Blood Cockles but by golly the menu offers even more. Here’s what six not-so-hungry people ordered…!