If you live in Singapore, you may go for a late night meal of Teochew muay (Teochew porridge). There's a fair chance you'll go after a scream-your-heart-out karaoke session so you'll want to find a table close to the eatery's ceiling fans.
Singapore's rice porridge, called Teochew muay, is different from congee. The rice in congee is mushy, but the grains in Teochew muay are firm. SBS Food spoke with Teochew muay aficionados to learn more.
Melbourne-based chef Albert Lim explains that the best Teochew muay is made from recently harvested rice grains that can maintain their structure throughout the cooking process. Meanwhile, Eric Low, chef and owner of culinary consultancy in Singapore, describes Teochew muay as a rice soup with "lots of broth, [and a] light and clean tasting mouthfeel." Tony Boey, who runs food blog, says the broth and the fact it's easy to eat is thought to have helped the Teochew people combat their humid homeland of Chaoshan in China's Guangdong province.
The significance of Teochew muay for Teochew Singaporeans cannot be understated. Low says, "It formed the backbone diet of many pioneer generations of Singaporeans who helped build this country after our independence."
Teochew muay comes with different types of side dishes. Source: Tony Boey
The porridge is paired with different dishes, depending on whether you're having it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For example, at breakfast, you may have it with salted duck egg, an omelette made with pickled radish or whitebait, canned pickled cucumber and fermented beancurd. For lunch and dinner, some stalls in Singapore offer braised proteins like goose, duck and pork leg, steamed seafood like fish and calamari, or raw marinated crabs. There are even curry dishes, asam-pedas dishes and otak-otak, which is cooked fish paste mixed with coconut milk and spices.
Like a rice soup with lots of broth, [and a] light and clean tasting mouthfeel.
You can spot traditional Teochew side dishes with the conservative use of seasonings. For instance, the raw marinated crabs are only pickled with soy sauce. Lim explains Teochew cooking is about letting the core ingredients speak for themselves.
"They are very particular about getting fresh seafood, and they want the seafood to speak for themselves and to taste the freshness of the ingredients," Lim says. "There's a saying in Teochew that goes, 'if it's fresh, no matter how expensive it is, it's still worth it'."
When Lim was a teenager living in Singapore, eating fresh Teochew muay was easy because wet markets would sell ready-made side dishes such as whitebait, steamed mackerel and steamed calamari with kumquat sauce. "You would buy from there, bring them home, cook the porridge and you can have your own lunch straight away," he says.
While there are no more wet markets in Singapore, you can still get Teochew muay easily. Boey explains that it's "a meal that you eat to stretch the evening". And it's best to have it with others since this means you'll get to sample a larger variety of dishes.
Singaporean rice porridge (teochew muay) always welcomes plenty of side dishes. Source: Tony Boey
There's a saying in Teochew that goes, 'if it's fresh, no matter how expensive it is, it's still worth it'.
Keen to try Teochew porridge without hopping on a plane? Lim has a couple of tips. To achieve the right porridge consistency, the rice needs to be boiled at medium-high heat so that the grains roll instead of sinking to the bottom of the pot. If they start to stick to the bottom, use a spatula to gently lift them. Once the grains start rolling, turn the heat down to medium. Add water if the consistency is too thick. Once the water looks starchy and the rice is soft, remove the porridge from the heat and eat it with side dishes of your choice. Lim suggests having it wih mackerel, which you can get from Asian grocery shops or even fishmongers, supermarkets or shopping centres.
"Get fermented beancurd, pickled cucumbers and preserved mustard leaves from Asian groceries," he says. "Steam your own fish. And if you want to be more elaborate, braise your own duck or pork leg. Or you can buy the roast duck from a restaurant."
