Even though our affordable Teochew steamed fish lunch for two cost only $14, we felt like big spenders the other day. A normal lunch would be $3.50 per person. Fish choices are more expensive and are usually avoided at chye poong stalls. We felt rich that day and pointed at the largest one available.
In between the heavy dining that takes place during the festive season, it is nice to have a light and simple meal in between the big ones. Teochew food is suitable for this purpose as it tends to be lightly flavoured. We bought takeaway food from the Ghim Moh market and food centre which is a very popular place. The superstar food stalls here are the char kway teow, roast meat and braised duck stalls. These attract the longest queues. Ghim Moh Porridge and Rice is a popular stall, but the queues are more manageable. There are usually queues of around 10 to 15 people, but it moves quite fast as chye poong (or more commonly pronounced as chye png in Hokkien) can be served quickly.
Ghim Moh Porridge and Rice
The stall is manned by a man and two ladies. The man does the cooking and the ladies pick up the food and interfaces with customers. Service is efficient and friendly. The range of food is not wide, but that is not a problem, we always choose the same things anyway. The most popular dishes are the chye po ngerg (omelette with preserved vegetables), the loh bak and loh ngerg (dark soy sauce braised pork and egg), cabbage and the fish. At many other places, fish items are avoided. But at this stall, the small fishes are reasonably priced and they are sold out quickly. Fresh batches are steamed and topped up until supplies run out.
Affordable Teochew Steamed Fish Lunch
For our takeaway lunch we bought two packets of rice together with chye poh omelette (x2), braised egg, long beans, cabbage and one large fish. I think it is a small golden pomfret. It was not a large fish by restaurant dining standards, but quite big for a chye poong meal. It was too large for the takeaway box – we had to let the fins and tail hang out of the box. The presentation looks better if you eat at the food centre (see our post on an earlier visit).
The eggs and vegetables were all very good as usual. This freshly steamed fish from the market was big enough to have chunky amounts of meat, but the flesh was not as delicate as the large, pure white promfrets at Teochew restaurants. But as a lunch for two costing $14, we have no complaints. A glass or two of sauvignon blanc made it even better.
Ghim Moh Porridge and Rice
#01-63
Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road Market & Cooked Food Centre
Ghim Moh Road
Singapore 270020
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