Stand Up For Singapore

I remember the hustle and bustle, and the smell of raw meat that made my nose twitch as a young kindergarten kid as we walked through the wet market to the hawker centre. This was my go-to, warm yummy porridge that my mum used to dish into a smaller bowl so that it would cool down quickly for the impatient toddler (me). As the years passed and the children grew up, sit-downs became takeaways with the increasing rigour of schedules in our family of five. I still come to the living room every Saturday and Sunday, expecting the fragrance of fresh pork porridge to waft through the air. My favourites are their cuttlefish porridge, and century egg porridge. No one else has managed to capture the delicate balance of fresh and cooked cuttlefish, while avoiding the extremes of tasting raw and chewy. The century egg salts the pork porridge briefly, enhancing its flavour. I can never forget the crunchy, light-tasting you tiao that will always be the centre of a chopstick fight. It's a scent and scene of comfort and familiarity that has evolved with us. The past Monday, I had the privilege of visiting Marine Terrace Market again. Nothing beats a fresh bowl of congee straight from the pot, complete with the slight grimace from the store aunty who has probably been awake since 4 am that day in order to keep the store running. This time, I sat there and it felt surreal. My parents have now aged, I am about to graduate, but the ever-popular porridge remains the same, and well worth the wait. :) #hawkerpedia

My fellow intern and I ate this for lunch on a rainy and cooling day. It was a bowl of comfort with its flavourful soup chockful of the taste from prawn heads (yummmm) and succulent fresh prawns. Generous with prawn servings, I was very satisfied and pleased.

This was a lovely experience at 1.45pm because it wasn't crowded and i could speak to my mum without shouting over her like in a typically hotpot restaurant setting. Pictured is a lunch set B (priced at 19++ for one person) and ala carte fish noodles, marinated beef, cabbage and rice. The set had come with a choice of meat (i chose pork loin), seafood platter (one piece of squid, one fish slice, two fishballs and two prawns), some greens, enoki mushroom (a must for every hotpot!!!) and a choice of carb (i got vermicelli). The ingredients were fresh and we paid 48 in total for everything in the picture. Might serve better to order the 2-pax lunch set instead, i saw that it cost 42++. I would recommend the pork loin, and the fish noodles are a fun experience! Call me ignorant, but i had never tried squeezing fish paste like icing into hot soup before to form the "fish noodles". I really appreciated that we each had our own pot, this meant we could have different soup bases without risk of cross-contamination unlike half-half pots. I really like the superior broth that I had. Would come back again for a comforting and filling meal! :)

This is one of my favourite foods and one of my most persistent cravings. The servings are generous and fresh, the soup is delicious and it's very affordable at $4. The organs do not carry pungent taste, rest assured. Definitely a must-try even if you're not one to take innards usually. You'll be sure to come back.

Despite another bbq store being the one with newspaper articles displayed, my friends and I feel that chompchomp serves the better sambal stingray. The stingray is fresh and slides off the bone, and the sambal is flavourful with a composite of tangy and spicy. Lovely! $10 for a small serving, enough for 2-3.

Step aside "traditional breakfast" chains, here's the real stuff at real prices. $3 for a set of two eggs (always soft-boiled and unlike the hits and misses at other stores), coffee/tea and two slices of kaya toast with the sinful butter slab in the middle that everyone loves.

Finally tracked down the famous ban mian after the roxy square food court closed for renovation. Its now at marine parade central's hawker centre, and still boasting the same handmade goodness and ever generous with the ingredients. Yum! $3 for a bowl

A novel twist on a local staple, and one worthy of its position as the restaurant's signature dish. This dish was gobbled up in 5 min, and made the 20 min wait completely worth it. Flavoured w lard, spring onion and beansprouts (as pictured), as well as pork slices and prawn hidden in the non-crispy beehoon layer below. Really good and affordable. This medium portion (good for 3-5pax) was $12.