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I initially came to Ang Mo Kio to try a Malaysian-style char kway teow. But much to my horror, the stall had closed down! As I shuffled back to the MRT station with my head hung low, I walked past the nearby Mayflower Market & Food Centre. It’s one of the smaller hawker centres in Singapore, with around 40 stalls tucked near Mayflower MRT.
Intrigued as to what the hawker centre had to offer, I took a peek within and spotted a snaking line leading towards Chef Oh HK Style Cheong Fun • Porridge.
I’ll be upfront about it, I always viewed porridge as ‘the sick person’s food’. It always tasted bland and mushy, and there was nothing my parents could do to make me eat porridge. Suffice to say, I was a bit of a porridge hater.
But we supposedly all eventually grow up and grow out of our childish mindsets. To test this, I bit the bullet and reassessed my opinion on porridge. If I didn’t like it, at least I could still savour the chee cheong fun, right?
What I tried at Chef Oh HK Style Cheong Fun • Porridge
Obviously, I had to get their porridge. I ordered their Preserved Egg Minced Meat Porridge (S$4), which came in a bowl filled to the brim with mushy goodness. My eyes were drawn to those golden you tiao floating atop the congee.
I’m pretty used to your typical oily and soft you tiao from dishes like pepper bak kut teh. So you could imagine my pleasant surprise when I took a bite and had the whole you tiao crunch in my mouth. It’s less like eating a you tiao, and more like eating shrimp chips or zai er.
Also, I tasted absolutely zero hints of oil. So props to the chef for making it super crispy and clean!
Now, the moment of truth. With rumbling trepidation in my heart, I scooped up a shaky spoonful of the porridge. It wasn’t all white mush, as I could clearly see small bits of minced meat and century eggs, too. But it did nothing to quell the shiver running down my spine as I took my first spoon of porridge in over a decade.
It barely needed any chewing and went down my throat like warm soup. And to my own surprise, I gave it a thumbs up! It was like eating mildly chunky mashed potatoes accompanied by the earthiness of century eggs.
15 best porridges in Singapore that deserve the congee-niality award [May 2025 update]
Speaking of century eggs, it’s one of those toppings which you either love or hate — and I’m in the camp of fervently loving it. Curiously, the century eggs are sliced into thin pieces and mixed into the congee instead of being sliced into halves and served on the side.
One minor criticism: this dish needs more minced chicken. There are bits scattered throughout the bowl but you can’t really taste them.
Moving on to the other half of this stall’s namesake, the chee cheong fun. They offer a handful of creative twists, like their Lontong Cheong Fun (S$4.20) or Mixed Sauce Cheong Fun (S$4.20), which comes with both sweet and spicy sauces. I simply went for the classic HK Style Cheong Fun (S$3.20).
It was a rather large portion of chee cheong fun, counting 14 slices in total. It’s so much that I’d recommend this as a meal on its own rather than eating it as a side dish.
I asked the stall owner, Chef Oh San Oui, if the chee cheong fun was made in-house, and he proudly tapped his chest and answered “Of course!” in Mandarin. It’s so smooth and silky, no wonder he’s proud of it.
The sambal chilli was not as hot as I expected, and it added lots of tanginess on top of the usual sweetness from the sauce, along with the crunchiness from the sesame seeds.
Final thoughts
Have I been converted into a porridge lover? Not exactly, but I think I’ve at least moved on from hating porridge.
Putting my biases aside, I think Chef Oh HK Style Cheong Fun • Porridge offers very homey and comfy food that easily warms the soul after a long and hard day. It’s cooked fast, is very affordable, and offers great value for money.
In fact, I may even return if I ever need another porridge fix.
Expected damage: S$4 – S$7 per pax
