Boon Keng Road Fish Head Been Hoon · Seafood Soup

Fish Soup is comfort food for many Singaporeans. Especially during rainy days,  it is the perfect reason to brighten up my mood. I remembered I was having a bad cold when I first tried “Boon Keng Road Fish Head”. I ordered a bowl of sliced fish with spicy pig’s stomach soup and it was very shiok! Amazing remedy for cold yea?

 

So why is this stall called “Boon Keng Road Fish Head” when it is at Bedok? According to the owner of the stall, Madam Tan, the stall was shifted from Boon Keng Road to Bedok in 2000. Now, they have two stalls side one side, one to prepare ingredients while the other is the main kitchen. Business is good here and taxi uncles love to come in as a group to enjoy Madam Tan’s fish soup during lunch.

Before Madam Tan started this business, she was actually a fishmonger. So she knew exactly how to pick the freshest fish. Madam Tan said she used fish head and ikan bilis to prepare the broth. She uses only batang fish, garnished with bitter gourd, local lettuce leaves and Chinese parsley. The soup (from $3.50) was sweetened and enriched by the fresh slices of smooth fish, packed with a rich fish flavor that I slurped to the last drop.

 

Besides their fish soup, they also sell fried fish soup, bak kut teh, seafood soup, pig’s stomach soup and fish porridge. If you would like some kick, you can order pig stomach’s soup with sliced fish, very popular during rainy days.

And they even have pig trotters (from $3.50), it is no wonder they need another stall to prepare the ingredients. The pig trotters are stewed just to the right timing and it resembles that of a typical grandmother’s cooking.

 

The pig trotters has been braised for long enough yet not overly cooked till it disintegrates. The stew is fragrant and you don’t feel thirsty after finishing the sauce. The amazing alchemy of dark soya sauce with spices such as cloves, cinnamon, star anise etc produced a very traditional, aroma and savory taste. The skin is jelly like soft and bouncy while the meat is firm and tender.

There are different cooks at different period of the day. But I feel Madam Tan’s soup taste the best. She said she doesn’t come in at a specific time, so if you are lucky, you may see her!

It’s supposed to be a healthy lunch but now it has turned sinful because I ate the pig’s trotters too! But I guess the calories are worth it. Let me share a lil’ secret with you, fish soup has become my new addiction.