Thong Heng Porridge – Great Hainanese Congee in Ang Mo Kio!

Nothing warms the heart like a piping bowl of congee. Diving into a hot bowl of gruel on a cold and wet morning is just indescribably comforting.

Thong Heng Porridge is run by 72-year-old Madam Merry Khoo. She has been cooking for more than 2 decades and had set up shop in Hougang and Kallang Bahru, before moving to the current space in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4. She shared with us that she has built a steady customer base — many customers have been patronising her stall since its humble beginnings in Hougang.

Although Madam Khoo is of Teochew descent, she cooks Hainanese-style porridge. Many of us are more familiar with the grainy Teochew mui and gooey Cantonese zhok, and may never have heard of Hainanese porridge. Hainanese porridge looks mushy, but you can still feel the individual grains when eating it.

Thong Heng offers a variety of porridge, such as Sliced Fish ($3.50), Century Egg ($3) and Pork ($3) porridge. We tried the century egg, and pork porridge, and both contained a generous amount of ingredients. What I loved the most about the porridge is that it had a “mi xiang”, which loosely translates to “rice fragrance”. It reminded me of my childhood, when I would sit in the kitchen and watch my grandma prepare dinner. The kitchen would be perfumed with the aroma of cooked rice.

When you’re going to Thong Heng, pay special attention to the Chinese spoons that come with the porridge. Madam Khoo shared with us that she bought it all the way from Swatow when she went back to visit her relatives!

Note that the stall does not have stipulated rest days!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.