Often have I heard that steamed whole fish, fish head bee hoon, sliced fish bee hoon and sliced fish soup are of the Teochew style.
What the story is, and why, I don't know.
But it's certainly interesting.
And maybe one day I don't mind finding out more.
I have my own preference for fish soup, however.
If given a choice, I prefer the fried version compared to the non-fried version.
And I must add the milk.
The fish soup feels a tad too 'clean' for me otherwise.
Maybe I'm not very used to the super-clean taste of steamed fish, especially steamed fish skin, and I like my fish pieces chonky, floury and a bit chewy.
There're many places for good fried fish bee hoon, I know.
Like the one at this coffee shop somewhere along Beach Road.
And this one in a non-descript coffee shop behind Lavender MRT.
I haven't been to all of them.
But this one- at Maxwell Food Center- I have.
Jin Hua Fish Soup is the first stall I make a beeline for whenever I'm there..
I'm a happy diner when they're open.
I'm a lost one when they're closed.
It's as if their fish soup is the (only) thing I want to go for over at Maxwell, never mind that there's the famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, there's the Thai food right at the corner somewhere, the wanton noodles is not bad too, and there's even good porridge to be sold right opposite this Jin Hua Fish Soup stall.
I'm not blah against these dishes.
I love them just the same.
Just that I'm a creature of habit and I can't forget the warmth I felt from the bowl of fish meat bee hoon the first time I had it.
Ordering from them is a breeze.
You go there, tell them you want the 'fish meat bee hoon' and they'll proceed to make it for you. Before that they'll ask if you want to 'add milk' to your soup, and I always do.
It's interesting to see the way they prepare your food.
First from a display case they choose several pieces of (already) fried fish meat and drop them into a pot. After that they grab a handful of bee hoon from a pile nearby and toss them in. On the stove the pot then boils at full flame for a bit before a handful of vegetables are tossed in. right after. The pot is allowed to boil just a little while more, he then adds a dash of this, a dash of that, and then he pours it out into a bowl.
Before you take your tray away, he asks you if you want fried onions to go with your soup.
I always say yes.
Fried onions and (sometimes) fried ikan bilis make the soup taste nicer.
At least for me.
I love biting into the fried fish and feeling the texture of the fish meat blend with the batter of the fish.
There's the bit of roundedness to the taste of the fish. (Maybe because it's fried)
There's the chew in the texture of the batter. (Not very thick, not very thin either)
There's the thick bee hoon which I get to happily slurp using my chopsticks..
And there's the milky white soup, with her well-balanced flavors, her gentle sweetness, her (very)( faint taste of umami, and the comfortable warmth that she brings.