Traditional porridge with distinctive twist of flavours like kimchi & abalone at Selegie Ah Ma Jok

What’s your consolation meals? Mine is porridge. I used to sit up for home-cooked porridge by my mother each single day as my grandpa walked me dwelling from pre-school. I heard that Ah Ma Jok at 171 Selegie Road had a well-known style of nostalgia.

Previously situated at Punggol, they moved to a extra central location of Rochor in Aug 2022— simply in between Dhoby Ghaut and Little India MRT. Hidden behind Wilkie Edge Shopping Mall sits Ah Ma Jok, with its Tiffany blue header and an image of an previous girl within the brand.

‘Jok‘ means porridge in Cantonese, which explains the title, Ah Ma Jok. The proprietor explains that he began up the shop in remembrance of his late grandmother who handed on. The girl within the brand is his ah ma, as this complete retailer was for her.

Eugene learnt to cook dinner the normal delicacy of porridge from his dad and ah ma, which impressed his on-line enterprise that began in 2020. He has then labored on the recipes to include trendy twists within the present menu at his brick and mortar stall.

His menu now has Korean-inspiration like Kimchi Porridge (S$6) and Abalone Porridge (S$17)— similar to the Korean dish jeonbok-juk!

Inside the shop, you may sit about 25 individuals comfortably. They hold up a number of choices on the menu so you may see what entices you. They have in depth menu of porridges of all types.

What I attempted at Ah Ma Jok

Unfortunately, they didn’t have the abalone porridge that I used to be keen about. So I settled for a well-known order of the Pork Porridge (S$6.50) and Kimchi Porridge.

The Kimchi Porridge comes with out meat, which is why I opted so as to add Pork Balls for an extra S$1.60.

For one thing as staple as porridge, I’ve by no means come throughout a bowl with kimchi. It’s undoubtedly an eye-opener, and the youths are getting extra artistic in our meals scene.

In this dish, you’ll get a big scoop of kimchi inside. Once you combine it up, you’ll see an orange concoction of porridge, nearly like a Korean stew.

This addition switches up the standard meaty flavours that we’d sometimes style within the old-school dish. Instead, the kimchi provides a delicate trace of tangy-sour flavours into the entire meal. While one may assume that that is an odd mixture, I discovered myself reaching out for extra spoonfuls with this, greater than the pork one. I used to be addicted.

For those that are postpone by the orange tones, please do that earlier than you decide! I perceive how kimchi may be too pungent for some, however Ah Ma Jok’s variation had a pleasing degree of sourness that didn’t get too overpowering. Further, the kimchi was extra akin to Chinese cabbages, besides barely extra refreshing.

I really like congees with a myriad of substances. Because, if congee was an individual, they’d have probably the most boring character. It has a plain flavour profile, but when carried out effectively, a superb bowl will shock you excellent.

Ah Ma Jok permits for the addition of a number of substances like you tiao (S$1.10), salted egg yolk (S$1.70), century egg (S$1.50), and the record goes on. This permits so that you can customise the porridge of your option to your personal dietary limitations to nonetheless you want! Like plain previous joe reworking to gold.

Next, we tried out the Pork Porridge. This choice would more than likely be the choice that everybody is conversant in. A dish that could be a staple inside most Chinese households, after I tried it, it was undeniably nostalgic.

It consists of 3 handmade pork balls with soy sauce, a number of slices of lean pork and sprinkled with fried garlic bits and spring onions. By incorporating fried garlic within the porridge broth, it provides a pungent but nice aroma into the entire dish that makes it extra texturally attention-grabbing.

The broth is slow-cooked with pork bones for a lot of hours, explaining the aromatic, creamy goodness that you just’ll savour.

I favor my porridge to have a touch of pepper and soy sauce, however the soy sauce wasn’t crucial because the pork balls left a candy, tasty bowl that was aptly seasoned.

Final ideas

Just like grandma’s cooking, this was simply devoured.

You can’t go unsuitable with a superb bowl of porridge— one mouth in and also you’ll style the consolation of home-cooked meals with years and years of heritage. Eugene talked about to me that he opened the stall in remembrance of his grandma, effectively, I’m positive she’s very happy with his works.

Expected injury: S$5 – S$7 per pax

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