KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — The porridge from Hoong Kee Seafood Porridge may look unappealing but it tastes divine. I relish each spoonful of smooth congee which envelops me like a hug.
It doesn't need any soy sauce as the sweet flavour comes from the use of fresh seafood — clams, prawns, fish slices and dried scallops. You also get thin slices of fresh ginger inside the porridge.
The only thing missing were the spring onions and coriander which they had forgotten to place with my order but I didn't miss it much.
Even my fussy mother approved of the porridge and happily finished up the whole portion.
I have been a fan of Hoong Kee Seafood Porridge for many years when they operated at PJ New Town's Kam Heong Coffee Shop.
Your porridge would be served in a huge claypot that retained the heat and kept it warm. After 20 years of operation, the porridge stall closed for business in 2011.
With the recovery movement control order (RMCO), the Koh family who ran this business decided to start serving their porridge via food delivery from their home at Overseas Union Garden.
The management of orders is by Marcus Koh who is helping his father Lester who does the cooking.
A lot of thought has been put into the business with a proper menu and beautifully shot photos of the porridge.
Marcus has also set up a system for the orders; once you pay online, you can either pick up the porridge on your own or arrange for delivery at your own cost.
A trial run was conducted last Friday and Saturday where orders were taken for lunch and dinner. I picked up my porridge using my own takeaway containers so there are no pictures of their delivery packaging.
Currently, the next delivery times for the porridge are not fixed yet so stay tuned for news on their Facebook page. I'm also looking forward to the schedule as I plan to order another round of that porridge.
The porridge menu is limited to five choices. Each portion feeds one person. If you cannot decide, go for the mixed seafood porridge where you get prawns, fish, clams and dried scallops for RM23. The prawns have a lovely sweet taste.
For those who prefer the classic, the fish porridge is served with plump, thick grouper (sek pan) fish slices. This is priced at RM15. Alternatively you can get prawns or dried scallops for RM15 each. The clams porridge is RM10.
They also offer side items such as pig's stomach pepper soup, braised pork belly with preserved vegetables (mui choy), braised duck with yellow rice wine and ginger. These dishes are meant to be paired with rice.
Hoong Kee Seafood Porridge, Overseas Union Garden, KL. You can WhatsApp 011-36906230 for more information on the next delivery dates or visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hoongkeeseafoodporridge
