许老五潮汕砂锅粥 Xu Lao Wu Teochew Claypot Porridge at Zhuhai is rated the best street food at Tang Jia Wan area on Dian Ping which is the HungryGoWhere of China. Literally, you will be feasting on the street but also on a golden table cloth.

The restaurant specialises in Chao Shan food. Chao Shan is located at the north-eastern part of Guangdong province. Most people in Guangdong speak Cantonese except at Chao Shan where people speak Teochew. Chao Shan is historically important as it is the ancestral homeland of many Singaporeans and other Southeast Asians.

Because Chao Shan is near the sea, the cuisine has much seafood as reflected in this restaurant’s menu. There are many Teochew items on the menu that Singaporeans will find familiar: 蚝烙 ¥25 (oyster omelette, orh luak) and 炸果肉 ¥28  (known to Singaporeans as wu xiang). Other Teochew dishes that Singaporeans may know include the 卤水拼盘, brined duck starting from ¥20.

According to Dian Ping, the regulars recommend 虾粥 🦐 prawn porridge (price depending on portion size), 虾仁粉丝煲 Prawn vermicelli claypot ¥20,  蚝仔粥 oyster porridge. The restaurant also serves stir-fry and hotplate dishes like cze char. Patrons recommend 椒盐排骨 salt-and-pepper pork ribs.

I wouldn’t have ordered the ubiquitous 凉拌青瓜 spicy chilled cucumber (¥15) as an appetiser because it is not a Teochew specialty. But my Chinese friend did the ordering. Nevetheless, it is nice. Crunchy and only slightly spicy that I, someone who cannot take very spicy food, found it enjoyable.

We only had one main dish, 蟹粥 🦀 crab porridge (¥80 for two persons), which is also one of the signatures of the shop. All their porridge come in big claypots which retain the temperature so it remains bubbling for some time and even in cold weather, it continues to be warm.

I may be spoilt, but I did not like the stringy crab, unlike the fleshy Sri Lankan crabs we use in Singapore. The crab shell is soft and malleable, making it easy to extract the flesh; but there isn’t much flesh to extract anyway.

That said, the crab is sweet, and the sweetness has seeped into the porridge. However, I do not like the texture of the porridge. It is starchy and gooey, unlike the Cantonese porridge which is equally liquid but does not have that sticky texture.

The restaurant serves desserts too, but their desserts are deep-fried. Patrons recommend 炸芋卷¥18 deep-fried yam rolls. But we were too full to order it.

We paid ¥95 for two persons. Pretty good pricing for crab porridge.

Menu

Food: 6/10
Value / price: 7/10
Decor / ambience: NA
Service: NA

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