Ah Orh Teochew Seafood

TV is now showing how our forefathers came to Singapore to find a new beginning. Most of these immigrants from China were from Canton and Fujian, and with them you get the Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hockchew, Hainan cuisines. And for my family, the cuisine is Teochew. Once in a while we will go the remaining blueblood Teochew restaurants in Singapore and Mom will always comment this and that. Ah Orh Seafood in Bukit Merah was one of the remaining stewards of this art.

Ah Orh gained its fame as a Millionaire’s supper club. They served a very good Teochew-style Bah Kut Teh, which was peppery and savoury, and cured any late night hangovers. Another reason, its Teochew cuisine has retained its standard for a very long time. Be warned, because of the supper club crowd, the place was not known to be economical given that it was in a HDB ground floor void deck.

We started with a Jelly Pork. The pig skin and belly were gelled in their own stock and cut into strips and served chilled with cilantro and a vinegar-chilli sauce. Simple and tasty treat on a hot afternoon. Mom’s commentary: this one had too much gelatine powder. In the old days, the pork skin and belly were cooked to extract their own gelatine and the gel was formed from that, imagine that!