Geylang Lor 9 Frog Porridge @ AMK

I grew up in Geylang, and since moving up north, I miss going for this supper favourite of mine – claypot frog porridge.

Strangely on the little street in Singapore called Geylang, a particular amphibian is consumed more often than anywhere in the world. I am talking about frogs and frog porridge eateries along Geylang Road. Geylang Lor 9 Fresh Frog Porridge was founded in 1995. Although Singaporeans, especially the Cantonese, have been putting frog legs into porridge, but they were the first to introduce farmed raised bull frogs in a claypot combined with Geylang Lor 9’s secret recipe sauce.

Since the beginning of their operations, they only offer two flavours – without chilli or with chilli. Both versions are cooked with the secret sauce, but the Kungpao 宫保 is just Ginger and Scallions 姜葱 cooked with a copious amount of chilli. I could not say which one is better, as I often find myself in pain with the heat from the Kungpao frogs, which can be neutralised by the sweet and savoury Ginger and Scallions frogs.

Frog meat tastes like chicken but has the texture of fish. My mom used to give me frog legs to let me grow calf muscles. Yes, Chinese believe that we eat what we want to enhance 以形补形. And porridge is comfort food. 

The best way to enjoy it, in my humble opinion, is to order a plain porridge and one each of the two flavours. The porridge is gooey and thick, and if you leave it alone, it will become a brick of soft rice.

Take a bowl of porridge and pour liberally the sauce onto it, the porridge transforms into a brown bowl of ultimate deliciousness and umami. Strangely, you cannot overcook these frogs. The meat remains tender and soft despite reheating or long cooking.

Geylang Lor 9 Fresh Frog Porridge

They were the first to offer claypot frog porridge in Geylang. The first store was established on the street Lor 9 Geylang with a unique recipe of frog porridge. Since then, they have two more branches in Singapore and stores in Malaysia, China, Cambodia and Vietnam. Who would have thought a frog could jump so far and wide.

The AMK branch inherited the famous taste, but I find the porridge at Geylang HQ had better consistency. But not having to travel 30km for frogs would leave one leaping for joy.

Geylang Lor 9 Frog Porridge 芽笼九巷活田鸡 @ AMK
S-11 AMK 530 Food House, 530 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, #01-2379, Singapore 560530
Tel : +65 9093 9007

Visited Jan 2024