Woodlands as a frontier town lacks good eateries, many would just cross the Causeway over to Johore Bahru for a wider variety of delicious foods. Luckily we still have nearby Sembawang to rely on.
Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice is located in the laidback neighbourhood of Jalan Tampang where the old Sembawang Shopping Centre was. It occupies a spartan shophouse all decked in white washed walls and ceiling with matching white tiles.
There’s only one main thing on the menu, and the star of the meal arrived after 30 mins from placing the order. A perfect balance of chicken, Chinese sausage, bakchoy and salted fish, the Sembawang’s version of claypot rice is a beautiful when presented. Everything has its place on the pot. I always order an extra portion of salted fish for that salty umami that is so important in a good claypot rice.
Sembawang’s claypot rice had a rich flavour and the taste was further enhanced by the thick black sauce which give it the savoury and little sweet taste. The amount of soy sauce is up to one but I like to put a little more than usual so that it would flavour the bottom burnt bits of the rice. Then it is skill to mix the sauce thoroughly so that you would get uneven taste with each mouthful.
There’s the burnt rice at the bottom of the claypot, and for the traditionalists this is the sign of a good pot of claypot rice. We are all used to the modern rice cooker which makes perfect rice every time as long as you put in the rice ratio of rice and water. You cannot avoid the burnt rice in claypot as it is directly exposed to the fire. They give the claypot rice its distinctive smoky flavour and crackling texture.
A childhood adage went like this, “those with no teeth eat beansprouts.” This was one of my favourite vegetable since I was a child, and the best pairing of this bland, crunchy green bean sprouts is the salt and umami-laden salted fish. It was so wet and soggy, I regretted ordering it.
I ordered another tzechar classic, deep fried pork belly marinated in fermented beancurd, but it turned out quite hard and the pork itself was tasteless.
It was a good version of the dish but I would not say that it was the best claypot rice we had tried in Singapore. I prefer the one in Golden Mile food centre, but this is still worth the wait. Just skip the rest of the tzechar items.
Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice 三巴旺原味煲仔饭
4 Jln Tampang, Singapore 758948
Tel : +65 6757 7144
Visited Apr 2025
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