Mother Porridge @ Pandan Perdana

While searching ShopeeFood for something to eat, I came upon Mother Porridge @ Pandan Perdana (that serves many types of porridge).  It's not easy to find estaurants specialising in porridge nowadays.  I was tempted by the delicious-looking photos of their porridge...and they looked like something I'd enjoy.  Why wouldn't I, since I'm a huge fan of porridge after all, though my family doesn't share the same enthusiastic sentiment.

The food photos of Mother Porridge reminded me of the best porridge I've ever had at Low Yau Kee (or Lao You Ji) when they were still operating as a roadside stall before the old man/boss moved to ply his trade from Restoran Soong Kee (the famous beef ball noodles) and subsequently retired and sold off his business to them.  The stall is still run by Soong Kee and you'll find them open in the evenings.

One of my all time favourites is always the (Claypot) Mixed Pork Porridge (or chee chap chuk) @ RM13 (note that their porridge is served in claypots if dining in).  If you're ordering this via delivery, rest assured that the packaging (extra charge of RM0.50) comes completely secured with cellophane tape over the plastic container to ensure no spillage.

A mixed pork offal porridge (like pork innards soup or chee chap tong) usually contains some, if not all sorts of innards like intestines, lungs, kidneys, tongue, heart, liver, stomach and blood cubes.  This one had some homemade pork meat balls as well (but no liver or stomach).

One of the main reasons why I like chee chap chuk is because of the crunchy deep fried pork intestines (and I was glad to see that they packed this separately to retain the chewy crunch so that they don't end up soft from being soaked in the porridge). The fried intestines were decent but compared to some of the better ones I've had, it needed a bit more saltiness.

While the fried pork intestines offered the crunch, the chopped spring onions (which were also packed separately) together with the thin slivers of shredded ginger offered a hint of freshness to the bowl of porridge.  I liked that the porridge was not overly thick (with a blended consistency like some Hong Kong congee) but still smooth (perhaps not as silky smooth as some).  It had a soft consistency but turns more watery as you continue eating it which I didn't mind one bit (just like my own homecooked porridge).

One of the best accompaniments with chuk are always Fried Dough Sticks (or yau char kwai) @ RM4.50 which I ordered as an add-on (so that I could use the RM10 discount for RM14 spending).  In most cases, the yau char kwai is usually an afterthought and tend to be soft and no longer crispy as they're normally store-bought in advance (like what bak kut teh places do).

But the ones here, besides being light and airy, were significantly crispy and felt like they were housemade as they tasted freshly fried.  Certainly one of the better ones I've had...with porridge.  As the porridge was a rather sizeable and generous portion, I could not finish the crispy crullers so I left the balance for later to be eaten dunked in coffee! ;)

For my second order, I wanted to try the (Claypot) Fish Porridge @ RM15 and was actually expecting the fish to be packed separately too based on my earlier experience with the chee chap chuk where they packed the fried intestines (even the spring onions) separately.....but it wasn't the case for the fish porridge. 

From my experience of eating fish porridge, the raw fish slices are usually served separately from the porridge as the raw fish would cook instantly once in contact with the hot congee.  Maybe that's the way they serve it if you're dining in but I can certainly understand why the fish was in the porridge (for delivery) in case the congee isn't hot enough by the time it arrives.

I've always loved fish porridge as it's something that's light and easy to eat (that's why it always comes to mind when we're feeling under the weather).  Fishing through the porridge, I thought the fish slices I got were generous enough for the price paid.

Slices of raw sang yue (snakehead) with shreds of ginger and chopped spring onions is a nourishing bowl of comfort! ;)  I actually prefer the spring onions to be shredded in long strands (like in Low Yao Kee) and woudn't mind some Chinese parsley (yin sai) along with it.  Dipped in hot congee to lightly cook it, it'll offer a mouthful of freshness.

I had my congee with an order of Sour Ginger Preserved Egg @ RM7.  I absolutely love century eggs.....but to those who hate them, they'll probably describe it as stinky with a urine-like odor...lol! >_<  This century egg was of a pretty good quality....with firm egg whites (or black in this case) while the yolk was so creamy and delicious.

And the pickled ginger is so needed to cut through the creaminess of the yolk.  The difference with this pickled ginger was that I found a piece of red bird's eye chilli amongst it...that's why I tasted tangy and lightly sweet together with a welcome hint of spicy nuances in the ginger that made the pickle so good.  It went very well with the century egg that I wish I had more of it.  For this order, I took up ShopeeFood's offer at that time of RM10 off for RM20 spent.

The pic of a plate of salted chicken (with wolfberries on top) and some sauce underneath (RM17 on its own) was what tempted me to order this Wolfberry with Salted Chicken Porridge @ RM20 in the first place but I was disappointed when it arrived with the chicken submerged in the porridge.  I thought it would be served (as in packed) separately from the porridge (I mean this was a shop that was diligent enough to even pack its spring onions separately!).  Maybe if I had ordered it individually with an extra order of porridge (RM6), it might have been packed separately?  I don't know.

The chicken (it was thigh meat but with some bones still intact) was still tender but the smoothness was lost after being submerged in the hot porridge.  I did taste some subtle saltiness in the chicken itself but whatever taste it did have initially was drowned by the porridge and became hardly noticeable when it continued to steep in the hot porridge.

This time the price of this porridge was just ngam ngam (right) for me to take advantage of the RM4 discount for RM20 spent (ShopeeFood's discounts are on a downward trajectory..haiz!).  Safe to say, this was my least favourite porridge...but then it could have been a whole lot different if it was served separately.  They also have a version with poached chicken (which I do adore with porridge) but wouldn't dare to order that via delivery now in case it comes the same way (better leave that for dining in)! >.<

Besides the 3 types of porridge I've tried here, they also have it with different ingredients like dried oyster, preserved egg, salted egg, peanuts, dried scallops, homemade pork meat, sliced meat, pork ribs, seafood, prawns, la-la, shredded chicken, sliced abalone and frog (or any combinations thereof) ranging from the cheapest Preserved Egg & Salted Egg (RM10) to the most expensive Deluxe Seafood Porridge (RM40)...so they've got almost every combination of porridge you'll ever want.

My Personal Opinion

I absolutely love porridge (not a sentiment shared by my family unfortunately), so I've got to go it alone when I want to eat this.  It's comfort food for me on rainy days and for days when I'm feeling under the weather......not that I don't enjoy it on other days too...kekeke! ^.^  I think this porridge will taste even better eaten on-site as they'd be served in claypots (to retain heat and keep the congee hot for longer).  Not only is the porridge served in claypots, so are a lot of their other dishes.

Most of the complaints (or negative reviews) seemed to be about the expensive pricing and small portions but I didn't feel that way as I felt the portions were hearty enough as I always ended not being able to finish all the congee.  But I do feel the salted chicken porridge was a bit overpriced for just chicken and nothing else.

Although this porridge may not be the best I've had, I'm grateful that I've found one near me as porridge specialists are not easy to find.  I can't wait to dine-in as I'm eager to try their frog porridge.  Besides the branch in Pandan Perdana, you can also find them in Sri Petaling, Setapak and Cheras Balakong if you love porridge and want to give them a try to see if this Mother Porridge can be as good as the porridge your mother makes. ^_~

Mother Porridge

61-G Jalan Pandan Perdana 4/6

Pandan Perdana

55300 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 016-333 6022