Sometimes, when I’m looking for a stall to feature in this column, I don’t find one until I’ve tried out a few places. So it was sheer luck when I stumbled on a stall selling nice ter kah (braised pork trotter) in a coffee shop in Sims Avenue recently.

I had just parked in the carpark near Geylang Lorong 27 and was walking past Hong Qin Fish And Duck Porridge stall when its big basin of pig trotters being braised in a bubbling brown lava caught my eye.

The trotters ($3) were tender and you could savour the contrast between the gelatinous fat and the firm, flavourful meat. The savoury gravy, cooked to a lovely brown instead of pitch-black, which is the Hokkien style, went well with steamed rice.

Stall owner Tay Kim Song said his is a Teochew recipe, handed down by his father who opened the stall more than 40 years ago in the same area.

I also liked the tau pok (fried beancurd, 50 cents) braised in the same gravy. The braised duck with ginger ($3), though, was a tad salty but my sister relished every bit of it with cabbage rice (60 or 80 cents).

The mei cai (preserved vegetables, 70 cents) was also done well.

It is soaked in water for a few hours to get rid of the excess saltiness, then fried and put in boiling water. The water is then discarded, fresh water and several ingredients are added to simmer the vegetable till it becomes soft and nice.

My other quibble was with the crunchy big intestine ($3) which still had an offal odour.

While Mr Tay does all the cooking, he and his wife man two stalls – she the pig trotters and braised duck stall and he the fish soup stall across from hers.

His clear fish soup ($3) is deceptively flavourful. The stock is made by boiling pork shank bones for at least four hours and, halfway through, adding fish bones for sweetness. He uses bintang fish from Indonesia which tasted very fresh.

With fish soup, pig trotters and mei cai, I could not ask for a more satisfying lunch. (Read below this article if you like Hokkien-Taiwan-style dishes like pig trotters.)

Hong Qin Fish and Duck Porridge
302 Sims Avenue, Lorong 27
Yue Yuan Coffee Shop
Open: 5.45am to 2.30pm, closed 1st and 15th of the month, except when they fall on weekends and holidays.
Rating: 3/5
This article was first published in The Sunday Times on November 16, 2008.

SoShiok.com's recommendations: Enjoy pork trotters till 2am
Try the Taiwan pig trotters at the new Shin Yeh restaurant on level 2 of Liang Court. The trotters were well cleaned and stewed till tender. Most of the fat had been removed through boiling and the Ter Kah braised in two kinds of Taiwan soy sauces chosen by the restaurant chain's HQ in Taiwan.

The sauce wasn't too dark or overly spiced like some Hokkien versions here. Shin Yeh's pork trotters went beautifully with the rice gruel cooked with sweet potato. The sauce was flavourful on its own and truly lip-smacking what with the gelatin of the pork skin having melted in the sauce.

The pork trotters came with a treat - stewed groundnuts.

Go with a group of four or more people to share the dishes as they are too large to share between two unless you order only one or two dishes to go with your porridge.

The flat layer of oyster omelette is highly recommended. It's fried to a crisp with a generous amount of oysters unlike the local hawker version. The accompanying chilli sauce was sweet as opposed to the sharp, vinegary type served by local hawkers.

We had a green veg (ya cai) resembling green lettuce, simply fried, to give a balance to meaty dishes.

Other Taiwan-Hokkien style dishes to go with porridge are braised pig's intestines, fried pork liver in a sweet sauce, chai poh omelette (preserved radish and egg), and white bait and clams cooked in a miso sauce.

Aren't they like homecooked fare? You can certainly find many homecooked dishes here.

Other Taiwan dishes you can try here are you tiao - crispy dough fritters - with the almond cream tea, Taiwan spring rolls (popiah), smoked mullet roe.

And if you want to splurge on a banquet, no problem. You can find upmarket dishes like abalone, shark's fin and live seafood here. This is also a suitable restaurant for weddings and birthdays.

Ask for a window seat. You will be rewarded with views of the Singapore River, Clarke Quay and Riverside Point.

Oh, wines are also available, in case you want a good red to pair with your trotters.

Read more reviews of Shin Yeh here: -> Tung Lok's latest jewel
and Humble fare rich in flavours

Shin Yeh
#02-19 Liang Court Shopping Centre
177 River Valley Road
Tel: 6338-7337
Opens daily from lunch till 2am
If you're going for supper, you can still enter Liang Court from the main entrances and take the lift up to second floor. Or drive to the carpark and take the lift.