A Meditation on Comfort, Craft, and Cultural Memory
1096 Serangoon Road, Singapore 328193 · Est. 1996 · Daily 11am–11pm
Overall Rating: 7.5 / 10
Introduction
There is a particular kind of restaurant that does not announce itself with spectacle. It needs no theatrical plating, no imported crockery, no sommelier with a corkscrew. Its legitimacy is inscribed in its longevity. White House Teochew Porridge, ensconced along Serangoon Road since 1996, is precisely that kind of establishment: a quiet, confident keeper of culinary tradition in one of Singapore’s most storied residential corridors.
The Teochew (Chaozhou) culinary tradition is one of the most nuanced and frequently misunderstood within Singapore’s dense gastronomic landscape. Where Cantonese food courts trumpet their roasted meats and Hokkien hawkers glory in their braised offal, Teochew cuisine is defined by restraint — by the deliberate subordination of individual ingredients to a philosophy of lightness, balance, and digestibility. Mu zhou, or watery porridge, is the cornerstone of this tradition: a canvas of near-translucent rice gruel against which bolder condiments and side dishes express themselves.
Against this backdrop, White House has spent nearly three decades refining its proposition. The question this review sets out to answer is not merely whether the food is good, but whether it constitutes a coherent, considered expression of Teochew cooking — and whether the institution continues to merit the loyalty it has cultivated.
“Teochew cuisine is defined by restraint — the deliberate subordination of ingredients to a philosophy of lightness, balance, and digestibility.”
Ambience & Setting
Spatial Character
White House occupies a corner unit at 1096 Serangoon Road, a stretch of thoroughfare that bears the accumulated patina of generations of Singaporean urban life. The space is generously proportioned by the standards of Singapore’s casual dining scene, with adequate table turnover distance and ceiling fans supplementing air conditioning to produce cross-ventilation sufficient for the equatorial climate. Fluorescent overhead lighting — warm-toned rather than clinical — casts the room in an amber wash that is, perhaps accidentally, flattering to both the food and the diner.
The decor subscribes to the school of unselfconscious functionalism: laminate-topped tables, plastic chairs in institutional cream, and a service counter that operates with the pragmatic efficiency of a well-drilled canteen. There are no decorative concessions to nostalgia or Instagram-ability, which is simultaneously the venue’s greatest visual liability and its most authentic curatorial statement. The restaurant is not performing heritage; it is simply enacting it.
Demographic Texture & Atmosphere
A midweek lunch visit revealed a cross-section of Serangoon’s social geography: elderly residents in loose cotton clothing, office workers in short-sleeved collared shirts, a pair of delivery riders refreshing between orders. The noise level is convivial rather than raucous, with conversation threading through the occasional percussion of porcelain and the hiss of a wok from the kitchen beyond. Service is efficient, friendly without being performative, and possessed of the particular ease that comes from long institutional practice.
The absence of background music is notable. In an era where ambient soundscaping is considered a staple of the dining experience, White House’s silence is almost confrontational in its sincerity. You are here to eat, and the room makes no apologies for that.
Accessibility
The eatery sits approximately nine minutes on foot from Boon Keng MRT Station (North-East Line, NE9), making it accessible though not immediately convenient for those reliant on public transit. Street parking along Serangoon Road is available but subject to the customary vagaries of peak-hour urban Singapore. The entrance is step-free, and table spacing is sufficient for wheelchair navigation, though formal accessibility certification is not declared.
Dish-by-Dish Analysis
- Plain Porridge — Mu Zhou ($1.40+)
The Foundation
Before any dish can be assessed in isolation, the porridge itself must be understood as the structural and philosophical anchor of the entire meal. At White House, the mu zhou is rendered to classical specification: a barely viscous slurry of long-grain rice cooked in a high ratio of water, its starch released but not fully gelatinised, producing a gruel that is simultaneously liquid and sustaining.
Texture
The mouthfeel is notably clean — there is no stickiness, no clumping, no gumminess that might suggest overcooking or a rice variety with excess amylopectin. Individual grains remain discernible if barely intact, suspended in a milky liquor that coats the tongue gently before dissolving without residue. The porridge achieves what the Teochew tradition demands: it disappears on the palate, creating appetite rather than satiation.
Hues & Visual Presentation
The colour is an opaque, warm ivory — reminiscent of diluted condensed milk — served in a plain white ceramic bowl that offers no visual competition. The surface is still; there is no garnish, no sesame oil drizzle, no spring onion flourish. This is porridge as tabula rasa, and its visual austerity is entirely intentional.
Culinary Function
The porridge functions not as a dish to be evaluated on its intrinsic flavour — it has almost none — but as a palate-reset mechanism between bites of the more intensely seasoned accompaniments. Each spoonful of braised duck or hae bee hiam is followed by a return to the porridge’s neutrality, allowing the next condiment to register afresh. This is the Teochew dialectic at its most elegant. - Hae Bee Hiam — Spiced Dried Shrimp Sambal ($3+)
The Essential Condiment
If the porridge is the canvas, the hae bee hiam is the first and most insistent brushstroke. This preparation of dried shrimp (hae bee) stir-fried with chilli, shallots, lemongrass, and belacan occupies a category somewhere between condiment and dish — a concentrated paste of such flavour intensity that it requires the surrounding plainness of the porridge to be fully appreciated.
Flavour Architecture
The initial encounter is umami, an almost oceanic depth generated by the Maillard-caramelised dried shrimp and amplified by the fermented salinity of belacan. This is followed rapidly by heat — a clean, foregrounded chilli spice that does not linger excessively but announces itself with conviction. The aromatics of lemongrass and shallot provide a tertiary layer of brightness that lifts the preparation from heaviness, preventing the umami from becoming cloying.
Texture
The texture is granular and somewhat sticky — clusters of shrimp bound in reduced paste. When dispersed through the porridge, it distributes unevenly in a way that is culinarily productive: some spoonfuls carry intense pockets of the sambal, while others remain relatively unadorned, ensuring the meal’s flavour landscape remains dynamic throughout.
Hues
A burnished terracotta-to-rust colouration, deepened in places to near-mahogany where the shrimp has caught the wok at higher heat. Presented in a small white ceramic dish that intensifies the colour contrast. The visual signal is unambiguous: this is the most flavour-dense item on the table. - Braised Duck — Lou Ark ($12+)
The Centrepiece
The braised duck is arguably the most technically demanding preparation in the Teochew porridge canon, requiring hours of slow submersion in a master stock (lou soup) to achieve the requisite tenderness without sacrificing structural integrity. At White House, this process reportedly extends to over an hour of braising in the house’s proprietary sauce, a formula that has presumably been refined and replenished over nearly three decades of continuous use.
Flavour Profile
The flavour is layered and time-coded: the immediate impression is of star anise and dark soy — the characteristic perfume of Teochew lou stock — followed by a longer, lingering sweetness that speaks to the caramelisation of sugars in the braising liquid. There is a subtle fermented note in the finish, likely attributable to preserved bean curd or a comparable agent in the stock, that adds complexity without assertiveness.
Texture
Each slice presents a three-layer cross-section: skin, subcutaneous fat, and lean muscle. The skin has collapsed to a gelatinous, yielding thinness, carrying concentrated flavour without chewiness. The subcutaneous fat has rendered partially, producing a unctuous, almost liquid quality that dissolves on contact with body heat. The lean muscle is tender and fibrous, retaining enough structure to require minimal mastication — the precise calibration of a well-executed braise. There are no tough fibres, no cartilaginous resistance.
Hues
A deep, lacquered mahogany on the exterior surface, graduating to a medium caramel-brown in the cross-section. The subcutaneous fat appears as a translucent ivory layer, visually demarcating the skin from the meat. The accompanying chilli sauce — a bright, acidulated orange-red — provides both chromatic relief and gustatory counterpoint, its acidity cutting through the richness of the duck with commendable efficiency.
Facets
It is worth noting that the chilli dipping sauce is not merely decorative. The interplay between the fat-rich, caramelised duck and the sharp, vinegared chilli constitutes a genuine flavour dialectic: richness checked by acid, sweetness answered by heat. This is the sort of considered accompaniment that elevates a dish beyond its individual components. - Chye Poh Omelette — Preserved Radish Egg ($3+)
The Honest Workhorse
Chye poh, or preserved radish, is one of the pillars of Teochew pantry cooking — a fermented, salt-dried vegetable that delivers concentrated savoury notes and a characteristic textural contrast to the foods it accompanies. In omelette form, it represents one of the more egalitarian preparations in the porridge accompaniment lexicon: simple, inexpensive, familiar.
Flavour
The preserved radish delivers its expected payload: saline, slightly tangy, with the mineral depth of fermented vegetables. The egg provides a neutral, fatty vehicle that tempers the salinity without obscuring it. The result is a preparation of reliable, if unremarkable, flavour — the sort of dish that earns its place through consistency rather than ambition.
Texture & Technical Assessment
Here the preparation reveals a modest technical shortcoming. The omelette, on the occasion of this visit, was cooked to a degree of dryness that reduced its textural appeal: the egg had set to a firm, slightly rubbery consistency, lacking the soft, barely-set interior that distinguishes an excellent specimen. The chye poh, by contrast, retained its characteristic crunch. The net effect is a textural dissonance — crisp radish within dry egg — rather than the complementary contrast intended. Immersion in the accompanying porridge mitigated this somewhat, the warm liquid rehydrating the omelette incrementally, but this is symptomatic management rather than resolution.
Hues
A pale golden-yellow from the egg, stippled with the dark brown-black of the chye poh fragments and flecked with white where the radish pieces have not taken on sufficient browning. Presented in the style of a roughly-formed disc, the edges curled and bronzed. Visually honest in its simplicity. - Otah ($7+)
The Wild Card
Otah occupies an interesting position on the Teochew porridge accompaniment menu: it is not, strictly speaking, a Teochew preparation, but a Peranakan-Malay spiced fish paste grilled within banana leaves that has been thoroughly assimilated into the broader Singaporean porridge vernacular. Its presence at White House is both culinarily logical and culturally illustrative of the palimpsestic nature of Singaporean food identity.
Flavour
The otah presented here is notable for its depth of spicing: the rempah base — a paste of lemongrass, galangal, chilli, turmeric, and candlenut — has been allowed to penetrate the fish paste fully, producing a preparation in which spice and protein are thoroughly integrated rather than superficially coated. The result is a harmonious, piquant flavour profile with a long, aromatic finish.
Texture
The texture is the otah’s greatest achievement on this occasion: a pillowy, yielding softness that resists the pressure of a spoon before yielding completely, releasing moisture and flavour simultaneously. The fish paste has been mixed to a smooth but not homogeneous consistency, preserving the faint fibrous quality of the underlying protein while achieving the characteristic custardy give of a well-prepared preparation.
Hues
A vivid turmeric-orange on the exterior, deepened to a coppery amber where the banana leaf has imparted slight charring and smoke. The interior, when broken, reveals a lighter orange-salmon tone that speaks to the fish content within. The visual contrast between the darkened exterior and the pale interior is both appealing and informative: it signals the smokiness before the palate confirms it.
Facets & Smokiness
The residual smokiness — a function of charcoal or gas grill heat conducted through the banana leaf — is present as a low, background note that rounds the finish without dominating it. This is the mark of a well-managed grilling process: the otah has absorbed sufficient heat to develop surface caramelisation without the interior moisture being expelled. A commendable execution that represents the meal’s most accomplished preparation. - Steamed Fish — Teochew Style ($20+)
The Prestige Preparation
Teochew steamed fish is the apex preparation of the cuisine’s repertoire, the dish by which a Teochew kitchen is ultimately judged. The preparation is defined by its methodology: a whole fish, minimally seasoned, steamed over high heat and served in a clear broth built from light soy sauce, sesame oil, tomatoes, preserved mustard greens (kiam chye), salted plum, ginger, and tofu. The broth should enhance and frame the fish without competing with it.
The Conceptual Standard
The philosophy underlying Teochew steamed fish is one of radical transparency: there is nowhere to hide a fish of inferior freshness. The preparation contains no masking agents, no heavy sauces, no aromatics powerful enough to override the protein’s inherent quality. If the fish is not impeccably fresh, the dish will declare this fact without mercy.
Flavour & Technical Assessment
On the occasion of this visit, the steamed fish registered a noticeable fishiness — a telltale indicator of reduced freshness, attributable to the enzymatic breakdown of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) into trimethylamine (TMA) following death. This is a significant deficiency for a preparation that demands absolute freshness as its first condition. The accompanying broth — lightly salted, appropriately balanced between the acidity of the tomatoes and the brininess of the preserved vegetables — was, by itself, well-executed; the failure was the protein, not the preparation.
It should be noted, with appropriate epistemic humility, that numerous online reviews speak consistently of excellent fish quality at White House. The shortcoming encountered on this visit may constitute an anomaly rather than a systemic failure — a single deteriorated delivery or the misfortune of an off-day. The assessment presented here reflects the experience as encountered and should be contextualised accordingly.
Hues
The fish presented in a wide, shallow ceramic basin, its pale flesh contrasting with the golden-amber broth. Tomato wedges provide bursts of red-orange; the tofu appears as ivory cubes; dark ribbons of preserved mustard greens contribute depth of colour. Visually, the dish is the most composed and elegant on the table — a presentation that heightens the disappointment of the protein’s deficit.
Recipes & Cooking Instructions
The following recipes are inspired by the preparations encountered at White House Teochew Porridge and are intended to allow the home cook to engage with the tradition directly. These are not disclosed proprietary formulations but interpretations based on classical Teochew technique and culinary principle.
Mu Zhou — Teochew Watery Rice Porridge
Ingredients (Serves 4)
150g jasmine or long-grain white rice — rinsed under cold water until the water runs nearly clear. 1.5 litres cold water. 1 tsp neutral oil (optional, for silkier texture). Salt, to adjust.
Method
Combine the rinsed rice and cold water in a heavy-bottomed pot. The cold-water start is important: it prevents the starch from seizing before the grains have softened, producing a cleaner, less glutinous texture. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from adhering to the base. Once boiling, reduce heat to a vigorous simmer. Do not cover. Cook, stirring every five to seven minutes, for 40 to 50 minutes. The porridge is ready when the grains have opened and begun to collapse into the water, and the liquid has taken on a slightly opaque, milky quality. It should pour freely from the spoon. Season with salt cautiously — the porridge should be barely seasoned, as the accompaniments carry the flavour burden. Stir in the neutral oil if using, for a subtle silkiness.
Notes on Texture
The ratio of 1:10 (rice to water) is deliberately thin by congee standards. Adjusting to 1:8 will yield a somewhat thicker result, still within the mu zhou tradition. The porridge will thicken on standing as the starch continues to absorb liquid; reheat with additional water to restore consistency.
Hae Bee Hiam — Spiced Dried Shrimp Sambal
Ingredients (Serves 6–8 as a condiment)
80g dried shrimp (hae bee), soaked in cold water for 20 minutes and drained. 8–10 dried red chillies, soaked and deseeded (retain seeds for additional heat). 5 shallots, peeled. 3 cloves garlic. 1 stalk lemongrass, pale inner section only. 1 tsp belacan (shrimp paste), toasted. 3 tbsp neutral oil. 1 tsp sugar. Salt to taste.
Method
Process the softened dried shrimp in a food processor until coarsely ground — not a powder, but small irregular fragments of approximately 2–3mm. Set aside. Blend the drained chillies, shallots, garlic, and lemongrass with the toasted belacan and a little oil into a coarse paste. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the blended paste and fry, stirring continuously, for 8–10 minutes until darkened and fragrant and the oil begins to separate from the solids — this is the critical step, and the temptation to abbreviate it must be resisted. Add the ground dried shrimp and stir to combine. Continue frying for a further 5–7 minutes until the shrimp is fully coated and the mixture is dry and fragrant. Season with sugar and salt. Allow to cool before serving; the flavour deepens overnight.
Lou Ark — Teochew Braised Duck
Ingredients (Serves 4–6)
1 whole duck (approximately 1.8–2kg), cleaned. 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, for rubbing. For the lou stock: 80ml dark soy sauce, 40ml light soy sauce, 1 litre water or chicken stock, 3 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 10 white peppercorns (cracked), 2 pieces dried galangal, 3 tbsp rock sugar, 1 tsp five-spice powder, 2 pieces preserved bean curd (nam yue), 3 cloves garlic, 3 slices ginger.
Method
Rub the cleaned duck thoroughly with dark soy sauce and allow to marinate for 30 minutes — this colours the skin and provides the lacquered finish characteristic of the preparation. Combine all stock ingredients in a pot large enough to submerge the duck and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Lower the duck into the stock — it should be fully submerged or nearly so. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Braise, covered, for 1 hour 15 minutes for a medium-sized bird, turning the duck at the 40-minute mark to ensure even colouration and flavour penetration.
Allow the duck to cool partially in the stock before removing. Slice against the grain when cooled to room temperature. Strain and reserve the braising liquid — this is your master stock, which improves with each subsequent use. Refrigerate and skim the fat before reusing. Serve with sliced chilli in white vinegar and a splash of the reduced braising liquid as a dipping sauce.
Otah — Spiced Fish Paste in Banana Leaf
Ingredients (Makes 8 parcels)
400g firm white fish fillet (Spanish mackerel or ikan parang preferred), finely minced. 2 eggs. 100ml coconut milk. 2 tbsp cornflour. For the rempah paste: 5 dried chillies (soaked), 3 fresh red chillies, 4 shallots, 2 cloves garlic, 1 stalk lemongrass, 15g galangal, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 3 candlenuts, 1 tsp belacan. Banana leaves, softened briefly over a flame, cut into 25cm x 20cm rectangles.
Method
Blend all rempah ingredients to a smooth paste, adding a little oil if necessary. Fry the paste in 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat for 5–7 minutes until fragrant and darkened. Cool completely. Combine the minced fish, eggs, coconut milk, cornflour, and cooled rempah paste in a bowl. Mix vigorously in one direction — this develops the myosin proteins and produces the characteristic springy texture. The mixture should be smooth, slightly sticky, and hold its shape briefly when spooned.
Place two heaped tablespoons of mixture onto a softened banana leaf rectangle. Fold the leaf over the mixture and secure with toothpicks. Grill over medium charcoal or gas heat for 5–6 minutes per side until the leaf is charred and the interior is cooked through — the otah will firm up and pull slightly away from the leaf. Rest for two minutes before serving. The residual steam within the parcel continues cooking gently; opening immediately risks a slightly underdone centre.
Teochew Steamed Fish
Ingredients (Serves 2–3)
1 whole fresh fish (500–700g; pomfret, sea bass, or red snapper preferred), cleaned and scored twice on each side. 3 tbsp light soy sauce. 1 tsp sesame oil. 1 tsp sugar. 150ml water. 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges. 50g kiam chye (preserved mustard greens), rinsed and sliced. 2 salted plums. 100g silken tofu, cubed. 5 slices ginger. 2 stalks spring onion, cut into batons.
Method
Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and water to form the braising broth. Taste and adjust — it should be savoury, lightly sweet, and faintly acidic. Arrange the tofu, tomatoes, kiam chye, salted plums, and ginger in a steaming dish wide enough to hold the fish flat. Place the scored fish on top of this arrangement. Pour the prepared broth over and around the fish. Steam over vigorously boiling water for 12–15 minutes (for a 600g fish), covering the wok or steamer tightly. The fish is done when the flesh at the thickest point of the score lines flakes cleanly with a chopstick.
Scatter spring onion batons over the fish immediately upon removing from the steamer. In the same wok, heat 2 tablespoons of neutral oil until smoking and pour directly over the spring onions — the sizzle and fragrance this produces constitutes the final aromatic layer of the dish. Serve immediately; this preparation does not hold.
A Note on Freshness
The absolute prerequisite for Teochew steamed fish cannot be overstated: the fish must be of impeccable freshness. Bright, clear eyes; red gills; firm, resilient flesh; no detectable odour beyond the faint brininess of the sea. A compromised fish will produce a compromised dish, and no quantity of kiam chye or salted plum will redeem it. If fresh fish of sufficient quality is not available, defer the preparation.
Delivery & Access Options
Dine-In
The primary and most recommended mode of engagement with White House Teochew Porridge is dine-in. The interactive dimension of Teochew porridge — the ongoing adjustment of the porridge-to-condiment ratio, the temperature dynamics, the social ritual of communal ordering — is significantly diminished when transposed to a delivery container. The restaurant is open daily from 11am to 11pm, making it accessible across lunch, dinner, and supper sittings.
Takeaway
Takeaway is available and practical for the more structurally robust preparations — the hae bee hiam, the braised duck, the otah — which retain their flavour well and transport without significant quality degradation. The porridge itself, if ordered for takeaway, should be consumed within 30 minutes, as it thickens considerably on standing and cannot be revived without additional water and heat.
Third-Party Delivery Platforms
White House Teochew Porridge is listed on major Singapore food delivery platforms including GrabFood and Foodpanda. Delivery radius is subject to platform parameters and will vary by customer location. It should be acknowledged, however, that the steamed fish — which requires immediate service to preserve its aromatics and textural integrity — is not an appropriate delivery order. Braised duck, otah, and hae bee hiam travel most effectively.
Delivery packaging, by the conventions of the industry, will result in some textural compromise: the otah’s banana leaf will lose its residual heat and smokiness; the duck’s gelatinous skin may firm slightly. These are the inevitable concessions of translation from restaurant to home, and should be factored into the ordering decision.
Catering Enquiries
For larger group events or institutional catering, direct enquiry with the restaurant is recommended. The braised duck, in particular, is well-suited to batch preparation and has the cultural legibility and flavour profile to serve as an anchor dish for Teochew-style communal meals.
Summary Scorecard
Category Score Notes
Ambience & Setting 7 / 10 Functional, authentic, unselfconscious. No theatrics, no apologies.
Porridge (Mu Zhou) 8 / 10 Textbook clarity and consistency. The ideal canvas.
Hae Bee Hiam 9 / 10 The standout condiment. Umami-rich, balanced, essential.
Braised Duck 8.5 / 10 Technically accomplished braise; beautifully rendered skin and fat.
Chye Poh Omelette 6 / 10 Reliable flavour undermined by overly dry egg on this occasion.
Otah 8.5 / 10 Best individual preparation visited. Juicy, smoky, well-spiced.
Steamed Fish 5.5 / 10 Broth excellent; fish freshness a notable deficit on this visit.
Value 6.5 / 10 Above-average pricing for the genre; quality justifies premium on most dishes.
Service 7.5 / 10 Efficient, unpretentious, knowledgeable when pressed.
OVERALL 7.5 / 10 A credible institution of Teochew culinary heritage. Visit recommended.
Verdict
White House Teochew Porridge is not a restaurant that will surprise you with invention, and it does not intend to. Its ambition is the faithful, daily reproduction of a culinary tradition — the kind of ambition that is far harder to sustain than novelty, and far less frequently acknowledged. Nearly three decades of continuous operation on Serangoon Road constitute a form of argument that no single review can replicate.
The meal as a whole is greater than the sum of its weaker parts. The otah is excellent. The braised duck is accomplished. The hae bee hiam is, frankly, worth the visit on its own terms. The steamed fish requires freshness to justify its price point, and freshness is not guaranteed on every service — a risk that the diner should factor into the decision.
“Nearly three decades of continuous operation constitute a form of argument that no single review can replicate.”
The pricing sits above the hawker centre norm, reflecting both the eatery’s overheads and its positioning as a restaurant rather than a stall. This is a legitimate choice, and for the most part, the kitchen earns it. The chye poh omelette represents the modest exception — a preparation that, at its price point, should be executed without compromise.
For the student of Singaporean food culture, White House Teochew Porridge is a practicum in the virtues and vulnerabilities of culinary tradition: what is preserved, what is at risk, and what it costs — in every sense — to maintain. It is worth the nine-minute walk from Boon Keng. It is worth, on balance, the premium.
White House Teochew Porridge is not halal-certified. This review reflects a single visit. Individual experiences may vary.
1096 Serangoon Road, Singapore 328193 · Daily 11am–11pm