Macau - Shing Kee 盛記白粥

One of the luxuries of being on vacation is having the time to enjoy breakfast.  Even better if it's a breakfast you don't often get to enjoy.  And even better is because you've had a lie-in, there's no breakfast rush, since everyone else is having lunch.

Shing Kee is one of those places that is a throwback to the good old days when breakfast meant having the traditional goodies.  No juice, fruit, yogurt or coffee.  And the slight wait outside the shop at 2pm in the afternoon is testament that people still hanker for that bit of nostalgia.

Congee 白粥

As the name suggests, people come here to have a warm bowl of congee to start the day.  Chinese believe this magical bowl of gruel cleanses and detoxes the digestive system.  A Chinese physician I used to see recommended that I have this every morning.  Unfortunately, I haven't found a life partner to satisfy all my material needs to be able to wake up to a steaming bowl of congee every morning without having to worry about rushing to work.

This version is really almost reduced to 98% fluid, with bits of rice grain you might break down without any chewing.  The fluid has hints of Fu Chok (腐竹), bean curd sheets which they throw into the pot to cook the congee with to give it a distinct yellow hue and flavor.

Steamed radish cake and fish dumpling 燒賣糕 

Of course, the Chinese physician also said to avoid other tasty condiments when consuming congee but when on vacation, nobody remembers what the doctor says.  The radish cake was very soft and tasty.  A touch of heat from white pepper within.  The steamed dumpling is not the usual one we find at dim sum restaurants but is one that is stuffed with minced Dace and bouncier than most.

Steamed rice rolls 腸粉

The rice rolls had decent sauces (combo of sweet, peanut and chili) over making it pretty tasty but the rolls themselves weren't great.  A little too much of a rice flour aftertaste and not soft enough.

But, this place is all about the nostalgia.  Nothing to it.  The food isn't spectacular but just good old-fashioned brekkie items we used to wake up to as kids.  Yes, the good old days..

77A Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga R/C
Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro
新馬路蘇雅利醫生街1號
Tel: +853-2892 2901