Sanhe Congee

Sanhe was born out of a desire to spotlight the ultimate Chinese comfort food: congee. The homey spot, in the former Tofu Shoten shopfront by the Queen Vic Market, celebrates the Chinese rice porridge in all its glory.

Sanhe’s signature savoury congee base took four months to master. Its congee showcases one that uses 15 seasoning powders – a company secret – that adds umami and acts as the perfect flavour base for the toppings. The shop’s savoury congee offering includes 30 varieties with toppings like pork, vegetarian and seafood. For the seafood option, the scallop shrimp congee has a light, delicate taste with a distinct seafood flavour.

Sanhe also offers soups and popular dim sum mainstays like steamed char siu baos (pork buns), fried turnip cake and steamed shrimp dumplings. You can also try its youtiao (Chinese doughnuts). Break it up into bite-sized pieces and drop into congee or dip it whole depending on your style.

There are also sweet congees made with a differently seasoned base and topped with ingredients – including longans, jujubes and wolfberries (goji berries) – that are more typically used in desserts. For the sweet tooth, try black sugar glutinous rice cakes. But eat it with caution: the centre contains piping-hot liquid black sugar encased in chewy sticky rice that has a crunchy exterior.

Owners Nikki Ne and Emily Lin run the clean, brightly lit space, which has a neutral colour palette of white and timber.