When I was previously working at Raffles Quay, one of my colleagues recommended me to try this thunder tea rice stall. I remembered tasting thunder tea rice a very long time ago but didn’t have a great impression of it because the green coloured tea soup had a very strong flavour that I wasn’t too used to. Either you like it or you hate it. I was glad I gave it a try again because I totally fell in love with this. I guess taste buds do change with age 😉
If you’re new to thunder tea rice, you may wish to know it is actually a signature dish of the Hakkas. And the word ‘thunder’ came about because it described the sound when the ingredients are pounded to make the tea soup. Thunder tea rice is very high in fibre because vegetables are the main ingredients. In fact, the tea soup itself is also made from tea leaves, herbs, nuts, seeds and grains. Low fat and low cholesterol. Great for detoxification and weight management.
Thunder Tea Rice Set Meal
The take-away set meal consists of a generous portion of thunder tea rice (I normally go for brown rice), fried tofu with minced meat filling and basil omelette. The concentrated tea mixture will be placed in a separate bowl container. I’d fill it with hot water, give it a good stir and then pour over the rice and ingredients. Mix everything up and enjoy.
If it’s your first time eating thunder tea rice, then I’d suggest you taste the soup first to see if you like it before pouring over your rice.
I love the different layers and textures present. The crisp of the fried anchovies (ikan billis) combined with the crunch of the long beans, peanuts and other vegetables is formidable. The various flavours that burst in your mouth are surprisingly complementing one another. And the aroma from the basil and mint in the tea soup really tingles your taste buds too.
The side dishes of tofu and omelette are worth a mention too, though they are extremely greasy. The special chilli sauce that comes with them has a soury spicy kick to it that kind of resembles the chilli sauce for oyster omelette but is much better than that. Dipping the tofu and omelette in the chilli sauce just makes it so addictive for me.
At just $6.00 for the set meal, you’re guaranteed with a scrumptious, wholesome and very healthy meal. Say bye bye to constipation! Fibre rocks.
Thunder Tea Rice, Stall 12
Lau Pa Sat Festival Market
18 Raffles Quay
Opens: 8.00am to 10.00pm daily
Website
wow, that’s really nice with ikan bilis! Mine was all vege, beans, nuts, and fried taukwa only. I will give it a try if i go LPS. seldom get a chance to go there. love the sound of the tofu omelet and chilli dip 😀
I think the ikan bilis really brought this dish to another level…don’t know how else to say…you just have to try it 🙂