Best Of Singapore Hawkers & Casual Dining: Chwee Kueh

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Best Of Singapore Hawkers & Casual Dining: Chwee Kueh

Chwee Kueh
Chwee Kueh



Nothing was sponsored, we visited as regular paying customers. Photos in this post were taken between 2000 and 2022 (across 22 years!), as such, the quality of photos varies drastically due to advances in camera technology. Mobile smartphones were in their infancy and had yet to become widespread.


Also Known As:
Chwee Kueh, Chwee Kway, Water Rice Cake, Shui Kweh, Shui Kway


Average Price Per Serving:
SGD $1 - $4








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Description:
The Chwee Kueh is a Singaporean Chinese Teochew dish, a type of steamed rice cake served with chai poh / preserved daikon radish. Due to the painstaking effort to hand make these, it's increasingly being mass-produced instead. Also known as Chwee Kway, Water Rice Cake, Shui Kweh, or Shui Kway, the Chwee Kueh dish is usually priced around SGD $1 to $4 per serving. It's an uncommon dish, typically eaten during breakfast or tea.

The base of Chwee Kueh is a steamed rice cake, made from rice flour and water. Some stalls may opt to use tapioca flour, wheat flour, or corn starch instead. Steamed in small saucer-like aluminium cups, which gives it a distinctive bowl shape, the texture of the steamed rice cake is wobbly soft and moist, with almost non-detectable grainy sweet flavour.

The chai poh / preserved daikon radish topping for Chwee Kueh is prepared by rehydrating preserved salted daikon radish (though some stalls opt to use preserved sweetened daikon radish instead), then frying it with vegetable oil. Other ingredients may also be added depending on the stall, the most common include garlic, salt, sugar, light soy sauce, or shallots. The chai poh / preserved daikon radish should be crunchy and moist, with robust vegetal earthy savoury salty flavour.

Typically served in a set of 4 or 5 pieces, Chwee Kueh is enjoyed with a chunky chili sauce or grainy sambal belachan / fermented shrimp chili paste, lending salty savoury spicy flavour. Chwee Kueh is best shared, as it can be rather oily and decadent.


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1. Bedok Chwee Kueh 水粿
@ Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, 208B New Upper Changi Road #01-19
Opening Hours: Daily 7am – 8pm

@ Hougang Hainanese Village Centre, 105 Hougang Avenue 1 #02-45
Opening Hours: Daily 7am – 5pm

Multiple Other Branches Across Singapore

Taken in 2012


Taken in 2022


Taken in 2022


Chwee Kueh (SGD $1.50 for 3 pieces) @ Bedok Chwee Kueh 水粿.

A popular brand with outlets across Singapore, their consistency and quality in serving this lone dish got them the Michelin Bib Gourmand back in 2019.

The steamed rice cake is soft, smooth, with a wobbly bounce. Has a mild grainy sweet flavour, evident of the lack of filler starch, and more of the rice itself.

The preserved daikon radish is finely chopped, slow stewed with sesame seeds in vegetable oil, having a gentle juicy crunch without being overly oily, and enticing vegetal sweet salty nutty flavour.

The sambal belachan is chunky, robust with shrimpy savoury salty spicy flavour, pairing well.

The consistently delicious quality, together with its affordability, is a winning combination.





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2. Chwee Kueh 水粿 (Eunos)
@ Eunos Crescent Market And Food Centre, 4A Eunos Crescent #01-40
Opening Hours: Thu - Tue 8am – 8pm, Closed Wed

Taken in 2009


Taken in 2022


Taken in 2022


Chwee Kueh (SGD $1.50 for 5 pieces) @ Chwee Kueh 水粿 (Eunos).

Since 1999, the Tan family has been painstakingly hand-making their dish, filling the moulds with milled Thai rice, stacking and steaming them in a large circular tower within the stall.

Their rice cake has a dense springy texture, very smooth with mild grainy sweet flavour.

They also cook their crisp juicy preserved daikon radish on site, stewing it in vegetable oil. Has a bright sweet savoury flavour, less salty earthy notes than elsewhere, I like how generous they are with the topping.

Paired with their sambal belachan, which is thick with spicy savoury shrimpy salty flavour, lending a bit more heat than most.





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3. Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh
@ 20 Ghim Moh Road Market & Food Centre, 20 Ghim Moh Road #01-54
Opening Hours: Daily 6:15am – 6:30pm

Taken in 2011


Taken in 2022


Taken in 2022


Chwee Kueh (SGD $2 for 4 pieces) @ Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh.

Founded in 1959 by Mr Lee San Ba, they remain among the few artisanal stalls that hand-make the chwee kueh, having done so for over 60 years.

Also, their rendition is the tiniest, cutest version around.

Steamed on racks which can hold over a thousand pieces, the rice cake is smooth and soft and moist, yielding easily with grainy sweet flavour.

Their preserved daikon radish is chunky, stewed with garlic and pork lard, and is juicy and crunchy. Has robust vegetal salty savoury flavour, more pronounced than elsewhere.

Because of its intensity and relative lack of sweet notes, only a small amount is lifted from the claypot warmer, for each serving. Paired with a sambal belachan that is salty spicy in taste.





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4. Jian Bo Shui Kueh
@ Tiong Bahru Market & Hawker Centre, 30 Seng Poh Road #02-05
Opening Hours: Daily 6:30am – 9pm

@ Compass One, 1 Sengkang Square #B1-38
Opening Hours: Daily 7am – 9pm

Multiple Other Branches Across Singapore

Taken in 2011


Taken in 2022


Taken in 2022


Taken in 2022


Chwee Kueh (SGD $3 for 5 pieces) @ Jian Bo Shui Kueh.

Now helmed by 3rd generation owner Eric Ang, since being established in 1958, this is the most expensive version, but also the most accessible, with many outlets across Singapore.

While centrally produced, their rice cakes are wobbly soft (softer than most) pleasant with a mild grainy sweet flavour.

Their preserved daikon radish is chunky and crunchy, stewed in vegetable oil, with enticing vegetal sweet salty savoury flavour.

The sambal belachan is thick but not too spicy, being more savoury sweet with just a mild heat.

They also sell other items, and while there's usually a queue, it moves quite briskly.





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5. Pek Kio Handmade Chwee Kueh
@ Pek Kio Market & Food Centre, 41A Cambridge Road #01-28
Opening Hours: Daily 7:30am – 2pm

Taken in 2022


Taken in 2022


Chwee Kueh (SGD $1.50 for 5 pieces) @ Pek Kio Handmade Chwee Kueh.

Their claim to fame is their hand made chwee kueh available in 2 sizes; a regular wobbly soft version, and an extra large (XL) palm-sized version of pillowy delight.

Often selling out before noon, the rice cakes have a faint grainy sweet flavour.

Their preserved daikon radish is crunchy but less sweet than the more popular brands, having a decent vegetal salty savoury flavour.

The sambal belachan is a little flat, with just a mild salty spicy note.





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