Hawker Stall In Tampines Serves Durian Fish Soup For $12

It’s durian season. Fans of the pongy fruit are once again braving the heat and queues to get their hands on some (check out our ranking for the best musang king deliveries here).

Well, it turns out that there’s another way you can get your durian fix. How’d you like your durian with fish soup? Sorry, we meant in your fish soup. Enter Derrick Ng, the 40-year-old hawker that’s been running Wang Yuan Fish Soup in a Tampines kopitiam for close to a decade. The hawker-farmer’s fish soup is centered around health and wellness with a farm-to-table focus: he used to own a farm in Kranji, and has even gotten on the news for his rather impressive ‘corridor farm’ outside his flat in Tampines.

Durian in savoury dishes, though unusual, isn’t unheard of. Tempoyak is a condiment made from fermented durian that’s sometimes used to make curry in Malaysia and Indonesia. Locally, Four Seasons Durians’ restaurant arm, Four Seasons Restaurant, serves up durian-spiked dishes like pizza and fried rice.

Photo: Four Seasons Restaurant

Derrick cooks at Wang Yuan Fish Soup daily. He serves grub that’s “keto-friendly and completely MSG-free” (the ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high fat approach to food with purported health benefits).

At Wang Yuan’s, this translates to the standard batang fish soup with a side of two veggies ($6) – no rice or noodles unless you ask for it (only brown rice or bee hoon are offered). There are also other pricier versions with different fish like salmon or pomfret on offer.

Meanwhile, the base of his fish soup stock comprises fish bones and “cruciferous vegetables in five colours”, such as cabbage.

But why add durian, in all its heady pungency, to clean-tasting fish soup? The answer lies not so much in flavour, but health, Derrick says. He’d gotten wind of Bao Sheng Durian Farm, a Malaysian family-run biz first established in 1959, and their shift to “biodynamic, organic farming”.

Biodynamic agriculture is a form of organic farming based on a combination of scientific and spiritual beliefs – a methodology that the hawker believes in. “The minerals and nutrients from the soil will be driven into the durian trees, which in turn travels to the durian fruit,” he explains.

Said durian’s flesh is shredded and added to the broth (about one seed’s worth) – the cultivar of durian, whether bitter or sweet (he’s used D604, D2 and Kun Poh), isn’t so important to him as its provenance. “We adjust for taste with seasonings like pepper and salt,” he says. A bowl of his durian-spiked fish soup (with batang) will set you back $12. “It’s organic and nutrient-dense” with other purported health benefits, he claims. Just note that you won’t be getting a full durian with its seed to go with your soup like in this pic (above), as it's just for illustration purposes.

Since introducing his durian fish soup on June 29, the hawker has seen “mixed reactions” from diners. “People who really like durian or know about its health benefits can accept it. Others who are merely curious or think that the fruit should be enjoyed [by itself], not so much,” he says.

Although we didn’t get to try this polarising dish ourselves, a netizen who has tasted it reports: “I tried it out of curiosity, and surprisingly the durian taste is actually not so strong and blends well with the peppery soup. It’s actually quite tasty (sic). Although this is of course more for durian lovers and those who like to try new things”.

What’s next?

Their review seemed to have driven some traffic to the stall – the day after her post, Wang Yuan Fish Soup reported that their durian fish soup was sold out one-and-a-half hours after opening (though there was enough supply for only six bowls that day).

Moving forward, Derrick plans to serve roughly “ten bowls a day” from now until “August or September, depending on the [durian] season”. He’ll also help customers with durian orders from Bao Sheng Durian if they’re keen.

Wang Yuan Fish Soup is at Foodpark Coffeeshop, 519A Tampines Central 8, S521519. Tel: 81124033. Open daily from 11.30am – 8.30pm.