MELAKA, Aug 14 — The bowl of Coconut Cold Porridge awaits us, pale and glistening.
Rich coconut milk, slow-cooked to a silken thickness, slips over the tongue with a nutty sweetness.
Thanks to an abundance of ice cubes, the tong sui stays cold as we take our time with every spoonful.
There is no rush; the crowning scoop of coconut ice cream in the centre won’t melt unless we hurry it along. Desiccated coconut offers a fragrant, toasty lift to ensure it stays refreshing.
We are at Hollysweet, tucked into the calm neighbourhood of Taman Pertam Jaya in Melaka.
The name might suggest confectionery but what the kitchen dishes out instead are sweet dessert soups or tong sui in Cantonese.
Outside, a cluster of potted greenery spills towards the pavement, hinting at the relaxed mood within.
Hollysweet is located in Taman Pertam Jaya, a quiet neighbourhood in Melaka. — Picture by CK Lim
Inside, the space is bright and airy, perfect given whatever you order might arrive chilled by ice cubes or steaming in a stone hotpot.
For Hollysweet’s menu focuses on two specialties: the aforementioned tong sui as well as soup rice or pao fan (literally “submerged rice” in Chinese).
Having started with an exemplar of the former, we turn to the latter, but not before a small plate of seasonal greens.
Today’s is kailan, blanched to a satisfying crunch. Crowned with a savoury XO sauce that smells faintly of shrimp paste, each leaf of this Chinese kale is seasoned to sublime levels of umami.
There are three versions of their signature Crispy Rice in Broth (the soup rice, essentially) to choose from: seafood, old hen and mushroom; we decide on the first two.
Both come with a trio of sides: chilled stewed mushrooms, fresh carrot and radish pickles, and blanched vegetables with chilli. And, of course, a saucer of crispy puffed rice (but more on that later).
For the Crispy Rice in Seafood Broth, the stock is a deep amber, brewed from prawn shells fried until they surrender their colour and scent to the oil.
The steaming broth comes with soft rice already mixed in, the grains nearly indistinguishable from the soup.
Prawns, plump and sweet, lounge in the liquid while strands of egg drift across the surface like ribbons.
We ladle some of this ocean-kissed congee into smaller bowls, to allow it to cool (be careful not to burn your tongue!).
Now comes the fun part, pouring some of the puffed rice into the bowl and watching as each crunchy grain first swells quietly in the broth, before softening into something more yielding. The contrast of textures is what makes this such a winning combination.
The Crispy Rice in Old Hen Broth offers a different sort of depth. The broth’s lighter golden hue tells of long hours over the stove, the chicken lending a savouriness that is both assertive and rounded.
Here there is little more accompaniment to the chicken than ginger, scallion and salt, yet the result feels divine.
The old hen used to create this broth has to be at least two years old; more often than not, the bird is at least three to four years of age – hence the intense flavour.
To complete our meal, we also share their recommended Taro Chicken with Sakura Shrimp.
It arrives in yet another stone hotpot, the taro melting into thick wedges that seem to balance the meaty chunks of chicken.
The velvety gravy is sharpened with rice wine and garlic. The pink sakura ebi – the shrimp get their name from the Japanese cherry blossoms – scattered on top remain crisp despite the heat, a counterpoint to the unctuous textures beneath.
Elsewhere on the menu are savoury delights such as Century Egg Steamed Egg Custard, Beef Stew with Daikon, Steamed Cuttlefish Paste, Prawn Dumplings in Red Oil and Drunken Chicken.
For those with a sweet tooth, there are different tong sui such as Red Bean Soup with Tangerine Peel, Barley Beancurd Soup, Walnut Paste, Osmanthus Jelly and even, rather unusually for a Chinese restaurant, Red Wine Poached Pear.
What lingers most after a meal here at Hollysweet isn’t just the refined yet unpretentious menu but the sense of comfort it fosters.
We take our time to appreciate every bowl that is set before us, be it their signature tong sui of Coconut Cold Porridge, or the bubbling pots of Crispy Rice in Broth.
Whether the dish is ice cold or steaming hot, the approach is the same: Slow down, sip and savour, surrender.
Hollysweet 荒糖
55, Jalan Taman Pertam Jaya,
Taman Pertam Jaya, Melaka.
Open Thu-Tue 11:30am-10pm; Wed closed
Phone: 06-223 9096
IG: https://www.instagram.com/hollysweet_55/
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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