Wei Ji Braised Duck: $3.50 Braised Duck Rice & Kway Tiao with free soup
It’s touching when people want to continue your legacy once you’re gone. It’s what the current owner of Wei Ji Braised Duck @ Ang Mo Kio 628 Market is doing.
In memory of the founder, the late Mr Ng Ming Wei, his wife continues to run the stall with the help of her children. On the day of my visit, her son was helping her.
The recipes used at Wei Ji go back to the late Mr Ng’s childhood, who in turn learned from his father. The traditional recipes continue to be preserved at the stall.
Ming Wei’s smiling face is prominently placed on Wei Ji Braised Duck’s logo, welcoming diners who choose his stall. If the logo doesn’t draw you in, maybe the wallet-friendly prices will.
While there wasn’t a long queue, there were several tables of customers enjoying food from their menu.
What I tried at Wei Ji Braised Duck
With how wallet-friendly Wei Ji is, I didn’t just pick one dish. I decided to start with the Braised Duck Rice Set (S$4) with an add-on of Braised Meat (S$1.50). The set comes with a bowl of soup.
If you don’t get the set, it’s just S$3.50 for a plate of Braised Duck Rice. If you prefer a duck drum instead of the usual cuts, you can opt for the Duck Drumstick Rice (S$6.30).
The steaming plate includes half a braised egg, small slices of tau kwa, and slices of braised duck. The meat and rice are doused with sauce. It also comes with an optional dollop of sambal chilli.
The boneless duck was tender and easy to tear apart without much effort. The soft duck with gravy was both savoury and slightly herbal, and a lot lighter than I was expecting as there was a fair bit of gravy on the meat.
The rice took in a lot of the gravy and was deeply fragrant for it. Despite that, the plate wasn’t overly soggy or mushy.
The only slight let-down in this rice set was the braised egg and tau kwa. If you don’t eat them with either the rice or duck, both ingredients are rather plain. I ate them them together, though, and found it well-balanced.
The additional braised meat in my meal was as tender as the duck meat. The soft fat of the pork makes the rice set richer. In contrast to the duck, the pork was saltier even though it was covered in the same gravy.
Aside from the braised meat, Wei Ji offered other add-ons like Duck Gizzard (S$0.80) and Duck Liver (S$0.80).
As for the sambal by the side, I found it rather overwhelmingly spicy. Even with just the slightest dip, it was intense and stayed with me even after several mouthfuls to drown it out.
The soup was a surprise standout at Wei Ji Braised Duck. Although it was just the soup with no additional ingredients, the dark-coloured clear liquid held strong on its own. It was distinctly herbal in both smell and taste, much stronger than the gravy and rice.
If you enjoy rich herbal flavours, this soup is for you.
The other dish I ordered was the dry version of the Braised Duck Kway Tiao (S$3.50). This comes with a complimentary bowl of soup as well.
The gravy Wei Ji used was not the thick kind but was instead almost soup-like in consistency. Like the rice and the soup, it had a prominent herbal taste. The kway tiao was soft and easy to eat as it was not too heavy, likely thanks to how light the gravy was.
The duck here was just as tender as in the rice set. Although I did not initially notice it, there were crispy bits of pork lard mixed in, too. Alongside the bean sprouts, it added a nice contrast to the soft noodles and tender duck meat.
Final Thoughts
While eating, I saw that the most common group of patrons at Wei Ji Braised Duck were the elderly. It makes sense as aside from one dish, the entire menu is extremely wallet-friendly at under S$5.
It also helps that both the meat and rice or noodles are easy to eat, being as soft as they are. The herbal taste may contribute to this as well.
If these factors appeal to you, Wei Ji Braised Duck is an ideal option.
Expected damage: $3.50 – $6.30 per pax
Order Delivery: foodpanda
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