Walk into any coffee shop here and you'll find fish soup on the menu. But "fish soup" covers a lot of ground. The broth can be clear or cloudy, the fish sliced raw or fried until golden, and the bowl built around fillets or a whole fish head.
If you've ever wondered what separates one bowl from the next, this guide sorts it out. We'll walk through the main types of fish soup in Singapore (Teochew fish soup, sliced fish soup, fried fish soup and fish head soup) and explain the difference between a clear broth and a milky one. By the end, you'll know exactly what you're ordering and why it tastes the way it does.
Let's start with the style that gives the dish its backbone.
Teochew Fish Soup: The Clear-Broth Classic
Teochew fish soup is the plain-spoken original. The broth is light and clean, and it lets the fish taste of itself. There's no heavy thickening and nothing to hide behind.
You'll usually find tomato for a little acidity, ginger to lift the broth, and sometimes salted vegetable or preserved plum for a savoury-sour edge. These are supporting players. The fish stays the star.
The whole point of this style is restraint. If the fish is poor, you'll know straight away, because there's nowhere for it to hide. That's also why a good Teochew bowl tells you so much about the kitchen behind it.
In short: Teochew fish soup is about clean flavour and honest fish. Simple to describe, harder to get right.
Sliced Fish Soup: All About the Fish
Sliced fish soup is what most people picture when they think of the dish. Thin slices of raw fish go into hot broth, either cooked in the soup or served alongside to poach at the table.
The cut matters here. Firmer fish like batang holds its shape well in hot broth. Softer fish, like pomfret, has a more delicate flesh that needs a gentle hand.
This brings us to the single most useful habit for any a bowl of fish soup: eat the fish early. In a hot broth, the slices keep cooking after they reach your table. Leave them too long and delicate flesh turns dry and firm. Take the fish first, while it's still tender, then work through the broth at your own pace.
Fried Fish Soup: Crunch Meets Broth
Fried fish soup swaps raw slices for pieces fried until golden and crisp. The fish goes into the broth, or sits on the side, giving you a different texture altogether.
The contrast is the appeal. You get the crunch of the fried edges against the warmth of the soup. Some people love it; others prefer the clean bite of raw sliced fish.
One thing to note: fried fish softens the longer it sits in the broth. So if you like it crisp, eat it quickly. If you prefer it soaked and tender, let it rest a moment. Either way, the choice is yours.
Fish Head Soup: Rich and Full of Flavour
Fish head soup is built around the head rather than fillets. The head carries a lot of flavour and gelatine, which gives the broth real body and a slightly sticky feel on the lips.
There's more work involved in eating it (you're picking around bones and cheeks) but many regulars will tell you the cheek meat is the best part. It's tender and full of flavour.
This style leans richer than a plain sliced fish soup. It's the bowl to order when you want something hearty rather than light.
Clear Broth vs Milky Broth: Where the Body Comes From
Here's the difference that trips people up most. A fish soup broth can be clear or cloudy, and the cloudiness comes from one of two very different places.
The Milky Route
Many stalls get that white, creamy look by adding evaporated milk. It's comforting, and plenty of us grew up on it. But the milk softens the fish flavour and adds a dairy note that sits on top of everything.
The Collagen Route
There's another way to build body, and it changes the flavour completely. Collagen is the natural gelatine drawn out of fish bones during a long simmer. It thickens the broth and gives it weight, without any dairy.
This is how Hup Lok builds its base. The broth comes from batang bones and a siput (shell) base, cooked down until the collagen thickens it naturally. It isn't thickened with milk. It's thickened with the fish itself.
The takeaway: cloudy doesn't automatically mean milk. Taste the broth on its own, and you'll start to tell whether the richness comes from dairy or from fish.
A Signature Bowl, Built With Intention
To see how these ideas come together, look at Grandpa's Pomfret Fish Soup. It's finished with shiitake, julienned ginger, tomato, salted plum and a splash of hua tiao wine.
Each addition does a job. Shiitake adds savoury depth, ginger lifts the broth, tomato brings acidity, salted plum adds a sour-savoury edge, and the hua tiao wine rounds it off with warmth. None of them fight the fish. They frame it.
The dish is named after the founder's own father. His family has traded fish in Singapore for three generations; his father started as a street fish hawker before the trade grew into a wholesale seafood business. That background shows up in the sourcing, not just the story.
Most seafood passes through several hands before it reaches a kitchen, and each layer typically adds 20 to 30 percent in margin. Hup Lok shortens that chain, bringing local fish through the family wholesale business and Japanese seafood direct from suppliers. Fewer hands, shorter journey, better fish in the bowl. That's part of what earns a place among the Best Fish Soup in Singapore.
Which Bowl Should You Order?
A quick guide to help you choose:
- Want clean, honest flavour? Go for Teochew clear-broth fish soup.
- Prefer tender slices of fish? Sliced fish soup is your bowl.
- Like a bit of crunch? Try fried fish soup.
- After something rich and hearty? Fish head soup delivers.
- Curious about the broth? Taste it plain and check if the body comes from milk or collagen.
Wrapping Up
Fish soup isn't one dish. It's a whole family of them, split by broth, fish and preparation. Teochew keeps it clear and clean, sliced fish soup puts the fillet first, fried fish soup brings crunch, and fish head soup goes rich. The clear-versus-milky question, meanwhile, comes down to where the body comes from; milk or the fish itself.
Next time you order, taste the broth on its own, pick your fish for the texture you want, and eat the fish early before it overcooks.
If you'd like to try a collagen-built Teochew broth for yourself, drop by Hup Lok on Havelock Road and start with Grandpa's Pomfret Fish Soup.
