Makan spotlight: Thunder tea rice

This famous stall at Tanglin Halt Food Centre draws a perpetual queue. Its thunder tea rice ($3.50 for white rice, $4 for brown rice) comes topped with a generous serving of vegetables, flavourful preserved radish, firm tofu as well as ikan bilis and peanuts for added crunch. The star here is the thunder tea soup, which is thick, nutty and fragrant. Top off the bowl with some yong tau foo (80 cents apiece) – the fried goodies add on the calories but are too yummy to resist.

Thunderbolt Tea claims its recipe to be a century old. Run by the son of the hawker in charge of Boon Lay Traditional Hakka Lui Cha, its not a stretch to believe. The thunder tea rice bowl here (from $5) comes with the full works – expect leeks, white cabbage, long beans, sayur manis (which tastes like spinach and a hint of asparagus), firm tofu, pickled radish and dried shrimps. Every component is fresh and well seasoned, complemented by a deeply savoury thunder tea broth. There's also a vegetarian option with no dried shrimps if you like. Otherwise, go all out and get the popular Hakka fried pork, which is marinated in a secret family recipe of fermented beancurd marinade. 

A favourite among the Westies, Traditional Hakka Lui Cha at 505 Jurong West Food Centre serves up a mean bowl of thunder tea rice ($3.50). The stall has been around for almost 10 years, more than enough time to get its recipe just right. The subtle sweetness of vegetables like cabbage, green beans and choy sum balance out savoury pickled radish and dried shrimps. Peanuts give extra texture, alongside a pale green and grainy thunder tea broth that has just the slightest trace of bitterness. They don't use MSG here, and cut down on the oil and salt too, making an already healthy bowl even healthier. 

Amidst the bustle and long queues at Amoy Street Food Centre, Lin Da Ma Lei Cha is the place to go for a quick, healthy, and yet fulfilling lunch. Part of a chain of thunder tea rice hawkers in Singapore, this branch offers up consistently good lei cha. The tea broth is fragrant and nutty but not too strong, and the toppings are the perfect combination of chewy and crunchy, salty and sweet. There's something for the meat lovers too – they make their own tofu with minced pork patties that you can add on for a dollar more.