8 Places That Will Change Your Mind About Thunder Tea Rice

Thunder tea rice is much like the pineapple-on-pizza — people either love it or hate it. This is largely due to the green, almost strange-looking soup that comes with the dish. Not going to lie, when I was first introduced to it a few years back, I was turned off by just the appearance of the soup. However, I am now a big fan of this wholesome meal. The dish has Hakka origins, and key ingredients that make up the soup are ground green tea, nuts or seeds, basil and mint. Thunder tea rice is definitely an acquired taste, but it is packed with health benefits. Here are eight places that serve great thunder tea rice.

Thunder Tree

Thunder Tree may be one of the pricier stalls on the list ($7.80), but they use mainly organic ingredients, and the portions are huge. On top of that, they do not use any MSG and artificial flavouring or colouring in their dishes. What I like about Thunder Tree is the fried beancurd, which comes with some hijiki seaweed, and the fried black-eyed peas. Don’t forget to ask for some of their chilli paste if you like spicy food!

The soup is creamy, without being too herby or bitter, making it a good option if you’ve just been introduced to lei cha fan. Other than the rice, Thunder Tree also serves a variety of dishes such as kolo mee and handmade spring rolls. We visited the newer outlet in Raffles Hospital, but they also have one at People’s Park Centre!

Sunny Choice Cafe

Hands down my top, or second top choice on this list, Sunny Choice is a fully vegetarian cafe that was established in 2007. Run by five sisters, Sunny Choice currently has three different outlets in the west. At $9.50 a bowl, Sunny Choice’s thunder tea rice is the most expensive, but it also has more premium ingredients. Fried enoki mushrooms replace ikan bilis, cashew nuts are used instead of peanuts, and they also have mani chye. You hardly see mani chye being used now because of the hard work that goes into preparing the vegetable — it requires a lot of careful washing, squeezing and storage. Instead, most places replace mani chye with cai xin. The rice itself was flavourful, but what really made them stand out was the lei cha.

The lei cha was a lot darker than what I’m used to seeing, and I was told that the lady boss created her own secret recipe after a lot of trial and error. She uses ten ingredients (most places use five to seven), including cashew which gives the soup a nice creaminess. Slightly sweet and savoury, this was the most fragrant lei cha I’ve tasted!

Pine Tree Cafe

Pine Tree Cafe’s rendition definitely holds a spot in the top three thunder tea rice on my list. The soup was slightly savoury, and was one of the most flavourful soups on the list. For those who love drinking the lei cha, you’ll be happy to know that they serve a huge bowl here! Aromatic, without being bitter, the soup is great for mixing into the rice!

My order ($7) came with a large portion of brown rice, green beans, cai xin, fried beancurd, peanuts and dried cai po. Although the vegetables were on the blander side, it balanced out well with the saltiness of the cai po. I would’ve preferred a higher ratio of vegetables to rice but this was still a very satisfying meal, and I’ll go back for their lei cha for sure!

Tea Square

Located near the popular Albert Centre Market, Tea Square serves a yummy and classic bowl of lei cha fan. Unlike many stalls, the vegetables here are more seasoned and had more distinct flavours which I liked. I especially enjoyed the mani chye which had notes of sweetness. They also top the bowl off with some cilantro which added a refreshing burst of flavour.

Some lei cha fan can be a little dry or flavourless without the soup, but the rice here was just right. Note that this bowl is not suitable for vegetarians as the vegetable is fried with dried shrimp. They also have other dishes such as braised pork leg with vinegar which is said to be really good as well!

客家佬擂茶 Hakka Thunder Tea Rice

Competing with Sunny Choice for first place on my list is Hakka Thunder Tea Rice at Tanglin Halt Food Centre. When I’d arrived, there was a line of five to six people. A bowl is priced at $3.50(white rice), or $4(brown rice). Despite the extremely affordable pricing, each bowl was still topped with a liberal amount of ingredients. The cai po here is fried beforehand, and I was blown away by the amount of umami and smokiness. I’m not exaggerating when I say the cai po elevated the rice. Their brown rice option is also unique as it looks more like a bowl of red rice, a supposedly even healthier grain.

Another ingredient that I enjoyed was the fried leeks. Its mild sweetness balanced out the umami of the ikan bilis. As the tofu was not as fried and crispy, the ikan bilis and peanuts added a nice contrast in terms of texture. The soup was also deliciously creamy and I could understand why there was such a long queue! I would ask for less ikan bilis the next time as I prefer tasting more of the vegetables.

Living Wholesome Vegetarian

The stall owner of Living Wholesome Vegetarian is indeed living his best life. Watching him prepare my food was such an experience. After all, it’s not every day you see a hawker jamming to rock and pop music while preparing food. Observing him cook was like watching a performance, and his every action was done with a flourish.

Each bowl($6) comes with brown rice, cai xin, cabbage, fried tofu, black-eyed peas, cai po, peanuts and sesame seeds. It was, overall, a pretty tasty bowl, and my favourite parts were the beans and fried tofu. The tofu was seasoned with some salt, and was the crispiest tofu on this list. I would’ve preferred the soup to have a stronger basil and mint taste but it was still pretty decent.

Thunder Tea Rice

Probably the largest chain serving lei cha fan, Thunder Tea Rice has four outlets. I went to the one at Toa Payoh HDB Hub and was met with a queue. This was actually where I was introduced to lei cha fan. Although I’ve had the one at Lau Pa Sat not too long ago, it’s been a while since I visited this outlet at Toa Payoh. My bowl came exactly as I remembered, with all the regular toppings and ikan bilis.

I still believe that Thunder Tea Rice is one of the places that serve better lei cha fan, but I was somewhat disappointed by the soup on this visit. It had a more refreshing taste than the others, but was slightly too bitter and not as creamy as I remembered. Strangely, the outlet at Lau Pa Sat serves a soup that’s lot better and stronger tasting. If you get the chance to visit both outlets, do let us know what you think!

Thunderbolt Tea by Boon Lay Traditional Hakka Lui Cha

Thunderbolt Tea is set up by the team behind the popular Boon Lay Traditional Hakka Lui Cha. The original stall is helmed by the father, while Thunderbolt Tea in Tai Seng is taken care of by the son. The two stalls follow a recipe that’s withstood the test of time, and I can see why. Their version is filled with leeks, white cabbage, long beans, mani chye, fried beancurd, cai po and dried shrimps ($4.50 for brown rice, $4 for white). The vegetables were crunchy and went very well with the fluffy rice!

The lei cha was fragrant and slightly creamy with hints of peanut and sesame. I would’ve preferred it to be less savoury so the herbs could stand out more but it was still good! If you’ll like to treat yourself a little, do try the fried pork belly as well ($1.50).

Some might disagree with the names on this list, but these are just a few of my favourite thunder tea rice stalls! If you have a recommendation, please share it with us!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the stalls featured here.

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to the cafes/stalls listed above. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!

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