Anshun Seafood Soup - Threadfin Fried Fish, Bone Broth, No MSG

Anshun Seafood Soup has carried the name “Zion Road Blk 91” on its signboard for more than two decades, even though the stall has not served from that address in years. It began there in 2002, moved to Toa Payoh Blk 206 for about a decade, and has since settled into a coffee shop in Hougang.

What has not changed is the approach behind the broth. The soup is made purely from fresh batang fish bones and blue ginger, with no pork bones, dried sole, soy beans, MSG, or stock powder added, and only a dash of fish sauce for seasoning at the end. It is one of the more unembellished versions of Teochew-style fish soup found in Singapore’s hawker scene, and that simplicity is what draws the queues.

The stall is run by a couple in their sixties who started selling fish soup at Zion Road Blk 91 back in 2002. The name Anshun comes from Anson, a town in Perak, Malaysia, where the wife’s family hails from. After nine years on Zion Road, the stall moved to Toa Payoh Blk 206 for roughly a decade before relocating to its current home in Hougang around three years ago. Despite the changes in address, the stall has kept its original signboard and name throughout, which is why it remains widely known by its Zion Road origins even today.

Sliced Fish Soup

The sliced fish soup is built around fresh batang sourced from Surabaya, cut into thick, tender pieces that are served unmarinated and without the cornstarch velveting technique many other stalls use to add bounce. The fish is left to speak for itself, set in a clear broth that gets its body from hours of simmering fish bones rather than any added seasoning. Diners can request the broth with or without evaporated milk, with the milk version turning the soup creamier and rounding out its flavour.

Fried Fish Soup

Where most fish soup stalls reach for budget-friendly frozen dory or patin for their fried fish, Anshun uses fresh threadfin, a notably more expensive choice. The fish is battered and fried to order, then served in a separate bowl from the broth so that the coating stays crisp rather than softening in the soup. The batter holds a light crunch on the outside while the threadfin inside remains moist, and the fried fish is commonly eaten with a dip of sweet Thai chilli on the side for extra flavour.

Fried Fish Bee Hoon

This version pairs the same fried threadfin with thick beehoon noodles submerged in the broth, milk option included. The noodles soak up the broth’s flavour as they sit, turning silky while carrying the soup’s savoury fish notes through every strand. The fried fish, kept separate until served, is dunked piece by piece, allowing diners to control how much of its crispness is preserved.

Sliced Fish Bee Hoon

For those who prefer their fish unfried, this dish swaps in the same fresh batang slices over a bed of beehoon. The broth here is usually taken without milk, allowing the natural sweetness from the fish bones and the bay leaf aroma noted by some diners to come through more clearly against the noodles.

Seafood Soup

Beyond the standard fish soup line-up, the stall also offers a seafood soup that includes clams, prawns and fish maw alongside the sliced fish, giving the bowl more variety in both texture and ingredients while keeping the same clean, fish-bone broth as its base.

A more specialised order on the menu is the Omega (Fish Stomach), the Omega features fish stomach as the centrepiece of the bowl. It is less commonly ordered than the sliced or fried fish options but has built a following among diners who specifically seek out fish maw and stomach textures in their soup.

Anshun’s fish soup is a reminder that a dish does not need a long ingredient list to stand out. Between the quality of its batang, the use of threadfin for frying, and a broth built on patience rather than shortcuts, the stall offers a version of Teochew fish soup with very little standing between the diner and the fish itself.

Address: 174C Hougang Ave 1, Singapore 533174
Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday, 11:00am to 7:00pm. Closed on Sundays.