Tekka Centre Fishmonger: Free Bengali Cut at LYH Seafood

LYH Seafood runs one of the larger fish counters in the Tekka Centre wet market, at stall #01-53, Tekka Centre, 665 Buffalo Road, Singapore 210665, a short walk from Little India MRT. The stall keeps market hours and then some: Tuesday to Friday 8 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday 7 am to 6 pm, and it stays shut on Monday. What sets it apart from a heartland fish stall is the mix on the ice. Chinese pomfret and red grouper share space with hilsa, rohu, katla and pabda, the river fish that Bengali families in Singapore cook every week.

The business trades as Lee Yit Huat Trading, which is where the three letters come from, and an online directory of Singapore fish suppliers lists Alex Lee as its founder. The difference from a plain market stall is that LYH also runs a full web shop, so you can study the fish list at home, then walk in and point at the real thing. One reviewer on the site says she has bought from LYH for six years, which matches its reputation as a regular's stall rather than a tourist stop.

Tekka Centre itself has had a refresh. The wet market closed for renovation on 3 July 2023 and reopened on 30 September 2023, so the floors, drains and stall lighting are newer than the building's age suggests. Expect a working market all the same: wet concrete underfoot, ice melting off the counters, and aunties comparing prawns two stalls down. Wear shoes you do not mind splashing, bring a sturdy bag, and leave time to walk the whole fish row before you commit.

Little India is the reason this stall carries fish you will not find at most supermarkets. Hilsa, or ilish, is sold as an 800g to 1kg whole fish for S$35.90, with the choice to keep it whole, cut steaks or take the Bengali cut. Rohu, also called rui, is S$22.50 for a fish of 1.5 to 2kg, and katla at 2.5 to 3kg is S$54.90. The price is the same whichever cut you pick, so the cleaning and the cutting are part of the deal rather than an extra line on the bill.

The Bengali cut is the thing to ask for if you are cooking a mustard jhol or a fried maach bhaja. The fish is split into thick round pieces through the bone, with the head and the tail kept for a separate dish, so every piece has skin, flesh and a little fat to hold its shape in the pan. If you are new to it, tell the cutter what you plan to cook and how many people will eat, and they will size the pieces to suit. Smaller river fish such as pabda at S$22.00 and tengra at S$20.00 are sold as packs for a quick curry.

The other half of the stall serves a very different kitchen. A 500 to 600g red grouper is S$28.90, and you can have it kept whole for steaming, cut in half, cut into steaks or butterflied. Chinese pomfret of the same size is S$28.90 and climbs fast with weight, to S$48.90 at 800 to 900g, which tells you why families save it for festive meals. White pomfret is the gentler buy at S$11.00 for a small fish and S$21.00 for a large one of 400 to 500g.

Fillets are useful if you are cooking for a weeknight. Threadfin fillet, the fish Singapore kids grow up on in porridge, is S$19.50, and the stall will slice it thin for fish soup at the same price. Batang fillet is S$15.50, while a 500 to 600g sea bass to keep whole is S$10.50. For a Malay or Peranakan dish, look out for ikan kembong and ikan selar at S$11.00 each, or cencaru at S$5.50, which they will butterfly for stuffing with sambal.

Prawns come in several grades. Grey prawns start at S$7.50 for a small pack, tiger prawns at S$12.50, and the red-legged ang kar prawns at S$15.90 for a medium pack of 15 to 19 pieces. Peeling is the one paid extra on the list, at S$3 more per pack, and on a busy weekend it is worth every cent. Flower crabs are S$11.90 for 500g, and mud crab claws are sold separately if you only want the meaty part for chilli crab at home.

Do not overlook the odd bits. Red grouper heads are S$10.00 and salmon heads S$8.00, both perfect for a fish head curry or a clear soup, and threadfin bones at S$12.00 make an easy stock. There is also Muar otah at S$5.50 and prawn paste at S$5.50 for steamboat. All of these figures come from the stall's own online price list, and the web shop notes that weights are gross weights, with every fish descaled and gutted before it leaves the counter.

The 7 am Saturday and Sunday opening is an hour earlier than on weekdays, and weekend mornings are when the whole wet market is at its liveliest. If you want a particular hilsa or a large grouper, aim to arrive before 9 am. Weekday afternoons are calmer, and you will have more of the cutter's attention for detailed requests. Remember that the stall is closed on Monday, which catches out first-time visitors who come straight from a long weekend.

For delivery, LYH advertises free island-wide delivery. Orders placed by 9 pm go out the next day, deliveries run Tuesday to Sunday between 11 am and 6 pm, and there is no same-day service or Monday delivery. The products are vacuum packed, and because seafood is perishable the stall does not accept returns. One timely note: the website is being revamped, with the shop offline on 27 October 2026 and the new site due on 28 October, so plan any online order around that date.

Make a morning of it. In the same building, the Tekka Centre hawker centre is the obvious next stop, with biryani, thosai and teh tarik that taste better after an hour among the fish. Cross Serangoon Road for Little India Arcade at 48 Serangoon Road, a row of restored shophouses selling spices, sweets and garlands that will round out the shopping for a curry dinner.

A few minutes further up the same road, Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple at 141 Serangoon Road is one of the oldest Hindu temples in Singapore, and its carved gopuram is worth a look on the walk back to the MRT. If you are carrying fish, do the temple and the arcade first and the market last, so the ice is fresh when you head home.

LYH Seafood, stall #01-53, Tekka Centre, 665 Buffalo Road, Singapore 210665. Hours: Tuesday to Friday 8 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday 7 am to 6 pm, closed Monday. Nearest MRT: Little India on the North East and Downtown lines. Every fish is descaled and gutted, and cuts such as Bengali cut, steaks and butterfly cost nothing extra; peeling prawns is S$3 more. Free next-day delivery runs Tuesday to Sunday. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to plan a Little India market morning around your shopping list.