Singapore Farm Visit: Jurong Frog Farm
It was a Saturday when we set foot on Kranji farms in the northwestern corner of Singapore. There were 5 of us on this mini farm tour and Jurong Frog Farm was first on the day's itinerary.
We alighted from Bus Service 975 before the intersection to Lim Chu Kang Lane 6 and walked about 1Km to the frog farm.
Jurong Frog Farm first started in the 1970s for breeding of American bullfrogs in Jurong area. It moved to its current location in Kranji in 1993, occupying some 1.2 hectares, but retained its original name. It is the only frog farm in Singapore and breeds over tens of thousands of froggies. The frogs are farmed for their meat.
The froggy mascot of Jurong Frog Farm was named Gabbe, which donned on white shirt and yellow boots. The farm staff were also dressed in similar attire — a striking resemblance to how Gurmit Singh, a local comedian artiste, was dressed like when casting as Phua Chu Kang in a MediaCorp sitcom called "Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd".
Nearer to the entrance of the farm was the Royal Frog Shop, selling a small range of frozen produces such as frog meat, crocodile meat, fish, venison, etc, and the farm-made hashima dessert. We briefly looked around the shop, placed an order for some food (needed about 30 minutes) and went to check out the froggies before coming back.
On one side of the farm was a mating area and a feeding area. No mating was in progress so we checked out the feeding pens with young frogs. Some kids were happily throwing specially-prepared frog feeds (bought from the shop) to the frogs.
On the other side was the activity area where larger bullfrogs could be found. They were larger in size than most other frog species. These were the beautiful meat found in claypot frog porridges.
A closer look at an adult bullfrog with greenish cheeks. If I guessed correctly, this was a female bullfrog with an eardrum, or tympanic membrane, the same size as its eye. A male frog would have larger eardrums than the eyes and smaller in size.
The frog farm was a great place for kids to learn more about frogs and their lifecycle, gaining valuable experience and knowledge beyond how they imagined frogs to be from textbooks.
A farm guide was also explaining to the kids on the 4 lifecycle stages of frogs with real frog eggs, tadpoles, tadpoles with legs and froglets. The kids were really amazed and asked lots of questions.
In another pen, some kids were trying to catch frogs the correct way and put them gently in the large tray. It was an activity to see who were more daring.
Of course, not all the frogs were shown to the public. Only the selected ones were allowed to entertain guests.
While kids had fun with the frogs in the pens, we (adults) were going to have our own "fun" in the Royal Frog Shop. It was time for our breakfast!
We were a little early and our food was still swimming in the hot sizzling oil.
While waiting for the food to be ready, I popped a question to the lady at the counter regarding hashima (雪哈) that were commonly used to make dessert for nourishing complexions. And she confirmed that hashima was indeed the fallopian tube of a frog — not any "fatty tissue found near the fallopian tube" as claimed by Wikipedia. I had been misled for years...
And our cajun-style buttermilk frog meat ($15) was finally ready for savouring. Despite deep-frying, they were not oily. It had a smooth flavouring that was not salty, probably due to the buttermilk.
The crocodile nuggets ($15) looked similar to fried pork strips except that crocodile meat was slightly chewier. They still tasted better than fried pork or even chicken nuggets.
I had missed out the crispy frog skins chicharron! I was looking at the photos when placing the order and did not notice the fried frog skins in the menu list (until when typing this post). It should be nice from a similar froggy experience I had in Vietnam.
Read: Bizarre Food Adventure in Saigon, Vietnam
After the little snacks, it was time to hop on to the next farm.
Read: Singapore Farm Visit: Hay Dairies Goat Farm
Address
56 Lim Chu Kang Lane 6 (map)
Opening Hours
9am - 5:30pm daily
Closed on Mondays
Website
How to Get There (if not driving)
Kranji Countryside Shuttle Service ($3/pax)
Take Bus 975 from Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange and walk to the farm (recommended on weekends)
Read: Better Ways to Get Around Kranji Farms or to Sungei Buloh without Driving