SINGAPORE - With the surge in food delivery orders during meal times, it is not uncommon for orders to arrive late. So I now ask for it to be sent to me earlier, at around 11am or 5pm, to avoid the peak hours. I just have an early meal.

Sometimes it is still late. For example, a char kway teow delivery I ordered for 11.15-11.45am last week got to me at 1.15pm. But at least, I was not left groaning in hunger because it still fell within my body clock's lunch period. The food suffered badly though, so I'm not recommending that.

The Collagen Broth Poached Rice or pao fan from Beauty In The Pot, however, arrived on the dot and was amazing. The broth was hot and the puffed rice so crispy that the only thing missing was the sizzling sound when I dropped it into the broth.

Ordering it was easy. GrabFood provides the restaurant with island-wide delivery and the minimum order of $10 is easy to hit, even for a single diner. And there is a 20 per cent discount.

Best of all, the rice comes with a rich broth that reminds me of the hotpot restaurant's original collagen broth which has since been replaced by a dried scallop version. It has a creamy texture and leaves a sticky sensation on the lips, a sure sign it is packed with the promised collagen.

There are three versions to choose from: pork ($20.70), seafood ($22.92) or beef ($26.23). Both the pork and beef ones come with other toppings of clams, ebiko prawn paste and black fungus, while the seafood version has fresh white sea prawns, ebiko prawn paste, sliced toman fish, clams and black fungus.

I picked the pork, but the slices of belly turned out to be rather dry so I'd suggest you try the other two versions instead.

The ebiko prawn paste was my favourite. It was springy and sweet, and because it came as two plump nuggets, the texture was better than the version I ate when I dined at the Beauty In The Pot restaurants. There, it was piped out from bags into the hotpot and formed smaller pieces.

The black fungus also provided a delightful crisp mouthfeel while the clams were expressions of seafood sweetness.

Two types of rice were included. Packed underneath the meat and seafood was a generous amount of white rice poached in a little stock, while the puffed rice was packed separately. There was also a small container filled with spring onion.

The food was warm enough to eat as it was, but I wanted it piping hot so the broth went into the microwave oven for a few minutes. You could also heat it to boiling point on the stove before pouring it over the other ingredients.

But do not add all the puffed rice at one go. The grains lose their crispiness quickly in the broth, so add them bit by bit and you will enjoy them at their best - down to your last mouthful of this restaurant-quality pao fan.

Beauty In The Pot

Various outlets including at The Centrepoint, 176 Orchard Road

How to order: Go to this website

Delivery charge: Calculated at check-out. Mine was $13.70 plus a $0.30 platform fee

4 stars out of 5