Best Things under S$10: Hossan Leong

SINGAPORE — It seems unusual that actor-comedian Hossan Leong is still a victim of stage fright. And he’s perfectly okay with it. In fact, he thrives on it. “I don’t ever want to lose that feeling of butterflies, because (then) I’d get a little jaded and I’d start to question what I’m doing all this for,” he said.

Establishing a connection with the audience is his sole motivating factor. “People leave me tweets after my show, saying, ‘Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you earlier, thank you for making me laugh.’ To me, that’s fantastic,” said Leong, who’s currently hosting the MediaCorp Channel 5 game show We Are Singaporeans.

And yes, he’s very much a true-blue Singaporean — even if he lets his wanderlust get the better of him. “I consider myself very local but, to be honest, I could live anywhere.”

Or eat anywhere, for that matter.

BREAKFAST: I never eat out for breakfast, so I will cook at home. That’s definitely under S$10. Once, I tried making salad with lemon soy vinaigrette. Instead of using the proper veggies, I put chai sim. Since it was an “ang mo” salad, it tasted really horrible! But I haven’t had other disasters so far. I’m a true Cantonese boy, so give me a hot fryer and a wok, and I can do anything.

LUNCH: Chicken rice with two roasted drumsticks. Everyone who knows me will know this. They’ll go around asking: “What do you want for lunch? You? What about you? Hossan we know, moving on...” I just love it. I’m one of those people who could eat it all day every day. A plate at Lucky Plaza will cost me about S$7.

DINNER: I like real, French bistro food, but my favourite is coq au vin — chicken leg stewed in red wine. I can even whip it up in the kitchen! Phillipe Pau, the director of Bistro Du Vin, even told me ‘If need be, for you I’ll whip up coq au vin at S$9 for you, or even free of charge!’ I’ve also been making French sauces recently and it’s really hard! The skill you’d need to make the sauces ... (sighs) But I love experimenting and trying new things with food.

DESSERT/SNACK: I do sneak in a Snickers bar every now and then in the studio when I’m on a break. It’s my “Scooby snack”. Laetitia Wong