Halal wanton char siew noodles, anyone?

SINGAPORE — Guan Chee HK Roasted Duck has come a long way since moving its stall from Chinatown, where it first set up business in 1980, to Hougang Ave 1 in 1983.

An established name in Singapore, owners Terence Chi, 58, and his wife Conica Lee, 45, now have five Food Republic outlets - after their first at Food Republic Suntec City in 2007 proved to be a good way to make their dishes more readily available to the public. It also helped that it was possible to prepare their traditional charcoal grilled meats on-site as opposed to a central kitchen, he added.

But their most recent food stall at the Food Republic’s latest location at Manulife Centre, which opened for business last week, marks another milestone in their successful run. Called Sumber Ayam Chicken Rice, it is their first Malay food stall in Singapore. (The couple have a standalone eatery in Subang, Malaysia, serving Malay classics such as nasi padang and ayam penyet that was launched early this year.)

Lee added: “We (also) chose to open at Manulife Centre as we know that our dishes will be popular among the crowd in the area — mainly university students and young working adults.”

But a love for Malay cuisine is not the only reason behind their decision to venture into the halal food business. The couple said they have noticed a general dearth of halal-certified stalls at food courts - and those present often proffer similar dishes. They wanted to “change this trend” by offering more options.

“There’s always room for more halal-certified foods; we keep hearing people asking for (roast meats) but because these are not halal-certified, they’re limited in their choices. We feel that more can be done to make previously non-halal (style of cooking) accessible to the Malay community.

“There is a wide range of Chinese food that will be of interest to them, which will also suit their palates,” he continued, adding how they have “many Malay friends who are always asking us to set up a halal food stall”.

The name of the stall reflects their current menu of mainly chicken dishes; Chicken rice, chicken hor fun, chicken dumpling noodles, curry chicken noodles, ayam penyet, wanton noodles (with chicken char siew as opposed to the familiar pork) and even chicken innards. The recipes are their own. For now, the kitchen at Sumber Ayam Chicken Rice is helmed by an experienced and well-versed Chinese chef “who will be working with Malay Muslim assistants in preparing all the dishes”.

But how confident are they that this will take off? “As far we know, there aren’t any similar (roast meats stalls) offering halal-certified options. Even so, we are confident that our dishes should stand out taste-wise, as our cooks have mastered and perfected our offerings,” Lee said, explaining how they also hope to improve their dishes based on customer feedback.

“We are currently in the process of hiring another Malay chef who will helm the kitchen together with the current chef,” she added. “Once we have our Malay chef, we will explore and create new Malay dishes, or even Chinese-Malay fusion dishes, as future offerings.”

“For the authenticity of our dishes, we sent our cooks to our Malaysia outlet to develop and sharpen their skills and techniques,” said Chi. “We wanted our cooks to learn more about preparing halal food, as well as how to refine the dishes in order to better suit the taste buds of the Malay community.

“Basically, the dishes at Sumber Ayam will be prepared in the same tried-and-tested style as those in Guan Chee HK Roasted Duck, but using only halal ingredients.”

Although Chi said it is not difficult to replace these non-halal ingredients, the challenge lies in retaining the original flavour and quality of the food. “Like any other business, there will always be challenges in running a food stall,” he said. “For us, the main challenge lies in understanding halal processes. We have specially engaged consultants who are able to guide us in adopting best practices for preparing halal food.”