Min Jiang Kueh Hawker Who Closed Stall After “Negative Remarks” Now Back With Tasty ‘Puffs’

After finishing his bond as an Air Force regular in 2008, Enzo Chen did not know where his career path was heading. “I didn’t have much skills,” confesses the 43-year-old. Then he saw a newspaper ad put up by someone who claimed to help people set up small businesses. That was when Enzo got the idea to open a hawker stall selling min jiang kueh. “It was easy to learn how to make pancakes,” he explains of his decision.

He handed $10,000 to a man he contacted via the ad. “He was doing the setup for me, but halfway through he went MIA,” recalls Enzo, who ended up losing his money. Undeterred, he went on to set up his stall at Jurong West St 52 by himself. But his woes were not over. “I was young, inexperienced and got a lot of negative remarks. My customers said my pancakes were burnt, too moist or undercooked,” he says.

After a year of “holding on”, Enzo closed his stall after his rental contract was up. “I was losing money for that first year. It was very negative,” he mourns. He later found a job as an event organiser for roadshows, and stayed in the industry till the Covid-19 pandemic hit and his jobs dried up. “I was waiting for close to a year [to resume work],” he says, but eventually decided to look for alternative jobs as he’s now married with a one-year-old kid to feed.

His wife Ann Luong (right in pic), 29, encouraged him to go back to hawkering min jiang kueh. “She was the one who kept pushing me. Before that, I was thinking of driving Grab or getting other jobs. But she said, ‘Why not make a comeback [as a hawker], maybe this time it will be better?’” shares Enzo (centre in pic).

Ann, a manicurist, was supportive enough to quit her “secure job” to help her husband full-time. Together, the couple set up their hawker stall Bu Bu Gao Sheng on April 12 this year at a Neil Road kopitiam, right across the road from Shake Shack. The auspicious Chinese name, which means “to reach a higher level with every step”, also riffs on the Chinese word for cake.

“If not for Covid-19, I wouldn’t have returned to hawkering,” muses Enzo. “Doing events is not as time-consuming. I can even take a short nap if there are no complaints (laughs).” But as a hawker, he now works 12 to 15 hours a day. The couple gets help from their friend Delia Kesuma (left in pic), 37, whenever they get busy.

Bu Bu Gao Sheng’s unique offering is its min jiang kueh Puffs (from $1 each), which consist of a thin filling-stuffed pancake ‘kiap-ed’ into the shape of a curry puff using a plastic mould.

The puffs come in 20 savoury and sweet mod fillings like Matcha, Salted Bean and Chicken Floss, Smoked Cheddar Cheese and Black Sesame. The menu is divided into Standard Puffs ($1 to $1.40 each) and the more premium Unique Puffs ($1.40 to $2 each), which has flavours like D24 Durian. “The fillings are contained inside, easier for office people to tapow and eat. Peanut and coconut fillings can be very messy,” says Enzo.

He also serves regular min jiang kueh that he calls Old-Skool Slices (from $1 a slice), which comes in conventional flavours like Peanut ($1), Red Bean ($1), pandan-flavoured Coconut ($1.20) and mod ones like Crunchy Peanut Butter ($1.20).

Since his maiden attempt at being a hawker, Enzo has spent more time “fine-tuning and researching my pancake recipes, as I still have my equipment from my first stall”. He now uses a proprietary batter recipe that involves four types of flour, which he declines to reveal. “My idea was to make the pancakes soft and fluffy, and the secret lies in the flours used,” he says.

Enzo’s traditional min jiang kueh is cooked on electric griddles for up to eight minutes each, while the smaller pancakes for puffs are cooked for a brief minute. This explains why the Old-Skool Slices are a more appealing golden-brown than the puffs, which are a paler shade of yellow.

But still, the pancake options here are all pretty yummy. While we have not tried Enzo’s rookie min jiang kueh when he first sold ’em, we are pleased to say his revamped version boasts a delicate chewiness with a crispy crust. The stacks of pancakes lovingly displayed at his stall is also a welcoming sight, even with a dine-in ban.

The quality of the pancakes didn’t suffer that much after we brought it home — it didn’t turn as stodgy as some min jiang kuehs we’ve bought in the past, though it’s more noticeable in the puffs, which are made with a thicker pancake layer.

Some puff flavours, like Smoked Cheese ($1) with gourmet cheddar, Durian ($2) and Enzo’s signature Salted Bean ($1.20), are delish. But there were also combinations we couldn’t appreciate, like Peanut Corn ($1.40) with sugary crushed peanuts and corn kernel (there’s a smoked cheese-paired version that should fare better), and Chicken Floss ($1.40), which has rather dry floss stuffed into the pancake puff.

At Enzo's recommendation, we order Crunchy Peanut Butter Old-Skool Slice ($1.20) which was very yummy. We prefer that to the Coconut, which comes with decent but luridly green pandan-spiked grated coconut.

After he stabilises his operations, Enzo plans to offer up to 40 flavours for his min jiang kueh puffs. “I’m very ambitious. I want to do sinful flavours! (Laughs) But it will only be flavours I can manage, like cheesy hotdog, ham and peanut-chocolate,” he shares. “And bite-sized MJK that come with dips like peanut butter and chocolate. Just use a toothpick to pick it up and eat.”

Happily, Enzo shares that his business has improved since his early hawker days. “But there are ups and downs lah,” he says. “Some days are very quiet, especially when it’s raining.”

Check out his interesting picks below:

Address: 120 Neil Rd, S088855

Tel: 8186-6966

Opening hours: Open daily except Sun, 7am-5pm.

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Photos: Kelvin Chia