Pro Muay Thai Fighters Sell Delish Thai Braised Pork Leg At CBD Hawker Stall

Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, is as synonymous with the Land of Smiles as any of the nation’s famed street food. Perhaps it’s not so strange then, that you’ll find both at CBD hawker stall Eminent Thai Cuisine & Seafood, well, kind of. It recently reopened on June 22 in a kopitiam on Philip Street and serves no-frills Thai classics, like kao kaa moo (braised pork leg) and pad kra pow (pork stir-fried with basil).

It’s fronted by a pair of professional Singaporean muay Thai fighters, 32-year-old Spencer Tay (left in pic) and 28-year-old Ng Lai Hock (right) whose mum is Thai. They also co-own a muay Thai gym in Bugis. The dishes are cooked using recipes taught to Spencer by Thai boxers during training trips to Thailand that began when he was 14.

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The men both spent more than half their lives practicing the martial art, shuffling back and forth between Thailand and Singapore during their teenage years. “After training, you need to eat. And in Thailand, you’ll always have rice. You just need something to go with it,” says Spencer, who’s rather soft-spoken for someone with 32 professional fights under his belt.

In Thailand, he stayed with the husband-and-wife owners of Eminent Air Thai Boxing Gym (the name refers to their sponsor – an air-conditioner manufacturer). It was the wife who managed the gym, and whom Spencer refers to as “his godmother”. “She taught me most of the recipes we’re cooking now,” he says.

Since then, he returned to Singapore to serve his National Service before meeting Lai Hock, who’s equally mild-mannered despite having had 12 bouts in the ring. With his godmother’s blessing, the pair (along with Spencer’s bro) opened their gym Eminent Air Muay Thai Singapore four years ago.

Like many others, they took the opportunity during the Covid-19 pandemic to branch out into F&B. “It was a passion project to share the food [we grew up eating],” shares Spencer. He and Lai Hock opened Eminent Thai Cuisine & Seafood “right after the circuit breaker [period] last year” in BK Eating House on South Bridge Road.

“We were sharing a lease with a partner, as we weren’t confident since it was our first time doing F&B” he says. “We split the rent (of $6K) and the stall space. But after three months, he suddenly quit without telling us. We were left scrambling.”

The young towkays decided to relocate, giving up the money they’d spent on the deposit and signage to the tune of “about $6K each”. They ended up at their current premises on Phillip Street “as [they] knew the landlord there”.

“We had bad days during [the Circuit Breaker last year] of course,” Spencer says when we asked how business has been at his muay Thai gym. “But our gym’s business was picking up – a lot of people were trying it out. Maybe because no one can go overseas.” The situation was similar for their hawker stall. “Everyone’s still working from home. Business was getting better since [last year], then [dine-in restrictions from Phase 2 HA] hit in May 2021,” he says. Getting on delivery platforms didn’t help much, he says, as they hadn’t had the time to build up a customer base.

With the recent return to Phase 2 HA measures since July 22, “business has dropped 70 per cent, because of [our location]. It’s very frustrating on our end as we’re trying ways to make ends meet, but we also understand the government’s [reason] for the closure.”

“I hope the government will help private stall owners as well because we don’t get any help unlike hawkers and [National Environment Agency-managed] coffee shops,” he adds. “It is very hard.”

The guys split their days between coaching at the gym (though it’s currently closed for the return of P2HA), cooking at the stall or, in Spencer’s case, at his full-time job as an oil trader. “Lai Hock and his dad (who has cooked at cai png stalls in the past) are here most days,” he says. “I usually come down during lunch hours to help out when it gets busier.”

“If you can get through training, there won’t really be a day too bad to handle,” Spencer says. “But if you ask me which is more taxing, definitely [being a] hawker. It’s hot, humid and quite physically demanding.”

We ask if it’s tough working together in the kitchen. “We’ve trained together, and we’ve opened a gym together. So yeah, we’re pretty comfortable working together. [Spencer’s] always taken care of me like an older brother,” says Lai Hock.

Despite being run by a pair of buff fighters, don’t expect Eminent Thai Cuisine & Seafood to serve wholesome, post-workout grub. “It’s not healthy. There’s [high-sodium] fish sauce in everything,” Spencer says with a laugh. “It’s just meant to taste good and fill you up.”

Their casual, no-frills Thai dishes from $6.50 are served up in old-school enamel plates and metal cutlery. “You usually only get the spoon – but we figured we should add a fork here,” he adds.

We’ve had many unctuous pork legs in Yaowarat (Bangkok’s Chinatown district), so trust us when we say this version is worth the calories. The recipe for this dish, Lai Hock says, was taught to his father back when the elder Ng worked in Chiang Mai as a hawker.

The pork legs are stewed overnight for at least eight hours in a braise of light and dark soya sauce, fish sauce and sugar. Compared to the sort you’d get in Thailand, it’s less gamey. “You need to wash [the legs] thoroughly and skim the fat, [or else] the porky smell will be very strong,” Lai Hock explains.

All that braising leaves the meat delectably tender with a strong enough salty-savoury kick. If the fat gets too much for you, there’s pickled mustard greens and a chilli-and-fish sauce dip to brighten things up. A more than decent rendition of this Thai hawker fave. Our only grouse is the braised egg – the yolk is a tad overcooked and rather chalky.

The classic stir-fried basil and minced pork combo works well enough here. There’s some aromatic zing from the basil and chilli, with just a hint of heat – though it’s a little dry, especially after the decadence of the braised pork leg. The chilli-and-fish sauce dip helps moisten things a little.

“This dish means a lot to me, as I used to make it for a special someone,” Spencer shares (though he didn’t share who the special someone was). Lemongrass is chopped and mixed with garlic, Thai palm sugar, fish sauce and other aromatics, then rubbed on deboned chicken, which is later grilled.

The result is sweet-savoury chunks of chook that are well charred and juicy enough. The herbaceous lemongrass in the marinade does overwhelm the dish a little, but it’s still quite good – you can almost taste the love in this.

The spiciest dish we tried here. Fresh prawns are butterflied and stir-fried with nam jim talay, a garlicky, spicy seafood sauce normally used for dipping by the Thais. There’s a heady punch of sweet and sour – along with lots of heat – that’s missing from the other dishes. Quite shiok if you’re willing to get your sweat on.

The fish is shallow-fried before a sourish broth is ladled over it – we enjoy the tartness of the lime together with the fresh, clean-tasting fish. It’s been fried for a little too long though, as it's on the tougher side – we have trouble cutting through it with our spoon.

Competent Thai food that’s mostly milder in salt and spice compared to some others we’ve had. Our favourite dishes are the more robust-tasting fiery prawns and indulgent braised pork leg with rice.

Eminent Thai is at Marina Food House, 15 Philip St, S048694. Tel: 8923-9811. Open Mon to Fri, noon – 6pm; Sat, 11.12pm – 4pm. More info via Instagram. Delivery via Grabfood or Foodpanda.

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Photos: Alvin Teo, Eminent Thai