Ex-gambling den boss now zi char hawker after jail stint, serves shiok $25 fish head curry
Determined to turn his life around, the 37-year-old says: “Even the police officer who arrested me is happy for me. He lives around here and has returned to patronise [my stall]”.
8days.sg first learned about zi char stall Yi Tian Xiang (易甜香) when Love 972 DJ and foodie Dennis Chew posted about its “yummy” seafood white bee hoon on Instagram. Probing further, we found out that the new stall is situated in a Yishun kopitiam and run by a young first-time hawker, whom he knows as Ah Boy. “Their food is good. I’m a regular there,” shares Dennis.
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.Ah Boy gambling den towkay to zi char boss
During our visit, we meet Ah Boy aka Thomas Tan, 37, and the jovial towkay shares that he’s new to F&B. He rebranded the zi char stall (formerly known as Superior Kitchen Yu Xiang Yuan) after taking over the space in May.
When we ask what he did prior to starting the stall, he quips: “I was a huai dan (Mandarin for bad egg),” before candidly sharing about his turbulent past.
A secondary school dropout, Ah Boy’s troubled past began when he was 14. He would hang out in the back alleys of Geylang watching punters gamble and soon got to know the da ge (big boss) operating the illegal dens who gave him the nickname Ah Boy. He started out as a “coffee boy”, buying beverages and running errands for the boss, and later joined the gang as a “watcher” to keep a lookout for the police.
“The people I hung out with were involved in illegal gambling activities and dealing with contraband cigarettes. The da ge took good care of me and I quickly rose the ranks to a ‘managerial level’. I was the boss of a gambling den for seven years,” he says.
“We were very brazen. We would set up tables out in the open from around 6pm to midnight. After paying my guys, I could take home about $500 to $1K each day. So shiok. To me, it was a forever job.”
Determined to change his life after prison stint
All that came to an end when Ah Boy was arrested during an island-wide raid in 2018 and sentenced to 15 months in prison. “Search 2018 Geylang raid, you will see reports of it,” he says with a laugh. “I was at home sleeping when the police came and banged open my door. It was like a robbery.”
After his release in March this year, Ah Boy was determined to turn his life around. His wife, who is Vietnamese, left with their now eight-year-old son when he was in police custody, and he is raising his five-year-old daughter on his own. “Fortunately, my wife couldn’t find my daughter’s passport. Otherwise, she would have taken her away too,” he says.
Despite not having any experience in F&B, he decided to start a hawker biz: “I have always been interested in F&B. I’ve known the boss of Lao You Ji Fishhead Steamboat and Seafood Restaurant in Outram for many years and when I told him I wanted to start my own business, he advised me to do zi char ’cos he has experience and can help me.”
When the opportunity arose in May, he borrowed $40K from friends to take over the Yishun zi char stall and Yi Tian Xiang was born.
His parents are very supportive of his new venture as he is “no longer getting into trouble”. “Even the police officer who arrested me is happy for me. He lives around here and we happened to bump into each other at the coffeeshop. He has returned to patronise [my stall],” says Ah Boy.
Learning how to cook alongside his zi char chef
The past few months, Ah Boy has been learning the workings of running a hawker biz. Besides taking orders and serving, he helps out with food prep and has also been learning how to cook from his “shifu”, Yi Tian Xiang’s head cook, Perak-born Liew Wai Foong, 36.
Wai Foong, who has almost two decades’ experience as a zi char cook, shares that Ah Boy has the chops and talent and is already capable of whipping up some simple dishes. “When the kitchen is not so busy, we let him handle some of the easier dishes like fried hor fun and Hokkien mee,” he says.
Hearing this, Ah Boy offers to fry us a plate of Hokkien mee (you can read about it in our review), his signature dish.
“I like Hokkien mee, especially the one from Geylang Lorong 29 (it goes by the name Swee Guan Hokkien Mee now), so I suggested we include it in the menu and worked with my cook to come up with the recipe. I have made it for my friends and everyone says it’s good. I personally think it’s comparable to the Geylang stall — I only lose to them ’cos they use charcoal to fry the noodles,” declares Ah Boy.
Helping ex-offenders and the less privileged
While the hawker admits that business could be better, he is encouraged that it is “slowly improving every month” and hopes to give back to society by offering free meals to the elderly and low-income residents.
On the last Sunday of each month, the stall will give out lunchboxes to those who are 65 years and above or living in the one-bedder rental flats in the vicinity. “Residents will have to show their identity card and we will work with grassroots leaders to distribute the meals at the coffeeshop,” says Ah Boy.
There are also plans to hire ex-offenders who are seeking a new lease of life. “I know what it’s like to come from hardship and as an ex-con myself, I understand what they’re going through and will be able to connect with them,” he says.
Seafood White Bee Hoon, $7
The seafood white bee hoon lives up to the hype. Our $7 plate brims with bee hoon, fish slices, squid, prawn and veggies swimming in rich, eggy gravy, and every mouthful is packed with wok hei. Unlike most seafood white bee hoon which is simmered in chicken broth, Wai Foong replaces it with a “self-concocted seasoning”, the ingredients of which he is tight-lipped about. Well, no matter. Delish stuff that we’ll happily order again.
Fish Head Curry, $25 (8 DAYS Pick!)
We also enjoy the fish head curry which features a generously-portioned half red snapper head with the usual fixings like tau pok, tau kee, lady’s finger, and brinjal. The gravy is thick, full-bodied and well-balanced. It’s not overly lemak, allowing the spices from the curry to shine, and the fish, which is steamed before being simmered in gravy, is fresh, meaty and tender.
Salted Egg Lotus Root With Chicken, $15 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Thin lightly-battered lotus root slices are deep-fried to crisp them up, then stir-fried with chicken thigh chunks, curry leaves in creamy salted egg yolk sauce. The evenly-coated morsels are umami, slightly spicy, and very addictive. We particularly enjoy the light, wonderfully crunchy lotus root – it’s like eating salted egg chips. Wish there was more of it to go around.Hokkien Mee, $5.50
Ah Boy dishes out a competent take on the hawker dish. The wok hei is evident in the noodles and taste-wise, it’s comparable to Wai Foong’s version (see below), though a lot less wet. When we point this out, Ah Boy admits he forgot to add a scoop of water. “Too nervous,” he says with a laugh. Wai Foong’s Hokkien Mee (top) vs Ah Boy’sAlso lacking is the shellfish umami flavour of Hokkien mee, perhaps due to the use of the stall’s “secret seasoning” instead of prawn stock. That said, it is satisfying in all other aspects. It has a good amount of squid, prawn, fish cake slices, and pork crackling, and is served with sliced chilli padi and house-made hae bee hiam chilli which perk up the dish.
Prawn Paste Chicken, $13 for eight pcs
We love har cheong gai and this ranks up there with our favourites. Each golden-brown chicken mid joint boasts a thin crispy crust – made from a batter containing “three types of flour” – that gives way to juicy, tender meat brimming with umami prawn paste.Bottom line
Pretty good zi char dishes that are reasonably priced. Standout items are the tasty fish head curry and addictive salted egg lotus root with chicken – we’d gladly make the trip up north just for the latter. Yi Tian Xiang is constantly coming up with new dishes so do check with them for off-menu recommendations. You could even ask Ah Boy to whip something up for you.
The details
易甜香Yi Tian Xiang is at Prime Coffeeshop, #01-16, 461 Yishun Ave 6, S760461. Open daily from 11am to 10.30pm. Tel: 8358 8522. More info on Facebook.
Photos: Dillon Tan
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