Pilot-turned-3rd gen hawker of Garden Street Kway Chap opening westside outlet
Westie kway chap fans don’t have to travel all the way to Serangoon Garden Food Centre for this popular stall.
Garden Street Kway Chap is a popular stall at Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre, currently helmed by third-gen chef-owner Jason Koh. The business was started in the 1950s by his grandfather, who sold kway chap in Rochor from pots slung across two bamboo poles.
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The Kohs only opened a hawker stall at Garden Street, near Beach Road, in the ’70s. They later moved to Serangoon Garden. For over five decades, the family only operated out of a single stall. But Jason, who took over some 20 years ago, has recently opened another hawker outlet at Bukit Panjang.“Our business has been doing well and since Singapore is emerging from the pandemic, it seems like a good time now to expand,” he tells 8days.sg, adding that he will be splitting his time between the two stalls. The new branch is solely owned by the Koh family, who did not partner any investors to expand.
The kway chap
Garden Street Kway Chap’s gravy is cooked with nine herbs and spices like galangal, blue ginger and cinnamon. According to Jason, the “soul” of kway chap is the pig intestines in the dish, which takes a lot of effort to prepare.
He is at his stall by 3am, six days a week, to begin the gruelling process of cleaning the intestines with salt and vinegar by hand before they can be cooked. “It’s like doing laundry,” laughs Jason. He also fries his stall’s fishcake the old-school way in lard to make it crispier.
The menu
The Bukit Panjang outlet will serve Garden Street’s famous kway chap, which starts from $5 for a Kway Chap Set For 1 with pork belly, pig stomach, big intestines, fried fishcake, egg and tau pok.
A set for two pax costs $11, while a no-pork set with fishcake, egg, tau pok, braised beancurd, salted vegetables and peanuts is $4.50. Top up $0.60 or $0.90 for a serving of kway, the silky rice sheets that accompany the braised items.
There is also a new Pig Organ Soup ($5) that comes with pork liver and intestines, as well as Pig Stomach Soup ($5) in a clear broth.Pilot who became a hawker
Before returning to Singapore to continue his family’s business, Jason, who is a father-of-two, worked as a commercial pilot in Australia. “During my parents’ generation, they [became hawkers] because they didn’t have much education. But now, it’s more for passion,” he says.
Garden Street Kway Chap’s new outlet is at #01-36, 259 Bukit Panjang Ring Rd, S670259. Open daily 7.30am-8pm. Original stall at #01-21 Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre, 49A Serangoon Garden Way, S555945. Open daily except Mon, 8.30am-3.30pm. Facebook, Instagram.
Photos: Garden Street Kway Chap
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