When we spoke to Tok Su Wen last October, her home-based giant curry bun business Yummy Tummy Bakes was flourishing. She churned out some 250 “curry bombs” a week from her four-room HDB flat. The 39-year-old has since outgrown her home kitchen, and opened a takeaway joint at NEWest mall in Clementi earlier this month, investing some $50K into the space.

She differentiated herself from competitors with modern bun flavours like double cheese or HK-style polo crust. On top of the signature Singapore Chinese-style curry chicken adapted from her family’s heritage recipe, she also offers her version of a stew-like Japanese curry.

Su Wen’s curry packs a punch as she comes from a family of hawkers specialising in it — her parents used to run Keat Hong Curry Rice in Choa Chu Kang. Her older brother has since taken over the stall, while another brother manages a branch in Jurong. 

At her Yummy Tummy Bakes store — she not only serves her popular pillowy buns stuffed with curry, but desserts like house-made durian puffs too. Duck confit will also soon be on the menu. As bizarre as that sounds, there’s a reason behind it. 

Home baker used to work at Irish Duck Company

You see, the home baker (pictured above with her dad) used to work in a sales role at Irish Duck Company, the sole distributor of premium Silver Hill Farm ducks in Singapore. The Irish birds are known to be the “wagyu of ducks” and are served in eateries like TungLok Group’s Duckland. 

“I was thinking of how to expand my menu with items that can be ordered through delivery,” explains Su Wen. Then she recalled her industry contacts and how she used to watch their clients preparing duck confit. She says she’s confident she can recreate the dish. But isn’t the French classic a time-consuming one to make? That’s why it’s normally served at full-service restaurants. Su Wen insists she can confit the duck legs in fat and seasonings in bulk beforehand. She will crisp individual ducks up on the stovetop every time an order comes in. 

She plans to sell the duck confit either as a whole leg on a waffle, or with its meat shredded between house-baked burger buns. No, she isn’t concerned that customers will be confused about a home baker selling duck confit. “Every brand has its ‘king’ [item]. Our king will still be curry buns. But with duck confit, we will be serving them with our own house-made buns or waffles. So the duck is there to showcase that,” she says. That being said, she will only offer the final version of the duck dish by mid-August. “It'll definitely be priced way lower than the $15 cafe-standard,” she promises.

New shop space means double the capacity for curry buns

Su Wen’s choice of location is partly due to NEWest shopping mall’s reasonable rental rates and residential crowd, which she figured would fit the profile of her customers. That said, business hasn’t quite jumped in the month since she opened shop as “the walk-in crowd is still quite weak”.

The good news is that the larger space for a commercial-sized oven means she’s “100 percent more productive now” despite still working solo (she hasn’t had time to hire extra staff), and can accept group buy orders of 50 curry buns per morning or evening, up from the previous limit of 25. She also needs only one day’s notice for orders now. 

But if you’d like to pop by and try your luck, she stocks some signatures in-store daily like the pillowy plain version of her curry bomb (see above) and second-most popular item, durian puffs. While stocks last. Regulars will be happy to know that there are no changes to prices for her curry buns ever since she upgraded to a storefront.

Soft Fluffy Plain Bun Curry Bomb, $28 for chicken; $32 for mutton (feeds three to four)

The entry-level version of their signature “curry bomb”, filled with a pleasantly spicy and lemak curry reminiscent of the stuff you’d get at family potlucks.

Mao Shan Wang Puffs, nine pcs for $25

Yummy Tummy Bakes “other champion” item: choux pastry stuffed “only with pure mao shan wang puree” and no whipped cream. However, these are only sold in sets of nine. Other flavours like strawberry, mango or kiwi require an advance order.

Yummy Tummy Bakes is at #01-34, NEWest shopping mall, 1 West Coast Dr, S128020. Tel: 9367-0998. Open daily 11am – 7pm (tentative). More info via Facebook and Instagram. Delivery available soon.

Photos: Yummy Tummy Bakes

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