Yummy Din Tai Fung-Style Pork Chop Fried Rice & Prawn Cakes At New Bedok Hawker Stall
The stall is helmed by a chef who worked at Din Tai Fung for 13 years and an ex-DTF restaurant manager.
Din Tai Fung-style fried rice joints have been popping up all over the island, and this month-old hawker stall in Bedok South is the latest to join the fray. Lew Chong Sin, 32, the chef at Ding Gua Gua, was a chef at Din Tai Fung for 13 years, and at his time with the chain oversaw the kitchen at several outlets around the island. He’s joined by Randy Chua, 40, who was a restaurant manager with the chain for two years. The third partner is friend Staphy Sim, 34, who most recently was a business analyst with Club Med, and now handles the back end of the business. “Ding Gua Gua” is a cutesy Chinese expression that means “first rate,” though it also harkens to the pedigree in the kitchen here.
Together, the two Din Tai Fung alums have brought their know-how from the famous chain to this humble hawker set-up, which specialises in fried rice done in the familiar Din Tai Fung style, working with a small kitchen team to trot out a relatively modest menu of fried rice and some side dishes. They left the chain to strike out on their own so that they could be their own bosses, and were motivated to offer the same style and quality of fried rice from their restaurant days at a lower price point. According to them, the Din Tai Fung folks do know about their new business, but they’re quick to add that while they’ve definitely drawn inspiration from the chain, the style of fried rice here is, according to Randy, “same same, but different”.
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