Pilot-Turned-3rd Gen Hawker Of Garden Street Kway Chap Opening Westside Outlet

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 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.

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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