Secondary School Pals Open Taiwanese Hawker Stall After Losing Jobs Amid Pandemic

The recipes for their signature dishes, including Taiwanese braised pork rice and mee sua, were made using recipes from Xander’s girlfriend’s Taiwanese mother. The secondary schoolmates spent around eight months fine-tuning their recipes before starting business proper. Sadly, Xander’s girlfriend and her mother haven’t gotten a chance to try his food yet as both are based in Taiwan and visiting has been tough due to travel restrictions since the pandemic started.

The duo pooled together a sum in the low five-figures and opened their stall in Aik Leong Eating House, Ang Mo Kio, as they happened to know the landlord there. They also got some support from friends and family, including a creative pal who helped design their logo and menu display, as well as another one who photographed their food for said menu, free-of-charge.

Despite the closure of his earlier car business venture, Xander remains optimistic. “Because of COVID-19, many people’s rice bowls are gone. So nothing is set in stone,” he says. “You can’t say if you’re too young or too old either [to do something new]. If I don’t try now, then when?”

The duo’s day usually begins at 8am and ends only at 10pm. Thereafter, there’s still the journey home to the west — Lipsen lives in Jurong West, while his partner stays in Bukit Batok. “When people say, oh, F&B is hard work — it’s very true,” muses Xander.

The pair spends much of their 14-hour workday on their feet. “Lipsen is pretty fit and used to play soccer all the time,” says Xander. “But now he’s also like, ‘Wah, so tiring!’”

These hours also don’t give them much opportunity for socialising or recreation outside of work. “I spend most of my Mondays off sleeping,” says Xander. “It’s also good for eating dinner with my parents, at least once a week lah.”

However, it is work that’s well worth the effort, he says. “Now that everything is picking up - and we’re getting used to the lifestyle — we really enjoy seeing returning customers.”

Among the stall’s regulars are students from nearby schools like Anderson Secondary School and elderly residents in the area, says Xander. His partner attributes the popularity of their fare with the older folk to the adaptations they've made to suit Singaporean tastes.

“We tried to make things more convenient for the older folks. For example, we made the soup [stock for the mee sua] less starchy than it is traditionally in Taiwan. We also cut the mee sua into smaller pieces so that you can eat it with just a spoon,” says Lipsen. They also decided to go with a topping of shredded chicken — a healthier and more accessible option — instead of the traditional oysters or braised pork intestines.

A trio of typical Taiwanese mains such as braised pork rice, mee sua and salt-and-pepper chicken over rice, along with some side dishes. There are also got a couple of bento sets, that combine a main dish with slivers of Taiwanese sausage, a braised egg and some boiled veg.

Their version of lu rou fan. Small chunks of pork belly are braised for two hours in a gravy that includes light soya sauce from Taiwan and deep-fried shallots, served over plump Taiwanese pearl rice. It’s tender, moreish and unctuous with the braising liquid seeping through the well-separated grains. Lovely stuff. In this pimped up bento version, you get a nondescript hard-yolked braised egg too, and chewy Taiwanese sausage, which adds a little sweet-savoury kick, though it’s nothing to write home about on its own. If it’s just the braised pork rice you want sans frills, it costs from $3.80 for a small portion.

The mee sua’s stock is a heady, umami-rich mix of bonito flakes and chicken bones, that’s boiled for around three hours. It’s far less starchy than most other Taiwanese mee suas we’ve had, making the bowl less stodgy and more enjoyable as we worked our way through the fine noodles. That said, we found the topping of shredded chicken rather unexciting after a while, though it’s understandable for Moustache Lee’s target audience. But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice to have more protein options like oysters.

Instead of the customary giant chicken cutlet found at Taiwanese night markets, they’ve opted for pre-packaged popcorn chicken, pimped up with a salt, white pepper and five-spice seasoning. It’s not bad, but nothing to shout about either.

They haven’t the time nor the manpower to peel and cut the tubers themselves, so it’s from a supplier. That said, it’s crisp and tasty enough with a dusting of sweet-sour plum powder to keep us reaching for more.

For the stall’s fiery chili, Lipsen says: “We made it a lot, a lot spicier [than Taiwan]. You either u love it or hate it. There’s no in between.” Well, we loved it — in very small quantities, even though it caused plenty of sweat and tears. Vinegar, salt and sugar are added to a tongue-stinging blend of chilli padi, which pairs well with the braised pork.

Comforting Taiwanese food at wallet-friendly prices worth checking out if you happen to be in the neighbourhood. But stick to the tastier main dishes like the braised pork rice and mee sua — the sides fare less well as those aren’t made in-house.

Moustache Lee is at Aik Leong Eating House, 505 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, S560505. Open daily except Mon, 11.30am-8.30pm. Visit them on Facebook

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Photos: Aik Chen