Hong Lim’s Famed Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Getting Halal Certified, Opens New Tampines Outlet
What is even more unusual about this is that the curry puff specialist has partnered halal zi char chain Buey Tahan See-Food for its new branch. Tanglin regularly has very long queues for its plump curry puffs with a flaky spiral crust, which come with three types of fillings: Chicken, Sardine and Otah (all $2 each).
As for why he wanted a second outlet, considering that business is regularly booming at his Hong Lim stall, Ray shares: “Our aim for opening the outlet is to increase brand awareness. We can't do that if we continue to operate as a small hawker business with only one stall. We hope to reach out to a larger audience in the heartland with our Tampines outlet.”
Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff to be certified halal
Other than opening a branch, Ray has also applied for halal certification from MUIS for his stalls, which is expected to go through sometime in May this year. Currently, his handmade curry puffs contain no pork or lard. “We would love for our Muslim friends to be able to enjoy these curry puffs as well,” he says.
Curry puffs made on-site
Both his Hong Lim and Tampines stalls will produce the curry puffs on-site. Each puff is formed by hand before being deep-fried in oil. The Tampines outlet will be manned by Ray’s niece and nephew, the children of his older sister who also helps out at the Hong Lim stall.
Meanwhile, Ray himself will still be based at the original shop, which was started in 1952 by his 87-year-old father, Ng Yong Cheong. “We'd like to reassure our customers that the quality of each and every curry puff will be identical to our main stall at Hong Lim,” Ray avers.
The curry puff drama
But regulars at Hong Lim would have noticed that there are now two almost identical-looking Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff stalls located right next to each other in the hawker centre. And here is why. Due to a family feud that happened in April 2022, Yong Cheong’s business was split up between his two sons, Peter, 57, and Ray.
Peter now runs the corner unit where Yong Cheong had been operating, adding an “Original” to the back of the stall name. Meanwhile, Ray and his father opened another stall just next door to continue plying their trade. “Hong Lim is our area. We don’t see any reason why we should move out and lose our customer base,” Ray explains to us of his decision to continue operating near his estranged brother’s business.
The trigger of this split was reportedly Peter’s China-born girlfriend, who was apparently unhappy that Yong Cheong did not want her to help out at the stall, whereas Ray’s girlfriend was allowed to do so. The disagreement resulted in the brothers’ decision to run their own stalls independently.
He shares: “My father trusted me with the recipe and business; it's my duty to continue his legacy of selling these traditional handmade curry puffs. But we are new to this and for a start, we want to make sure that our partnership with Buey Tahan goes well before we decide on our next step.”
New flavours in the works
While the two Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff outlets offer only its three classic chicken, sardine and otah flavours for now, Ray says he is “in the midst of doing R&D with Buey Tahan and may introduce new products in the near future”, which will be announced on the stall’s social media pages.
He adds: “Our longtime customers know we are very receptive to feedback, so if there are any suggestions on [new] flavours you would like to see, do feel free to reach out to us!”
Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff (Hong Lim flagship): #02-34 Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross St, S051531. Tel: 8418-3937. Open daily except Sun, 8am-4pm. Facebook, Instagram
Tampines outlet: 878C Tampines Ave 8, S523878. Open daily except Sun, 7am-4pm.
Photos: Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff, Yip Jieying
