We first met Nick for an 8 DAYS magazine interview in 2017 at his Jalan Besar stall (pictured), which he had started in 2014. It has since closed in October 2017, after Nick decided to move out when the food centre underwent a two-month renovation. But before he became a hawker, Nick was a financial consultant who earned a comfortable income for over two decades selling insurance policies.

After the 2008 global financial crisis took a hit on the insurance industry, Nick seized the chance to leave his job and set up his own “economical” F&B business, selling soon kuehs that his parents had taught him to make (everything, from the skin to the fillings, is made by hand).

As Nick ran a one-man show, his girlfriend Karen Kuah, 43, dropped by on weekends to help him whenever she had time off her social worker job. “I learnt how to make soon kuehs from Nick’s parents, but I also learnt a lot from him,” she says. “It was challenging to wrap the kuehs ’cos I don’t cook, but it takes practice.” 

Despite earning a substantially lower income as a hawker, Nick doesn’t regret his career switch from selling insurance. “I was really tired of corporate life, that’s why I got out. And it has always been Karen’s and my dream to start our own business,” he shares candidly. The couple forayed into a few ventures, but according to Nick: “None of them were very successful. I invested in gold, had a watch dealership, and opened an art gallery. It lasted only three months, even though it took me half a year to prepare for the opening.” Undeterred, he decided to open a food stall next. He recalls, “My parents have been making kuehs at home for over 30 years and selling them to their friends and relatives, so I thought, why not try my hand at that?”

As it turns out, Nick had a rare knack for making good kuehs. His soon kuehs are nothing like the brutish mass-produced dumplings wrapped in a thick rubbery skin. Instead, they resemble delicate gyozas, shrouded in a layer of diaphanous, silky rice flour skin and stuffed with radish, beetroot or koo chye. They are, in our opinion, the tastiest soon kueh we have eaten.

Despite the kuehs’ artisanal appeal, business was initially slow for Nick at his hawker stall. “I bought my equipment second-hand ’cos I wasn’t really sure if my stall would work out,” he admits. Local gourmands eventually got to know about his wares, after Nick started participating in pop-up events. Local mod Sin celeb chef Willin Low also tried the soon kuehs and raved about them to his Instagram following.

One Kueh at a Time became so popular, Nick’s handmade dumplings often sold out at his stall in a few hours. As he had to ramp up his production due to demand, the tiny shop space became too small for his burgeoning biz. “Our three-year contract was up and NEA decided to close the food centre for two months for major [upgrading], so Karen and I took that as the cue to move out in search of a private and bigger space to upscale,” he says.

That search for a bigger space turned out to take two long years, till Nick and Karen eventually found an industrial space they liked in Pandan Loop, in the same building as bak kwa brand Lim Chee Guan’s factory. And there, One Kueh at a Time lives on, albeit as a dine-in cafe which will open this coming February 16. “For the past two years we were basically waiting with uncertainty,” Nick reveals. ”I didn’t take on other jobs. I was focused on starting this.”

“There are still some customers who go to Jalan Besar. They didn’t know we had been closed for two years. Our friends told us not to wait too long to open a new shop, but we know what we want,” Karen avers. “This is a peaceful place for us to work in, and for people to rest and relax. It’s like a secret space. That’s our personality. Our friends and family were concerned. They said, ‘Who’s going to come so far here?’ But there are foodies who’re willing to travel for food, and we’re like that too. That’s the kind of customers we want. That’s part of the fun.”

The cafe is indeed very hard to find, squirreled away amongst grey factory buildings (watch out for the grouchiest security guard we’ve encountered at the entrance). But once you enter the high-ceilinged, air-conditioned space, it is indeed an oasis with 50 comfy seats. “I can fit in more seats, but I want to have more space,” Nick says. And ‘Ave Maria’ is still playing on the stereo. Oh, and there is space for an industrial steamer now, which means there can be more than one kueh served at a time. “We were using a manual steamer, which was too heavy for Karen to carry,” Nick explains.

Nick and Karen filled the cafe with their own vintage furniture, including an almost 90-years-old stool owned by Nick’s grandfather, and a rustic wooden-and-marble table gifted to the couple by Foo Mui Ya, the female towkay of old-school Jalan Besar coffeeshop Hup Lee (which also closed in 2017 after her retirement). “She has since passed away, unfortunately,” Karen shares.

The New Soon Kuehs

Having Lim Chee Guan as their landlord naturally means Nick and Karen have access to a bountiful bak kwa supply. They parlayed this into a bak kwa-flavoured soon kueh, which is stuffed with stewed turnips and finely-chopped bits of barbecued pork.

We once did a bak kwa taste test and found Lim Chee Guan one of the tastier brands out there. Add that to Nick’s fat soon kuehs and you have a winning combination. Per his SOP, he serves the soon kuehs freshly out of the steamer to us, where we pop the parcel into our mouth in one bite. The silken, translucent skin bursts with juicy, earthy and softly crunchy beetroots spiked with the smokey, umami flavour of LCG’s chewy bak kwa bits. It’s one of those random pairings that you didn’t know you’d get hooked on, but we are now.

Nick’s new hae bee hiam (spicy sambal shrimp) turnip flavour is a recipe from his friend’s mother. “So we named this after her to honour her,” he says. It’s a fairly yummy soon kueh, but the house-made hae bee hiam could be spicier and punchier to stand out in the luscious turnip filling.

The Classic Soon Kuehs

If you’re new to Nick’s soon kuehs, try his plain beetroot soon kueh first. It’s a mod filling that we prefer to the classic turnip version — it maintains a pleasingly sharp crunch even after being stewed, with a raw, earthier hint that we personally prefer.

This classic pick is moreish, the thin floury skin yielding savoury bangkuang that bursts with juice when we bite into the soon kueh. Pop one, or ten.

We were disappointed when One Kueh at a Time disappeared from the hawker scene in 2017, and we are glad it is back again, this time in a bigger space where its owners Nick and Karen can make more soon kuehs. They have also modernised the humble kueh by experimenting with new flavours, including a very delicious Bak Kwa version. It’s worth it for their die-hard fans to trek to the cafe’s ulu factory location. A vegetarian Carrot Soon Kueh ($1.60) and the popular Koo Chye Soon Kueh ($2) will soon be on the menu. But the owners still produce their soon kuehs one kueh at a time, so customers have to make a reservation to dine at the cafe or pre-order soon kuehs during the cafe’s initial opening period.

One Kueh at a Time’s cafe opens on February 16 at #01-K1, 230 Pandan Loop, S128415. Open daily except Mon, 10am-6pm, by reservation only. WhatsApp Nick at 9795-6119 for reservations and preorders, or direct message via Instagram at www.instagram.com/onekueh_at_atime. 

PHOTOS: ALVIN TEO