3rd-Gen Boss Of Geylang Eatery Yong He Used To Be “Shao Ye” Who “Enjoyed Life”, Now Wants To Expand Brand

An iconic staple that originated in northern China, shao bing is a baked flatbread that can be enjoyed in various ways, depending on the city you’re in. In northern China, it’s typically filled with savoury ingredients like pork floss or char siew, while cooks in the south tend to stuff theirs with sweet red bean or sesame paste – to be paired with soy milk as a breakfast set. Taiwan, in particular, is known for serving shao bing with a wide variety of fillings in its swell of breakfast joints.

Yong He Toast’s version leans on the denser, heartier end of the spectrum and is sprinkled with plenty of sesame seeds. Both savoury and sweet fillings are available on the menu. Han Zhong tells us the shao bing is handmade in the Geylang HQ – which includes a tedious process of folding the sheets of dough at least six times to achieve its flaky texture – then delivered raw and baked to order (it takes about five minutes) in the Toa Payoh shop to ensure freshness.

There are several eateries specialising in soy milk named Yong He in Taiwan. Han Zhong says his Taiwanese grandfather was trained by the original Yong He founder in Taipei. “The founder had two disciples and my grandfather was one of them. When the founder retired, my grandfather took over the shop and later passed it on to my dad,” he says.

His dad, Dong Rong, a Taipei native, brought Yong He Eating House to Singapore in 1986. “We were featured in a Chinese newspaper in Singapore, and a Singaporean businessman came to our shop [in Taipei] to discuss opening an outlet here,” the 62-year-old tells us in mandarin. “We stood out because we were one of the first 24-hour food places in Singapore at the time. In Taipei, we opened for 24 hours too, so we replicated the business model here.” The family now fully owns the eatery as their former Singaporean partner has passed away.

Interestingly, Dong Rong ran another profitable business about 20 years ago that he has since closed down, but in a completely different industry — computer chips.

Yong He Toast is the first step in Han Zhong’s plan to modernise the brand and make it accessible to more customers. Next year, he intends to open more outlets (first in Sengkang and Jurong West) and set up a central kitchen. Han Zhong is limiting the outlets to takeout-only to minimise the risk of setting up dine-in eateries during the pandemic. His ultimate goal is to have shops in “all four corners of Singapore”.

Han Zhong says it took five years for his dad (right in pic) to “approve” the expansion. “He wanted me to be familiarised with the biz first, so I’ve been working at the Geylang shop doing everything from grinding soybeans to manning the cashier for the past seven years.” Prior to joining the family business, Han Zhong was a self-proclaimed “shao ye” (young master in mandarin, commonly refers to a privileged son) who was “enjoying life”. Han Zhong, who is single, held mostly part-time jobs in the past, he tells us.

His dad is pleased with his progress. “Since we’ve decided to pass it on to the next generation, we’ll support him. The shop just opened so I’d say we’re 50 percent confident he can pull it off,” he quips.

“We actually prepared more than twice the normal amount of shao bing [in anticipation of an opening day crowd], more than a thousand pieces, and we were still sold out by 4pm,” says Han Zhong. “Yong He is already an established name and I didn’t expect that there would be hype over a new outlet.”

He feels apologetic that customers had to wait an hour for their orders to be ready. “Some customers were ordering in bulk and our oven can only bake 16 shao bing at one time, which extended the waiting time.” We recommend visiting in the morning to avoid disappointment, as the shop has been continuously sold out daily since its opening.

“I want to thank our customers for their support and hope they will bear with us as we sort out teething issues of a new outlet.” Han Zhong has revised the shop’s operations to cope with demand – the Toa Payoh branch will now be open from 9am to 4pm, and closed on Mondays (previous hours were 9am to 9pm daily).

He says current queue times hover between 30 minutes to an hour at peak hours.

There are 15 shao bing items on the menu at the Toa Payoh branch vs the two in Geylang, from classic combos that are also found at the main branch like pork floss and egg ($3.40), new pairings like beef sauce and crisp fritters ($4), braised pork ($3.50) and otah ($3.50), to sweet options like red bean paste, kaya and peanut for $2.80 each. You can either get the shao bing on its own or top up $1.60 to have it with a 500ml cup of chilled soy milk ($1.80 a la carte).

For now, other popular items like tau huay (soybean curd) and fresh you tiao (dough fritters) will not be sold at the new branch. “I want to live up to the quality Yong He is known for. We don’t have space for a you tiao master to be here, and our tau huay has to be consumed within six hours as we don’t use preservatives. It’s hard to bring these items here. Same for soy milk – we only sell chilled ones as it’s easier to guarantee its freshness compared to warm soy milk,” says Han Zhong.

The cracker-like crust provides a satisfying snap, while a fragrant nutty aroma from the sesame-studded top permeates every bite. We like the generous chunks of braised beef (the flavour is similar to Taiwanese beef noodles) – especially the tender tendon bits, but found the crisp fritter (twice-fried you tiao) within a bit too dry and tough.

Stave off your craving for the HQ’s lu rou fan (braised pork rice) with this combo, which uses the same pork sauce as the former. The filling here is more moist than the beef sauce version, with a good fat-to-lean meat ratio that melds well with the crunchy flatbread.

We enjoyed this local twist with thick slabs of mackerel otah sandwiched in the freshly baked shao bing. A tasty pairing of moderately spicy otah and the milder, nutty flavour of the plain flatbread.

There’s a certain rustic charm about the simple flavours of this classic shao bing. Slathered with red bean paste that’s not too sweet or greasy, this is perfect for washing down with a cup of fresh soy milk.

Yong He is known for its fresh, house-made soy milk, which uses beans that are soaked overnight, before grinding and straining to yield the creamy drink. While the chilled version does not feel as comforting as the warm soy milk served in bowls at the HQ, we tasted the same freshness and richness in this cup. A worthy alternative if you’re unwilling to traipse to Geylang for your dou jiang fix.

We’re excited to see what’s in store for this innovative offshoot from a well-loved brand. Judging by the long queues since its opening day, we’re not the only ones. The signature shao bing has a crunchy, nutty exterior and thick but not doughy layers – in fact, we prefer the ones sold here compared to Geylang, which is not baked to order and can be a bit dry at times. We like the braised pork filling best. Wash it down with a cup of fresh, rich soy milk. Hopefully, Han Zhong finds a way to bring our favourite Yong He crispy you tiao and comforting warm soy milk to the new outlet soon.

Yong He Toast is at #01-154, Blk 177 Toa Payoh Central, S310177. Tel: 6979 8863. Open daily except Mon 9am – 4pm. More info via Facebook, Instagram and website.

Yong He Eating House is at 458 Geylang Rd, Lor 24A Geylang. S389417. Open 24 hours. More info via Facebook and website. Delivery via Foodpanda, Grab and Deliveroo.

Photos: Alvin Teo