Viral "Chio Bu" Lok Lok Hawker Has New Mochi Biz With “Also Chio” Sister
Self-proclaimed “chio bu” hawker Phyllis Seah (left in pic), 25, is a busy woman. Not only is the young towkay, who went viral for her looks and Johor Bahru-style lok lok, opening her third Fei Zhu Lok Lok stall (she initially wanted to name her stall Chio Bu Lok Lok but decided against it) on September 1, she will also be launching a new F&B venture with her sister Gladys Seah, 29.
Called Mushi Mochi, which sounds like the Japanese greeting moshi moshi ("hello"), the online store sells Instagram-worthy mochi that the sisters make from scratch by hand.
Gladys, who loves to bake and cook, was inspired to make her own mochi after trying the Japanese confection. “It was very nice, so I told my sister, who is very health conscious, that we should make healthier versions using less sugar,” Phyllis tells 8days.sg over the phone.
“We R&D-ed for fun and our family really liked it, so we experimented with more flavours and eventually started a home-based business.”
Phyllis, whose boyfriend is SPOP WAVE! finalist Rao Zijie, cheekily shares that Gladys is “also very chio”, so she fits the “chio bu” label too.
Not that Gladys, who's engaged, minds, though she considers herself more sporty than chio.
“On most days, you’d find me in sportswear because I work out about six days a week, but when I dress up, I think I can be quite chio too,” laughs Gladys, who used to help out in their family’s recycling business. “But I honestly think my sister is more chio than I am,” she adds modestly.
Modern mochi
It took the siblings around six months to R&D and perfect their “melt-in-the-mouth” mochi.
8days.sg has not tried the chewy snacks yet, but according to Phyllis, the plain mochi skin, which is made from ground Japanese glutinous rice flour, is “very thin, soft, and chewy”. Each palm-sized mochi is stuffed with contemporary fillings like flavoured cream or mousse, plus fresh durian puree, pomelo pulp, and Oreo cookie bits instead of the traditional red bean paste.
“I am quite surprised that we managed to achieve this delicate skin texture and mouthfeel. The mochi is not too sweet or cloying, which is how we like it,” shares Phyllis.
The menu
The mochis are offered in 10 flavours: Blueberry Stars, Earl Grey Black Tea, Durian, Jasmine Lychee Peach, Jasmine Peach, Mango Pomelo Sago, Oreo, Passionfruit Mango, Tiramisu, and Triple Berry. They can be bought individually ($7), as a set of four ($24) or six ($36).
Their signature flavours are the Mango Pomelo Sago and Durian. The former, inspired by Chinese dessert shop Ah Chew’s mango pomelo sago dessert, has cream filling, mango cubes, pomelo flesh and sago, while the latter is stuffed with the flesh of mao shan wang durians.
Phyllis’ favourite is the Tiramisu, which is made by soaking ladyfinger biscuits in a “special blend of coffee”. They are then encased in cream cheese filling, and the mochi topped with a dusting of cocoa powder. “It tastes just like the actual Italian dessert, but in a mochi. I am a big fan of tiramisu, which is why I insisted we included the flavour,” gushes Phyllis.
As the mochis are handmade and quite “labour intensive”, the sisters plan to limit orders to 100 pieces a week for a start. Deliveries are only done on Fridays and Mondays.
Lok lok biz still doing “very well”
This allows Phyllis to spend more time at her third and newest lok lok stall, which opens at a Tampines kopitiam on September 1.
Business has been brisk for Fei Zhu Lok Lok after 8days.sg featured the shop when it opened in Tai Seng last March. Its second outlet opened in Jurong a year later and there are plans for a fourth stall in the northern part of Singapore.
“It has always been my plan to open lok lok stalls around Singapore. So if we can find a suitable space and manpower, we hope to have an outlet in Yishun or Woodlands,” she shares.
Though business at her Tai Seng outlet has dropped by almost 50 per cent since the Malaysian borders opened in April, the Jurong stall, which Phyllis says accounts for 70 per cent of sales, is still doing “very, very well”. “We sell around 1,000 sticks of lok lok a night,” she shares.
New offerings at Tampines outlet
The lok lok menu at Tampines is largely the same as at the two other outlets with some new and exclusive offerings such as tom yum seafood noodles ($6), chilli crab mantou ($6 for 6 pc), and okowa rice ($6), a steamed rice dish made with Japanese pearl grains, pork belly slices, crab meat, edamame, carrots, and topped with ikura and nori.
Besides having your skewers deep-fried, you can also opt to have them boiled in housemade mala soup or vegetable broth.
Fei Zhu Lok Lok Tampines opens Sept 1 at 144 Tampines St 12, S521144. Open Tue to Thu 6pm-2am; Fri & Sat 5pm-2aml Sun 5pm-10.30pm. Closed Mon. Visit Facebook and Instagram for more outlets.
Mushi Mochi opens for orders here on Sept 1. More info via website and Instagram.
Photos: Mushi Mochi, Fei Zhu Lok Lok
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