Sec 2 dropout pursues passion to sell affordable Japanese cai png in Yishun

[Voldermort]

It's not everyday that one encounters Japanese cai png (economy rice).


But there I was one evening with a bowl of aburi (flame-seared) goodness from Hideki — a juicy, grilled chicken cutlet, seasoned baby octopus, a gorgeous, quivering onsen egg and, the sublime seared salmon belly which was charred on the outside but softer than clouds on the inside.

And of course, not forgetting the png in cai png — a bed of Japanese sushi rice nestled below.



This bowl of high-calorie goodness comes courtesy of 26-year-old Nicholas Loh, the chef at Hideki, an unassuming hawker stall tucked away in a corner of Yishun Park Hawker Centre.

The first thing that strikes you about Nicholas Loh is his radiant enthusiasm for food. He would veer off mid-sentence to extol the virtues of his shoyu marinade or squeal with delight at the miracle that is a sous vide machine.

He credits his grandmother for cultivating this passion in him.

The matriarch of Loh's family was a formidable cook, but she never allowed her grandson to help out whenever she was in the kitchen, says Loh.

"She was the type who will tell me, 'you go out of my kitchen lah!'"

The boy would slowly learn to pick up skills like cutting and slicing from his grandmother by observing her from his place by the kitchen doorway. Seeing Loh — who calls himself an ex-Ah Beng — pick up culinary skills so easily impressed her.

"She was quite impressed because last time I only played games, sleep, you know lah, this kind of Ah Beng pai one lah."

To an observer, Loh ticks all the boxes of a seemingly dysfunctional childhood: Divorced parents, a home plagued by a constant stream of screams and quarrels, struggling with anger management, and dropping out of secondary school after his second year.

It was a trying time for him, and if he hadn't gone out to work in the culinary industry at the age of 14, he might be a completely different person today, says Loh.

https://mothership.sg/2021/04/hideki-interview/

 

[TerrexLee]

wah mothershit these days really obeying PAP and going all out to glorify the hawker trade.

 

[Rogue Trader]

I want to try ... but open at so ulu place Yishun Park hawker center

 

[bobby]

Food must be good...never trust a skinny chef.

 

[bushtucker]

wah mothershit these days really obeying PAP and going all out to glorify the hawker trade.

And also those rags to riches stories. Fuggin propaganda bullshit.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Rags to riches? He’s going to be working like a dog to pay off expensive ingredients and ever increasing rentals. It’s not like the good old days when hawkers make a killing and drive Benz to fry noodles.

 

[blackmondy]

I'm sorry to say but this kinda face doesn't inspire much confidence for me over the quality of the food....He needs proper people to do proper marketing like this one.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

I give him credit for trying it out n offering something different. N trying to earn a living like many pioneer singkies who started out as hawkers. If his food is good n singkies support him. He can earn a good living.

 

[TerrexLee]

I'm sorry to say but this kinda face doesn't inspire much confidence for me over the quality of the food....He needs proper people to do proper marketing like this one.

FUCK ME!!!!!! IS THIS IN SINGAPORE????? I WANT TO GO PATRONIZE!!!!!!!

 

[Leckmichamarsch]

I'm sorry to say but this kinda face doesn't inspire much confidence for me over the quality of the food....He needs proper people to do proper marketing like this one.

there was a very sweet gal selling chicken rice along longkang kopi tiam in Siglap

 

[laksaboy]

I see more and more of these stalls selling atas and unconventional, sometimes fusion food, in hawker centres and kopitiams everywhere.

 

[blackmondy]

I see more and more of these stalls selling atas and unconventional, sometimes fusion food, in hawker centres and kopitiams everywhere.

I don't see the appeal of fusion food at all. It's like mixing char kway teow with chicken rice and give it a Frenchy name and sell it at ridiculous price.

 

[blackmondy]

there was a very sweet gal selling chicken rice along longkang kopi tiam in Siglap

Did she show her longkang ?

 

[Devil Within]

I'm sorry to say but this kinda face doesn't inspire much confidence for me over the quality of the food....He needs proper people to do proper marketing like this one.

This video looks like it's from Thailand. If from Thailand, I am not so sure if this person is a guy or a girl. If too pretty, must inspect if the person is a real girl or not.