Roast, Roast, I Love You

We check out the Hong Kong-style roast meats from a kopitiam and mod cha chaan teng.

- Ki'ern Tan

1 . 88 Hong Kong Roast Meat Specialist 153 TYRWHITT RD, QINAN BUILDING, S207566.

Open daily 11am-8pm. Last orders at closing. Tel: [phone].

It’s not something we say often — but the char siew and sio bak at this humble little establishment is to die for. Our benchmark for good nosh is based on one simple criterion: would we revisit an eatery? In this case, the answer is a resounding yes. God, yes.

But before we continue raving, know this: The quality of roast meats fluctuates according to the time of day, cut of meat and even the weather. Yup. There is actually a science to eating roast meats. If it’s raining, hop back in your car and head home ’cos you will quite likely be disappointed. This is because the crispiness of the pork crackling is affected by rain and humidity. It’s also best to eat it when the meats are fresh from the oven, meaning around 11am (the meats are roasted once daily, in the morning only). Lastly, what portion of meat you get boils down to luck. Some parts are just leaner and less juicy than others.

Chef-owner of 88 Hong Kong Roast Meat, Martin Ong, 46, was originally trained in Western cuisine (he had worked at Jack’s Place and The Canopy Café at Marina Bay Golf Course). However, he later developed his own technique for roasting pork, which he says took years of experimenting to perfect. He even modified his three ovens to cook 100kg of frozen Spanish pork belly a day at his stall. “I decided to sell char siew and other Chinese roast meats ’cos it’s easier than cooking Western food,” explains Martin. He says he earns a net profit of up to $30K a month.

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