minced meat noodles with abalone and ikura
Minced Pork Bros
51 Old Airport Rd, #01-113 Food Centre, Singapore 390051
When they first got to know each other over a decade ago, these five friends never imagined they would eventually be running a hawker stall together.
Xu Zhen Kai, 36 and Tan Shi Xiong, 30, tell AsiaOne that the group met while they were working in the nightlife scene. And thanks to their brainchild, Minced Pork Bros, the pair are working together again with close friends Nicholas Kong, 32, Samuel Ow, 31, and Randall Gan, 30, in an exciting new environment.
From friends of 10 years to business partners
Before the birth of Minced Pork Bros, the five men used to be event planners together in the nightlife scene, which involved venue bookings and hosting parties.
After the events were done and dusted, they would end their days with a hearty supper, which usually comprised of a bowl of minced meat noodles.
Once their nightlife stint was over, the men went down different paths ranging from finance to photography. However, they still made it a point to keep in contact and would occasionally meet up.
During one of their catch-up sessions a year back, they began to reminisce about the good old days when it all clicked. Why not they create a minced meat noodle stall that they could call their own?
"What is good about this venture is that it actually brought us all back together," Shi Xiong muses.
"No doubt, we had moved on and were living our separate lives, but we were still close enough to come back together to rekindle that friendship."
The idea of setting up a business together wasn't a far-fetched one either, since two out of five of the men were already in the F&B scene.
Zhen Kai's and Randall's other ventures include roast meat joint Fook Kin — which is a collaboration with radio deejays The Muttons — as well as hawker stall Roast Paradise.
Fun fact — Roast Paradise is just a few stalls down from Minced Pork Bros!
Though Shi Xiong and Samuel didn't have F&B experience, they still brought their different talents to the table.
Shi Xiong, who has a background in finance, ended up being the brand's marketing and numbers guy, while Samuel takes care of anything design and photography related.
"The amazing thing is that the synergy is still there," Zhen Kai says.
"We don't feel strange after not working with each other for so long."
Practice makes perfect
The men secured their stall in November last year and officially opened on Dec 18, but the preparation process started way before that.
Even before they started looking for an ideal location to set up shop, Zhen Kai had already started developing their recipes.
Noodle-wise, he looked hard and long for one that had "more crunch" and the perfect springiness. When he couldn't find ready-made ones that hit the spot, he decided to engage a good friend of his to custom-make the noodles for their stall.
In the pursuit of that perfect bowl of minced meat noodles, the men also take it upon themselves to painstakingly hand make every single dumpling and meatball to ensure quality control.
But the hard work doesn't stop there. Even now, with the stall in full operation, the team is constantly trying to find ways to improve their recipes and the way they work.
"From the first day we started till now, I think we have made over a hundred changes," Zhen Kai says candidly.
Minced meat noodles with a gourmet twist
A typical bowl of minced meat noodles you'd get in a hawker centre usually comprises of your choice of noodles as well as an assortment of ingredients like meatballs, sliced pork and of course, the minced meat.
At Minced Pork Bros, you can anticipate gourmet, jazzed-up versions of the popular local dish.
For instance, there is the Seafood Minced Pork Noodles ($6), which the men describe as "a marriage of yummy minced pork done right and treasures of the ocean".
The noodles come laden with premium goodies like plump scallops, shiny ikura (salmon roe) balls and her giao (fish dumplings) wrapped in skins crafted from 100 per cent fish meat.
Love abalones? Go straight for the Teochew Modern Pork Noodles ($6) which comes topped with a gorgeous runny egg and a massive abalone.
Even their most basic bowl of noodles, the Classic Minced Pork Noodles ($4), comes studded with ingredients like prawn paste balls.
If you prefer soup-based noodles, there is also the Signature Mee Pok Tar with Superior Soup ($5.50). Similar to the other menu offerings, the soothing dish comes embellished with fancy ingredients like scallops and prawn balls. Delicious.
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