GOASIAPLUS September 2018

INSIGHT
ODE TO IPOH
STREET FOOD
DAVID TAN’S APPROACH TO LIFE HAS GOTTEN
HIM TO MOVE FROM A 20-YEAR CAREER AS AN
INDUSTRIALIST TO HAWKING THE FAMOUS IPOH KAI
SI HOR FUN, OPENING ONE STALL AFTER ANOTHER
AND PUBLISHING HIS OWN RECIPE BOOK.
Text and photos YY CHEN
It's never enough for David Tan. That's the kind of
impression you would get of Dato’ David Tan Sek
Yin when you get to know him better.
David has since written two recipe books - Lao
Wei Dao (Old Tastes): a trip down memory lane
and The Best of Ipoh Street food with a third book
in the works. The first one is dedicated to his late
grandfather Tan Lark Sye who was a prominent
businessman and philanthropist in Singapore.
Tan Lark Sye was born in Jimei, a fishing village in
Xiamen, southern China. David spent many formative
years living with him in Singapore and growing up
eating traditional Hokkien dishes prepared by his
grandmother. His first book features many of these
dishes including some of his grandfather’s favourites.
“I always liked watching my mother and
grandmother cook. I wanted to learn how they
cooked and the method they used. It is not just about
knowing what to cook. My grandfather loved his dish
of pig tail braised with peanuts. You must eat this
with hot rice, it’s very appetising,” said David.
BIRTH OF LITTLE KATONG
For this 61-year-old entrepreneur, starting
this chapter of his life has fired his passion for
researching and modifying traditional recipes to get
them right. He wanted to recreate the original taste
of the kway teow which he had 30 years ago and he
couldn’t get the same anywhere.
He spent many months perfecting the special
broth for the Ipoh kai si hor fun (shredded chicken
kway teow soup) until his recipe could almost
upstage the old timer Thean Chun stall in Ipoh
old town.
David laboured over hot stoves for long hours in
his garage-turned-kitchen at his bungalow in Tiger
Lane, experimenting until he got the taste he wanted.
“In 3 years, I have opened three stalls. I didn’t open
restaurants or coffee shops is because I need to know
the business and to build a name before committing
to a bigger investment.”
Today, David has his stalls Little Katong at
Canning Garden, Gourmet Square hawker centre and
one more across the street from Thean Chun.
SECOND BOOK
David’s first book went for two reprints and the
publisher was persuading him to write a second book
on Ipoh street food.
He undertook the laborious task of seeking out
the recipes from internet and hawkers and test them
out until he has perfected it and detail the method of
cooking so his readers would not be confused.
“The most difficult part about writing this second
book is in getting the taste right and as accurate as
possible to the original dish. The second book features
50 recipes of Ipoh famous street foods. For instance
tai kau meen (peanut pancake), I know there is a
fermentation process required but I don't know for
how long. So I had to try this over and over again.
“Another difficulty is because most of the featured
foods are handmade delicacies. It is not about
collecting all the ingredients and putting them into
the wok to cook. I need to research and improve on
it,” he said.
David suggested to use palm oil or peanut oil to
get kaya puff pastry to be flaky when making the oil
dough to combine with the water dough (who would
have guessed!).
FAMILY COMMITMENTS
People often inspired by David’s ability to juggle a
hectic lifestyle in the food business and time to write
his books. He explains that this was owing to the
management skills he had acquired from the corporate
world to help set up a system to run his food business
even when he is not around.
This system allows him to travel and take care
of his other family commitments in his capacity as
Director of Chiyu Bank in Hong Kong, board member
of Chengyi University college and the Tan Lark Sye
Museum in Xiamen, China.
David’s grandfather had tremendous influence
on him. He remembers his advices about the
importance of good education and how once should
pursue it despite all circumstances. “His tenacity and
determination to succeed is the biggest influence on
me. He would work at something until it yielded the
result he wanted,” David wrote in his book.
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