Best eats: Crispy, fluffy vadai that’s a pasar malam favourite
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Best eats: Crispy, fluffy vadai that's a pasar malam favourite
Miss the night market place? For this instalment of Makan Kakis, GOLD 905 DJ Denise Tan met the begetter-daughter duo behind Mr Vadai, which has found brick-and-mortar homes in the East and a hereafter online.
From selling at pasar malams to their own stores, information technology'southward now easier to get your fried goodies fix at Yeh Yeh's Cafe by Mr Vadai. (Photo: Arable Productions)
16 Sep 2022 07:20AM (Updated: sixteen Sep 2022 08:33AM)
The connection between food and nostalgia is a powerful one. With bell-ringer stalls endmost due to the pandemic and a lot of activities we previously took for granted often not possible for at present, nosotros crave simple comforts we think from better days more than always earlier.
Take the simple joy of exploring a dark market place. From the sprawling Geylang Serai Hari Raya pasar malam to the kind you notice in the heartland at the foot of your HDB block, information technology'due south been a long time since we've been able to relish the anarchism of sights and sounds, goods for sale and all-time of all, naughty foods loaded with salt, sugar, fatty and carbs.
If you're looking to rekindle the thrill of biting into a hot, fresh pasar malam snack, wander no more – one of Singapore'south most popular prawn vadai experts has set up shop in the East.
Those familiar with pasar malam stalwarts Mr Vadai will tell you how addictive their signature deep-fried snack is. They'll also tell yous it was a game of chance hunting down which night market the vadai stall would popular up at.
Those days of playing hibernate and seek are over, now that Mr Vadai has three brick-and-mortar locations you tin can visit.
To chart the progress of these famous prawn vadai from pasar malam to permanent abode, I arranged to meet the man backside the legendary puffs at a cosy buffet forth Changi Road, which was named for his adjacent-in-line, daughter Logeswaari (nicknamed Yeh Yeh).
Often finishing each other's sentences, the male parent and daughter tag team Samraj Ahsockan ("call me Sam") and Yeh Yeh were both enthusiastic about sharing their story and their food with me.
Taking us back to Mr Vadai's humble ancestry, Sam related: "The basic vadai recipe came from my mother. She used to make epok-epok (back-scratch puffs) and patently vadai to sell in the Farrer Park area. From the age of nine, I was helping her. Last time, nosotros sold one for simply five cents. Back then, there was too a man who sold very good prawn vadai from his pushcart."
In possible tribute to those babyhood food memories, Sam developed his at present-famous prawn vadai recipe when he was striking it out on his own at night markets in his twenties.
"Back and then, business was very proficient," he reminisced. "We roamed the pasar malams like nomads from 1985, earlier Yeh Yeh was built-in. We would move every xv to 30 days all yr round."
"We worked 365 days a twelvemonth, not-terminate!" Yeh Yeh agreed. After being trained past her dad, she began helping him out from the tender young age of 10, and at the finish of 2017, they had the foresight to open Yeh Yeh's Cafe before COVID-19 became a pandemic.
Their second outlet, also in the East, at Joo Chiat Road, opened in March this year. A tertiary, in the works at the time of our chat, has finally opened just down the road from Yeh Yeh'due south.
The motivation for setting up a physical shop was a applied one – so that their regular customers could find them even if a pasar malam hadn't been organised.
"The first thing people would say to me is 'your vadai is very delicious, merely where'due south your store?'" Sam explained.
For Yeh Yeh, it was also a matter of pride. "For over 30 years, nosotros had no base. We merely travelled and travelled. We couldn't fifty-fifty tell people who we are. They would say 'Mr Vadai who? You have a shop?' We had no restaurant, no nothing. We were merely street hawkers. We're upgrading ourselves from zilch. Now from ane outlet, nosotros have two, then three. That'southward something to be proud of," she said passionately.
Another point of pride is their secret recipe vadai batter, which both Sam and Yeh Yeh insisted is dissimilar from all others. "Our dough makes our vadai special. We cook with love and passion, using my grandma'south basic recipe, which my father then took and improved to make the formula concluding longer," she said.
Sam is especially proud of his dry out concoction mix, which he meticulously proportions and seasons. Theirs is a carefully calculated formula consisting of evidently wheat flour, salt and spices similar jeera (cumin) for fragrance.
"Y'all can bring our pre-mixed flour anywhere – to Africa, South America – and the gustatory modality will remain one hundred per cent the same," Sam claimed.
The difficulty is in getting the right consistency when water is added to the dry mix. "This is very important. Some add less water and it becomes too hard," he added.
Curry leaves, fresh coriander, chilli, onion and bound onion are mixed into the thick, sticky batter before handfuls are fried in vegetable oil. Yes, handfuls. No cooking utensils necessary. The batter is skillfully scooped upwardly and shaped past paw, a single prawn then pressed on, before being gently lowered into the sizzling oil to puff upwardly and cook.
When the vadai is finally lifted out to drain, the result is a pillowy golden disc that's crisp on the exterior and fluffy on the inside. "Yous can't finish at one, y'all have to keep on munching," said Yeh Yeh, describing their addictive bestseller. "And chilli lovers will dearest our light-green chillies," she added.
Chubby, thumb-sized and specially imported from Bharat, the fiery fruits are named bullet chillies for good reason. Exist warned – just one bite brought a fresh, juiciness that gave fashion to shots of fell heat. True to their name, the innocuous-looking greenish chillies released an inferno of spice that ricocheted effectually my rima oris, each direct hit setting off mini explosions on my tongue. The relentless bombardment could but be tempered past bites of the doughy vadai, its spongy texture absorbing the flaming onslaught.
"The bullet chillies have a very loftier spice level that all my customers love. If there'southward no chilli that day, they'll actually walk out without buying the vadai," Yeh Yeh said, with a laugh.
Such is the devotion of us hotheads, the pain is part of our pleasure. I found alternating between bites of searing chilli spiciness and soothing vadai airiness brought the all-time balance of flavor and texture.
In itself, the crispy exterior of the fried puffs and the lightness of the interior dough were a beautiful dissimilarity, made even improve by the crunchiness of the prawn stuck to the surface of the vadai. The whole crustacean was and so expertly fried that its crush near melted away, leaving just a shrimpy umami sense of taste on the tongue.
For sure, Mr Vadai's signature prawn vadai (five for S$6) is a must-attempt and if you like, they also have ikan bilis, vegetable, chilli, sardine and plain versions to suit every palate.
Notwithstanding, standing out from the competition has always been Sam's quest. From running several pasar malam stalls to offering upwards alive station services for events, he was keen to share another achievement. "Day and night I always think about how to improve. I pioneered the mini-vadai – that's my innovation! Other people's are copies of mine."
"Nosotros were the first in Singapore," Yeh Yeh was quick to second her begetter's merits. "I'll it put it this way – if I ask for three mini-vadai and he makes me 10, I'll still end up asking for more. It's the combination of the meats, the flavours, all in i bite."
The round, fishball-sized mini-vadai (10 for S$4) are made from the aforementioned concoction as their larger cousins and come in an assortment of flavours similar chicken, fish, prawn ("no need to peel or de-beat out"), crab, ikan bilis, vegetable and quail's egg (Yeh Yeh's artistic culinary contribution).
Craving a salty crunch, I chose the ikan bilis version and threw in an order of the quail'south egg for fun. The latter was given a little extra treatment and coated in breadcrumbs for added texture, which both Sam and Yeh Yeh said went down best with children. "Information technology's perfect for tea fourth dimension with our pandan tea. And information technology'due south like shooting fish in a barrel even for children to eat."
The joint achievements of father and girl were perfectly represented in that ane mini-vadai plate and merely similar their prawn vadai, the seize with teeth-sized flavour bombs were light, tasty but somehow not besides oily or heavy. The only risk was the tendency to eat far too many considering of their diminutive size.
When the unique mini-vadai was first rolled out at the pasar malams, Mr Vadai became the stall that attracted long queues. "That's how I wanted to make a statement, to be memorable and get people to evidence special interest in my stall," Sam said gleefully.
"We got so tired of frying vadai not-terminate!" Yeh Yeh finished.
To this solar day, they nevertheless hand-fry their vadai with their ain technique. Sam revealed: "Other people go along turning their vadai in the oil, we don't." Merely one infinitesimal in the bubbling oil and their golden delicious snacks are set up for immediate eating or delivery. A large part of Mr Vadai's business is conducted via online orders, so I expressed my concern that the product tended to become soggy along the journeying.
Yeh Yeh informed me that their vadai has a 30- to 45-minute window for staying hot and crispy, simply her solution is to let freshly fried vadai cool a little before packing for shorter delivery distances. She likewise offered up this tip: "My advice is to air-fry our vadai when it arrives and you will get back the same gustation and texture."
Ever the innovator, Sam added: "Simply you can even eat it cold! Put information technology in the fridge and the next twenty-four hour period, savor it as a fantastic cold dish." Apparently, i of their customers has developed a fondness for violent up cold vadai and sprinkling information technology over salad, much similar crispy croutons.
Hot or common cold, regular or mini, Mr Vadai has gone from selling 500 pieces of vadai on a brisk twenty-four hours of business to about 1,000 daily at just this one co-operative alone, including online orders.
In fact, successfully digitising their concern contributed to Yeh Yeh's proudest moment at The Singapore Indian Business Leaders Awards, where she was the youngest entrepreneur to be recognised in 2017. Proud papa Sam said: "I'm 101 per cent very happy to paw the business over to her now I know she's got the ability to run the show."
But together, the duo is adamant to reach more customers, pushing on with more plans to develop the make and have gear up their sights on expansion. "My adjacent proudest moment is when nosotros managed to open up our second outlet. And now the 3rd and afterward I hope it volition proceed to grow," said Yeh Yeh.
This burning desire to lay down roots is besides fuelled by the need to leave a legacy. When I asked father and daughter if there was going to be a third generation to take over the family business, Yeh Yeh's swift and firm reply came even before I could finish my question – "Yes, definitely! My boys started following me here to the shop from nine years old and now they tin can do everything. They tin look subsequently the shop if I have a twenty-four hours off!"
"Now they are vadai specialists already. I is 13, 1 is fourteen years old, they can fry like nobody'due south business organisation!" interjected proud grandfather Sam. With Yeh Yeh'due south sons showing an obvious interest in the family business, looks similar Mr Vadai is all set for the next generation and beyond.
They even take plans to turn Mr Vadai into a global brand, starting as a franchise in Singapore first. Only for at present they are taking their time to consider proposals, equally they desire to maintain quality control over their prized production and recipe.
"All our outlets get the same pre-packed vadai flour mix sealed in bags. Everything is prepared at Yeh Yeh's Cafe and so sent out. All you lot take to practice is add water and the vadai volition stay 100 per cent consistent," explained Yeh Yeh.
World domination aside, extroverted Yeh Yeh admitted a sure sentimentality for the pasar malam days. "I got to run into lots of different people so, so who knows? Perhaps 1 day Mr Vadai will send one team dorsum to rove."
1 day. Hopefully. COVID-nineteen may have killed the pasar malam for now, only you can still relive a footling function of the night market through your tastebuds. From their previous nomadic lifestyle, to creating a proper name and permanent base for themselves, Sam and Yeh Yeh have big plans for the future of Mr Vadai. You could say this family unit's appetite, powered by their signature snacks, is deep fried and justified!
Yeh Yeh's Cafe by Mr Vadai is located at 116 Changi Road, WIS@Changi, #01-08, Singapore 419718 . It'south open Tuesdays to Sundays, 12pm to 7pm. Catch Makan Kakis with Denise Tan every Thursday from 11am on GOLD 905.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/best-local-food-singapore-vadai-pasar-malam-280026
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