Claypot rice is one of the trickier hawker foods to master, where your multitasking game has to be strong as you place several pots all at once on various mini stoves, each requiring different cooking times. That’s why more seasoned cooks often headline this dish — you don’t usually expect to see millennial dudes doing the cooking instead. But at Xin Xin Claypot Rice at Kovan 209 Food Centre, Damien Foo, 30, and his buddy Will Chua, 32, are pros. Interestingly, they took an unusual route to get here.

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Before the men opened their claypot rice biz in 2018, Will (left in pic) and Damien first met at the Singapore Institute of Management Global Education nine years earlier. After getting their diplomas in Management Studies, the former went to Australia to attend university, while the latter got an Economics & Finance degree at SIM University of London before selling insurance for a stint.

By 2016, the pair (and another friend) regrouped to get a slice of the sometimes-controversial drop shipping pie, peddling Japanese bath towels. The biz model relies on various e-commerce platforms with business owners themselves never coming into contact with the products they sell. Instead, products are purchased from third-party sources and shipped directly to customers – often for a substantial markup fee.

“By about 2017, the US dollar was getting stronger, which cut into our profits,” shares Will. “It’s a business that only works overseas, as Singaporean consumers are very savvy – they’re not as impulsive as US buyers,” he adds.

They decided to ditch e-commerce for the world of F&B. For one, they already had a suitable location. Damien’s parents operate an economy beehoon and porridge stall in Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre that only operates in the morning. “We both love exploring food and we tend to show our care through food for our loved ones,” shares Damien.

The young towkays began weighing their options. “Scissors-cut curry rice” and “Hokkien mee” were out of the question, as there were already established stalls peddling the same thing within the hawker centre, says Will. Eventually, they opted for claypot rice.

“The location was suitable,” he says. They’re far enough away from “big players” like the uber-popular Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice in Chinatown Complex. “We’ve also got the benefit of being young. Not all of these [older] hawkers will pass [their businesses] down, so we can capture that market share,” he explains wryly.

The recipe for their claypot rice came from his father, says Damien. The elder Foo, who spent time as a cook aboard a commercial vessel, and his 55-year-old wife, Candy Ang, have been operating the economy bee hoon stall in the mornings since “six years ago”.

“He does all the cooking at home as well,” shares Damien. Thankfully, there’s no harrowing Jiro Dreams of Sushi-esque culinary training involved for the newbie hawker, who didn’t have any cooking experience prior to starting the biz – though it did take “a couple of months” before his father agreed to try his food, says Damien with a laugh.

Now though, “[Damien’s] claypot rice is probably better,” shares Candy. After all, he’s the one helming the kitchen daily, while Will handles the packing and serving side of things. Damien is also grateful for his parents’ support in starting their F&B biz: “Just go ahead and try, they said.”

They initially used a gas stove to cook their claypot rice – though they eventually made the switch to charcoal a year later. “The handle of the pot gets too hot [when using a gas stove], which makes it a bit difficult to handle,” he shares. “And of course, the flavour is way better with charcoal.” Well worth the effort and price, then, as charcoal costs “roughly three times as much” as gas.

He experimented for about six months before he got the hang of controlling the intense heat from the coals. “If it’s too hot, everything will chao tar (get burnt),” he says with a laugh. Learning to cook with charcoal was also tedious, he says, as it takes quite a while to get the fire going.

Other adjustments included the type of rice they used. “We tried many types including Japanese, Thai, cheap, expensive” says Will. They eventually settled on long-grain Jasmine rice. Their lup cheong was another ingredient that required numerous adjustments. “We wanted something that doesn’t have that fake taste. Eventually we got this one that’s imported from Hong Kong. It was the tastiest, and most value-for-money lah,” he adds.

Meanwhile, business during this Phase 2 HA has been relatively good, especially compared to last year’s circuit breaker period. “We initially put off plans to expand our business in January this year – good thing we put it off, because then [Phase 2 HA] happened,” he adds. As for whether expansion (Kallang was a location they were scouting at) is still on the cards, “it will be put on hold for now,” Damien says.

The popularity of claypot rice for delivery or takeaway versus dine-in is a tad perplexing – claypot rice is best eaten hot off the stove after all – but it’s probably got to do with waiting times, says Will. “Normally you need to wait 20 minutes when you order – now we’re doing the waiting for you [as you relax at home].”

“Our business was more stable when dining in was allowed” says Damien. “During the Circuit Breaker last year, business was really poor.” The young towkay then went on to Facebook and proactively reached out to group buy hosts in order to secure their business.

Luckily, they’re now busy most days fulfilling the orders of “around 50 to 60 pax daily” – so busy in fact that they sometimes have to reject walk-ins. “You should call ahead. Or just come if you’re feeling lucky,” he says.

After being friends for more than a decade, and co-workers in two separate ventures – how has their friendship fared? “We try to keep things cool, despite the heat!” jokes Damien. Both easy-going hawkers claim to have never argued and maintain a strong friendship apart from work. “We still go out to relax on some Tuesdays [when they’re closed], or some nights after closing,” shares Will.

There’s just one item – claypot rice, from $6.50 per person. For comparison, rival stalls Yew Chuan Claypot Rice at Golden Mile Food Centre goes for $7 per pax, while the smallest portion at Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice in Chinatown Complex costs just $5. Their biggest pot feeds three if you’re talking about dine-in, though they also sell larger takeaway boxes that feed up to four pax ($34, which comes with two bowls of soups in collaboration with a neighbouring stall).

Every order comes with chicken chunks (with bones, so be careful), Chinese waxed sausage and salted fish.

As far as claypot rice goes, the young hawkers have put up a competent take on the deceptively simple dish. Each pot takes 20 minutes to cook upon order. Stoves where the charcoal burns brightest are used to kickstart the cooking process, “if not the rice will take forever to be done,” says Damien, before they’re finished off on embers once the rest of the ingredients have gone in. The grains are infused with smoky char, and are tender, fluffy and crispy in all the right places. The chicken is doled out generously enough that its marinade of ginger, oyster sauce and Shaoxing rice wine seep into the grains. We like that this claypot rice tastes like more than just chao tar and oil – most of these subtler notes, especially the ginger, shine through without overwhelming.

Our only grouse? It’s missing that intense savouriness from the all-important salted fish. You’d be hard-pressed to find any chunks of it here, let alone its pungent fragrance. And we could do with a bit more of that charred rice crust, though that could be a product of eating this as a takeaway instead of on-site in the claypot where you get to scrape the burnt bits yourself.

Dark soya sauce and fragrant shallot oil are pre-drizzled for you during this tapow period. The rice also comes with fab house-made chilli (a recipe they’ve borrowed from Damien’s folks). It’s vinegary and spicy enough to stand out among the other bold flavours – perfect for dipping their tender chicken chunks into.

While Xin Xin Claypot Rice’s young hawkers still have some way to go before they reach the same level as claypot rice greats like Yew Chuan Claypot Rice in Golden Mile Food Centre, we find their rendition of the dish still very tasty and worth tapowing again.

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Photos: Alvin Teo