SUBANG JAYA, Nov 5 — Getting siew yoke right is harder than it looks. At The Roast Meat Shop in Sunway Geo, Harry Fong found that achieving crisp crackling was only part of the challenge; getting it consistently crisp across an entire piece of roast pork was another matter.

“One of our biggest challenges was translating our home-cooking recipes into something that could be prepared consistently in a restaurant,” Fong says. “It took me about half a year of recipe development, ingredient sourcing and repeated testing to find the right ingredients and combinations for our siew yoke and char siew.”

“Some sections would turn out beautifully crispy, while others would not crackle properly. Sometimes, the skin would even become rubbery after a while. We had to keep experimenting and refining our roasting process to improve the consistency.”

The shop’s signature siew yoke uses a marinade combining Western and traditional herbs, followed by a traditional roasting method.

“We want our siew yoke to have its own distinctive taste,” Fong says. “We want every part of the skin to achieve that satisfying crackling while keeping the meat succulent.”

Before opening the restaurant, Fong spent more than a decade as a country manager for a German company. He had always enjoyed cooking and dreamed of owning a restaurant. His wife, Olivia Yap, shared his love of roast meats: she favoured char siew, while he preferred siew yoke.

“We started experimenting with roasting meat at home, trying different ingredients and techniques until we began developing recipes we were happy with,” Fong says.

For Yap, the menu also carries memories of family and childhood.

“One dish that is especially meaningful to me is our sour-and-spicy Chinese mustard roast pork,” she says. “My grandmother was Hakka, and this was one of the dishes we enjoyed at home.”

Yap recalls how her mother would cook it after Chinese New Year celebrations or other special Chinese festivals: “The recipe was passed down from my grandmother, so bringing it into our restaurant is a way for me to share a little of our family heritage with our customers.”

Another dish, the Blessing Dumplings, comes from Yap’s aunt, who lives in the United States and makes them when she returns home. Her aunt learned the recipe more than 30 years ago at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown.

“I still remember eating those dumplings when I was a little girl. The meat was so juicy that I told myself, ‘I must learn this recipe from her when I grow up!’” Yap says.

Adapting these family recipes for a restaurant took repeated testing.

“We failed a few times because achieving the same taste we were familiar with at home became much more challenging when cooking in larger quantities,” Yap explains. 

After several attempts and adjustments, the couple established standard operating procedures to maintain consistency.

The Blessing Dumplings needed further refinement after customers said the skin was initially too thick. Yap searched for an alternative, although the new supplier charged more.

“I still remember my husband asking whether we should switch to a new supplier because the cost was higher than what we were paying previously,” she says. “We knew that getting the right dumpling skin was important to the overall experience.”

The same attention to detail shapes the rest of the menu. The couple draw on food they enjoy at home rather than adding dishes simply to offer more choice.

“We don't want to introduce a dish simply to offer more choices,” Yap says. “We want to be confident that every dish we serve is something we would be happy to eat ourselves.”

The shop’s best-selling wantan noodles are one example. “Getting the house-made sauce right didn't happen overnight. We collected feedback from diners and made several adjustments to the recipe before settling on a version we were happy with,” she says.

The couple use duck egg noodles for their firm, springy or “QQ” texture and because they lack a strong alkaline taste.

“The cost of making the sauce is higher, but we feel it is worth it,” Yap says. “For us, flavour and quality matter more than simply choosing the cheapest ingredients.”

The couple prepare their food in-house daily. Fong oversees operations, from the kitchen to the front of house, while Yap focuses on the back-end and marketing, including promotions, customer engagement and Chinese New Year vacuum-packed roast meat hampers.

“We have different responsibilities, but we discuss ideas and make important business decisions together,” Yap says. “We listen to each other's views and try to find a way forward that works for the business.”

Maintaining quality also means making careful decisions about suppliers, staffing and the details of each meal.

“We pay close attention to ingredient costs and explore different suppliers to find the best value without compromising on quality,” Fong says.

The shop’s noodle and rice dishes come with small side servings of onsen egg and Japanese cucumber. Removing them would cut costs, but Fong believes they contribute to a more complete meal.

“There are times when maintaining our standards means accepting a smaller profit margin. We could cut certain items or take shortcuts to reduce costs, but we believe these small details contribute to the overall dining experience,” he says.

The couple are also developing vacuum-packed roast meats for customers to enjoy at home. Meanwhile, a second restaurant is in the planning stage, with decisions to make about location, operating costs, equipment, staffing and ingredient supplies.

One option is to turn the first outlet into a central kitchen, with roasting and food preparation done there before supplies are sent to the second restaurant. The couple are training potential staff and looking for suitable candidates, including a kitchen leader who can help maintain standards.

“Ultimately, we want to expand in a structured and sustainable manner, making sure we have the right people, systems, and processes in place before taking the next step,” Fong says.

Running a restaurant has required sacrifices, including personal time, rest and financial security. Yet the couple measure success by more than sales or the number of outlets they operate.

“To us, success means building a sustainable business with a strong reputation, maintaining the quality and consistency of our food, and earning the trust and loyalty of our customers,” Yap says.

“Most importantly, we want The Roast Meat Shop to grow without losing its identity or compromising the principles that we started with. We would rather expand at the right pace than grow too quickly at the expense of quality.”

As Yap puts it, “We started because we love good food and wanted to share it with others.”

The Roast Meat Shop 

F-01-08, Sunway Geo Avenue, 

Sunway South Quay, 

Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 

Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Open daily 10.30am–8.30pm

Phone: 016-203 8355

IG: https://www.instagram.com/theroastmeatshop/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/theroastmeatshop/

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