SINGAPORE, Sept 18 — It’s hard to talk about fishball noodles in Singapore without mentioning Douglas Ng of The Fishball Story. The 25-year-old gained fame for being a young hawkerpreneur who insists on doing things the handmade way when he opened a stall three years ago at Golden Mile Hawker Centre.
You’d think having to make 1,500 fishballs on top of fish cakes and fish dumplings — by hand — would be his biggest struggle. But Ng actually enjoys what he does.
One of his constant gripes, though, is balancing cost and public perception. Just when he thought most had gotten over his decision to raise the price of a bowl of fishball noodles by S$50 (RM1.50) cents to S$3.50 (RM10.60), the issue resurfaced this year when he had to move out from Golden Mile Hawker Centre — because it was being renovated — to University Town in the National University of Singapore, where he said the business “suffered”.
Not only did he have to price his dish back down to S$3, he had also underestimated the severity of the “holiday crowd” and only gets eight months of business a year at the NUS outlet.
He has since opened another outlet at Timbre+, which has been seeing good business but added that the perception of how much fishball noodles should cost remains a constant bane, as many consumers do not take into consideration the rising cost of ingredients, rental and labour.
Ng makes fishballs the way his grandmother used to make them, using only fish meat with no added flour. This makes them “more dense”, he explained, adding that the quality of ingredients and the technique determine their unique taste and texture.
Previously, Ng and his team had to wake at 4am to make the day’s batch. “With the bigger kitchen space at the University Town stall, we can make the fishballs and fishcakes, and cook at the same time; the process is more efficient and productivity is higher.”
Ng revealed the process of making fishballs and fish cakes, with the help of one staff, is already five hours long. “There is the mincing of fish meat, making of the fish paste, moulding (of the fishball) and soaking to remove excess salt (that was added initially to bind the meat) … there is a lot going on,” he continued. If the opportunity to grow the volume arises, he is open to automating some of the processes and investing in the relevant machinery, but said that he does not see this happening anytime soon.
So until then, the daily grind will continue, with the focus on maintaining the unique quality of the fishball and fish cake taking priority. That also means buying from a supplier is out of the question, not to mention the fact that he feels he has not found any that comes close to the style and taste he has perfected. “When it comes to this business, there is pride involved, I’m carrying my grandmother’s legacy,” he said.
As such, the thought of changing the recipe or using a supplier for whatever reason has never crossed his mind. “You can deceive a number of people but never the customers who know you and what you do,” he affirmed. “These customers matter to us most because they understand what we are going through, what heritage food is about, and that they have to support us for us to carry on and persevere … it’s not easy.”
Still, Ng is not ruling out “going into production” if the opportunity arises. “If people can get our fishballs from the supermarket that would be amazing,” he mused, adding how his fishballs have a shelf life of up to three days, even without the use of any preservatives.
It is a brave endeavour, to be sure, but we also know what has been said about those who dare to dream big.
The Fishball Story is located at Timbre+, 73A Ayer Rajar Crescent, and #02-01 Stephen Riady Centre, University Town, 2 College Avenue West, National University of Singapore. — Today Online
