KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Good conversations start over great food and drinks. That’s what TokPork’s Leon Sing Foong and Phon Yung Hou believe.
In fact, their pop-up eatery was inspired to start people talking about food.
“The idea is people eat, socialise and get talking about things like for example, rendang and the possibilities, like a pork version rather than the usual representations,” explained Leon. Interaction with TokPork is also encouraged.
Whether it’s a challenge to create a new dish or a collaboration, the duo are very open to ideas. In addition, with the TokPork concept, they also hope to push individuals to become entrepreneurs.
Started in June, TokPork was a eureka moment for Phon. The duo had just finished a basketball game when Phon approached Leon with the idea saying, “Hey dude, I’ve got the best idea... imagine siew yoke and beer!” The excited Leon was all for the idea even when he found out they had to do it themselves, saying. “Dude, I love it. Let’s do it!”
When Leon says that, you know it’ll work.
He’s the co-founder of job platform GoGet.My and used to run Uber Malaysia. Currently, Leon heads the car-sharing service Socar in Malaysia where Phon also works.
Phon also has a background in micro businesses, dabbling in the likes of car rental and food delivery. When he was young, he tells us the story of how his mother would often threaten him, saying, “If you don’t study, you’ll end up being a butcher!”
Little did she know, that Phon would start this part-time venture selling pork! And just like a butcher, he is “tok, tok” or chopping slabs of meat on a board, hence the inspiration for their name, TokPork.
This venture is in a way, a tribute to their favourite eats. Chilli pan mee. Jasons Food Hall’s simple nasi lemak bungkus. Even the famous Pudu Wong Kee’s melt in the mouth siew yoke.
Couple this with Leon’s cooking skills and you have an explosive match of flavours. The enterprising Leon picked up his cooking skills in London. “I’ve always loved food. My brother used to run a fried chicken business in London and I used to help him out.”
He also credits his friends who are chefs and bartenders with tips. Previously, he would also hold private kitchen sessions, cooking up food and mixing cocktails.
With this concept, the duo approached Kennhyn Ang who runs Ales & Lagers in Publika that serves craft beers, to allow TokPork to do their Friday pop-ups.
As space is limited in the kitchen, they had to rethink their traditional siew yoke idea. “Initially we wanted to do siew yoke. but we realised we can’t as by 4pm, it would go all soggy and we don’t have an electric oven. Operationally it was very hard to keep the siew yoke crispy,” explained Phon.
Both of them worked hard, spending long hours after work, to come up with an inventive version to suit their situation.
After one month of experimentation, they emerged with a winner, known simply as crispy fragrant pork. Rather than roasting the pork belly, Leon would deep fry it. That worked especially when they would steam the pork belly before deep frying.
With these cooking methods, the fat became creamy softness while the skin remained beautifully crispy. They serve the slab of meat marinated with five spice powder cut into pieces together with fried peanuts, sliced cucumber, crack chilli sauce, fried garlic and lard fritters! Think of it as their tribute to nasi lemak minus the carbohydrates!
Their addictive chilli sauce is a variation of the recipe Phon’s mum makes for their steamboat dinners. The sauce, Phon elaborates, is made by blending fresh chillies with belacan and kaffir lime leaves; it goes superbly with the crispy fragrant pork to give it a “wow” factor. To keep it fresh, it’s made in a big batch on a weekly basis.
As and when, new items are introduced, like their curry pork wraps. Here pork cheeks are cooked under pressure and rendered in bacon fat to give it extra oomph! With a dollop of yoghurt and a little tanginess from a lime, and mango achar, it is all wrapped up with a chapati for a bite-sized winner. As time is limited, the achar and chapatis are sourced from The Ganga Cafe.
Sometimes, different variations are served, like their creamier pork belly version.
Or if you prefer to get your fingers dirty (we assure you it’s worth it)... give their slow cooked pork ribs a go. The dry rub is a combination of all things nice like coffee, gula Melaka and five spice powder.
The vacuum packed meat is incredibly tender with lots of flavour, thanks to an unusual combination of prawn paste, fish sauce and sesame oil! Again the meat is given the same treatment — steamed for two and a half hours, dehydrated to remove the moisture and deep fried till the top is all charred. Accompanying the ribs is an onion jam with mustard seeds. Leon explained that there’s even a superfood element hidden inside as it contains turmeric and apple cider vinegar!
While their initial offerings are porcine slanted, Leon is open to working with other meats, given an unconventional treatment. One idea bandied in the kitchen includes a challenge to make siew yoke with beef! Maybe a beef brisket, he muses, with a crispy deep fried top... who knows, it’s all possible in Leon’s hands and of course, that is the fun of experimentation.
Operations-wise, TokPork is designed where the food is pre-cooked and supplied from a central kitchen. Minimal work is only done on-site, like deep frying and assembling the dishes. “The idea is everything must be operationally efficient as I’m a bit of an operational geek myself. Everything has to have a process so basically I can hand it over to someone and anyone can replicate it easily,” said Leon.
With this in mind, they hope to pull in interested entrepreneurs to start their own business — creating more pop-ups. Leon added, “What I really want to do is to build the community, where people will start thinking about things and trying it out. If we can do it in one month, there are hundred or thousands of entrepreneurs out there. The key thing is they just have to take the first step.”
Essentially, the duo hope to be different. Unlike jumping on the brunch trend or even opening a restaurant, Phon explained, “We just want to try a pop-up and create a community of people that will really support us for our food.
In the future, he also hopes to keep the costs as low as possible, grow their products and get into delivering it to people’s doorsteps. With a cheesy grin, Phon adds, “”Come try our TokPork, we do the ‘tok’ for you, you just need to do the pork for yourself.”
TokPork
Currently their pop-up is available every Friday, from 7pm at Ales & Lagers, D5-G4-3, No 1, Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas, KL
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokpork/
