Teck Kee Tanglin Pau
I can kind of imagine how the dim sum masters of yore were
like- they had really bad teeth and breath. I was once told how these folks
used to spit-spray a cup of light sulphur water, with their mouths, onto a tray
of just made paus just so it comes out clean and white after steaming.”. I suspect
their mouths would rot and the teeth enamel will thin off. The thought felt
preposterous but Mr Billy Whey confirmed it, adding “which is why many older
folks peel the “skin” of a pau before they eat it”. He comments come eminently
qualified - he is the second generation owner of Teck Kee Tanglin Pau chain of
dim sum shops.
They are believed to be Singapore’s first dim sum stall
chain brand (since 1948) - and still alive and kicking today. “My father came
over from Poon Yue in Guangzhou and slaved in the old (defunct) Empress
Restaurant in the 30s.” and Billy regales how his dad, as a “hum hao” or
savoury and salty dish chef had to observe the “teem hao” or sweet and snacks
chefs who also made dim sum. He realised that to make it big, he had strike out
on his own. So the first Teck Kee pau street stall was born in 1948, in Koek
Road. The senior Mr Whey Tuck (Whey is some fancy spelling for Hui, in
Cantonese) made and sold dim sum on the roadside. They went onto open up their
line of shops.
It was “hell” when Billy, now 68, inherited the business after his dad passed
on, “I had to introduce methodology to the chefs then, who were all “agar agar”
cooks, said I was wasting time.”, and remembers an incident when “one chef told
me to look at the thickness of the steam when determining if the items were
perfectly cooked”. He realised it was all poppycock and the chefs had scant
respect for the boss’s son. It was all about timing, Billy eventually found
out. Methodology, recipes and measurements were eventually introduced and
today, it still works out for the Whey family, who now has about 6 outlets,
down from a high of 11 just a few years back. “It’s simply about lack of
manpower problem”, he laments. Their central kitchen went from automation back
to manual as no one in the family is happy with machine made versions, “only
the pau dough is done by a huge mixer, all else is elbow grease”, added third
generation business empire princeling-in-waiting William Whey, 39. “We are still a hawker stall in many ways”
says William who reminds me that over the decades, they realised which of the 8
best items are most popular and sold just those.
