Hawkers of SG #112 – Jiao Cai Hotplate BBQ

I decided to be a hawker because my mum was already in this line, I knew she didn’t want to retire unless there was someone to take over her business. My mother’s stall sold your typical bbq dishes like sambal stingray, sotong and lala. That was why I decided to help out at her shop. Slowly, I learned to cook from her as well as learning what it was like to manage a business. I then opened up my own stall and have been running for about 4 years now.

After 3 years of operating, my mum made the decision to retire. My sambal recipe here is adapted from my mother’s recipe actually. About 1 -2 years later, I introduced Tze Char into our menu. I hired chefs and we discussed and planned out the whole Tze Char menu.

The drop in business was the main challenge and since i’m doing Tze Char, with restrictions limiting to 2 pax took a toll on us. These kinds of Tze Char dishes, people usually enjoy eating in groups with either their families or friends. Takeaway orders still came in but it’s not as good as if you were to dine in. The first few months business was great when Yishun Park first opened, after 3 months, the crowd lessened. That was when I decided to do some marketing and reached out to food bloggers and the media. Managed to bring some crowd in and soon after business got slightly better. While others typically have more customers coming in during lunch, my dinner crowd usually does better.

We recently earned the MICHELIN plate this year in 2021. I did not know about this until my hawker neighbor, Nasi Ayam Taliwang, told me about it. This is definitely an achievement to us and I am working towards earning the MICHELIN Bib Gourmand someday.

Some of our popular dishes include our Curry Fish Head, Sambal Stingy and Salted Egg Prawns!

Jiao Cai Hotplate BBQ (#01-39)
Yishun Park Hawker Centre
(Delivery available via WhyQ)