Char Siu Lang: “I want people to know me by my food, not the $1M TOTO!”
Many of us may know Char Siu Lang’s story.
After winning S$1,000,000 from a S$3.50 TOTO Quick Pick in 2013, Ivan Leong, 36, left his job as a financial advisor to pick up the roast meat trade after using the windfall to purchase an HDB with his wife. Why sell char siu?
Prior to his cushy finance job, Ivan used to help his grandma with her laksa and prawn noodles stall in Chinatown. Thus, he was always in touch with the F&B industry. Explaining how he used to not enjoy that iconic Cantonese roast pork, he says, “I feel kena cheated because it’s not the authentic kind.”
Thus, Char Siu Lang was born.
In 2020, the stall’s original (now former) location at Bukit Merah garnered a loyal following for its traditional house-made roasts. Fast forward to now and the crowd-favourite stall has an outlet in Ang Mo Kio and a recently opened one at Woodlands.
The hawker believes that “good char siew is hard to find.” Well, let’s see if he takes the cake then.
What I tried at Char Siu Lang
Tucked away in an unassuming neighbourhood coffeeshop, the roast meat stall’s new outlet was eerily quiet. Perhaps I reached after the peak lunch hour? Nevertheless, among the standard slew of kopitiam‘s occupants, it still reigned as the most eye-catching.
Aside from the bright yellow logo of a lone wolf, there were cuts of glistening meat hanging under the storefront’s spotlight! For the first time, I realised that I no longer had any hesitation in choosing my order. I wanted all.
Therefore, we opted for a Trio with Noodles (S$8), which is a triple power combination of Char Siu, Roast Pork and Roast Chicken. If you’d like something lighter, the Char Siu & Roast Pork (S$6) with the option of Rice or Noodles is a bestseller.
“I think that we are the first in Singapore to allow people to choose their cut of meat,” Ivan beamed.
You can choose your own “meat preference” at Char Siu Lang: Fatty, Half Fat and Lean. Hoping that his customers will get a tailored experience, he also explained that “not being able to decide the type of cut” was one of the reasons why he didn’t enjoy char siu initially.
In line with his favourite option (I found out during a chat with the towkay afterwards), we settled on Half Fat, the best of both worlds.
After painful minutes of letting my camera eat first, I could not resist trying the main carb — that springy mee kia. According to The Office Chef, “his noodles are really good”. Coated in a greasy but thin layer of Special Sauce that has hints of pork and garlic, these slurp-ables are darn addictive. Along with bite-sized minced meat toppings, I could point out the recognisable taste of savoury pork lard!
If you know me, I go feral over that ingredient HAHA. My only mistake was not getting another bowl of this – my mum and I were fighting over the last strands of al dente goodness.
Moving on to the stars of the show: the roast meats. I started with the Char Siu, of course. Okay, what on earth is this heavenly texture?! Caramelised to perfection by the stall’s in-house charcoal oven, the pork had the perfect balance of char and melt-in-your-mouth fat.
As evidenced by how our char siu portion disappeared in the blink of my eye, my mum especially liked how it was oh-so-tender as well.
Guys, I am not exaggerating.
After multiple incidents where a stall’s siu yuk had the unwanted addition of small bones, I was kinda sceptical of the Roast Pork. Lo and behold, I was proven wrong! Char Siu Lang does not skimp on the meat sia. Look at this crisp layer of crackling skin on that juicy piece of pork belly. Oh my days…NGL, I prefer the soft Char Siu as it perfectly complimented the mee kia.
Gonna make a bold claim here: this can compete with your classic Chinese restaurants out there. Setting the bar high.
Polish things off with the Roast Chicken. Compared to Ivan’s speciality char siu and siu yuk, we did not have high expectations for the chicken. While it wasn’t as mind-blowing as the pork, this white meat was moist and clean. Most importantly, when we separated its bones at the bottom, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was ample meat left.
The browned skin added a touch of salty deliciousness to the otherwise plain chicken too.
Ending anot? Not yet. Just when things could not get any better, the refillable soup was a final blow to my core. Is this my Popo’s house? Served with radish and cabbage, the complimentary broth is simmered in a light blend of chicken feet and rock sugar. My mum had to stop me from drinking the comforting bowl in one go.
“I have had customers who want to dabao the soup home,” Ivan laughed. I guess that there are people who share the same sentiments as me!
Final Thoughts
Hands down, Char Siu Lang truly lives up to its name.
Wait. During my time at this tasting, I had a nagging question: Char Siu Person or Char Siu Wolf… what does Char Siu Lang mean? There is a double meaning to it — On top of morphing into a hawker that sells char siu, the hawkerpreneur likes the idea of wolves taking care of the pack. In marketing terms, Ivan just wanted something simple and catchy.
“Got parents tell me that their kids want to eat ‘the wolf!’ ‘the wolf!’,” he exclaimed. Ah, the strong brand identity is working LOL. If you were wondering if Ivan still takes his chance on the lottery, here’s his answer: “I recently never buy lah. I don’t chase TOTO, I only buy when there’s a Mega Jackpot!”
Stepping aside from stall names and TOTO, this was one of the most outstanding meals I’ve genuinely tried. And there’s more to this story too, “I want people to know me by my food, not (the S$1M) TOTO,” the Char Siu Lang concluded.
Not sure about you, but I am howling for more.
Expected damage: S$4.50 to S$8 per pax
Order Delivery: foodpanda Deliveroo
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