Uncle DiDi’s: Sharing joy & fun with shiok freshly-made cotton candy and popcorn featuring over 12 flavours
Uncle DiDi’s is helmed by two friends, Wilson and Caleb, who call themselves “uncles”. With their company’s vision of spreading joy and fun through their snacks, they produce over 12 flavours of freshly-made popcorn as well as handmade cotton candy. They are Halal friendly as all of their ingredients used are Halal-certified.
They first started out as a home-based business back in 2018, where they churned out simple basic flavours of popcorn and cotton candy with the help of small machines at home. They then moved on to set up pop-up stores at shopping malls and at atrium events.
Finally in June 2020, Uncle DiDi’s opened their first physical store at NEWest, and their first retail booth at Hillion Mall the month after.
Before I began my journey of trying all the delectable popcorn flavours that Uncle DiDi’s had to offer, Caleb treated my eyes to a live demonstration on how their popcorn was freshly made. I didn’t possess any knowledge of popcorn-making at all, and learnt that there are actually two types of corn kernels being used in the market— mushroom corn kernels and butterfly corn kernels.
According to Wilson, Uncle DiDi’s uses the former kind, which is more expensive and yields a large and round shape. Their corn kernels are also non-GMO corn grade A— you can be rest assured that they are safe for our bodies.
Within a few minutes, I could hear the satisfying popping of the kernels before they were scooped after being left to cool. The intoxicating aroma of the popcorn filled my nostrils, and enveloped the whole mall within seconds, letting everyone know of their presence.
What I tried at Uncle DiDi’s
The first of their best-selling flavours I had was Salted Caramel (Standard Flavour) (S$4.20 for fun tub, S$6.30 for medium tub, S$10.40 for jumbo tub)— I’ll explain the capacities of the various tubs in a bit. The Salted Caramel popcorn wasn’t overly-sweet, and I could taste the fragrance of the browned sugar coupled with the salty kick, which came at the end. It exceeded the expectations of someone who loves salted caramel like myself.
As a kid, I had an obsession with Milo. I’d smuggle the Milo tin from the kitchen to my room undetected. Armed with a spoon, I’d gobble up spoonfuls of the decadent Milo powder in my mouth till my throat was dry and chocolatey— I hope my parents are not reading this!
I was pretty stoked when Uncle DiDi’s had Milo Dinosaur (Specialty Flavour) (S$5.20 for fun tub, S$7.30 for medium tub, S$12.40 for jumbo tub), which is their signature flavour that I’ve never seen anywhere else. I dived straight in for the dark brown coated pieces of popcorn, and feelings of nostalgia came flooding in. It was mildly sweetened by the cocoa-filled concoction with a slight bitterness at the end— so satisfying!
Now back to the tub sizes available at Uncle DiDi’s. Starting from the smallest, the fun tub‘s capacity is 750ml. The medium tub can hold 1500ml while the jumbo tub, which is suitable for family sharing, can hold 3000ml. All these tubs are reusable, airtight and are microwaveable— they keep the popcorn nice and crispy.
I moved on to their savoury options, taking a break from their awesome sweet flavours that I’d just tried. Their Seaweed (Specialty Flavour) (S$5.20 for fun tub, S$7.30 for medium tub, S$12.40 for jumbo tub) reminded me of eating those crispy paper-thin seaweed snacks as a child. Uncle Didi’s uses real seaweed instead of seaweed flavourings— real quality ingredients indeed!
Their Salted Butter (Standard Flavour) (S$4.20 for fun tub, S$6.30 for medium tub, S$10.40 for jumbo tub) had the perfect calibration of butter and salt, and was probably the least crunchy out of all the other flavours. Caleb explained, “It’s not crunchy as it does not contain any sugar at all”. I learnt that sugar causes popcorn to have the crunch factor— I certainly acquired new knowledge.
The last on my popcorn agenda was Double Cheese (Specialty Flavour) (S$5.20 for fun tub, S$7.30 for medium tub, S$12.40 for jumbo tub). It’s made up of a mixture of white cheese and cheddar cheese that’s deliciously satisfying.
Wilson worked his magical hands, and made the cotton candy right in front of us— just like how a silkworm would weave its silk. He handmade three different flavoured cotton candies and combined them together.
The Combo Flavour (S$4.70) comes in three different varieties— Mermaid, Unicorn and Rainbow. Each of them contains three different coloured and flavoured cotton candy.
Their handmade cotton candy also comes in Single Flavour (S$3.20). They are available in six different fruity flavours— Mango, Blueberry, Strawberry, Grape, Lychee and Green Apple.
Thinking of gifting popcorn as a gift for an event? Look no further! Uncle DiDi’s provides customised packaging for your parties or corporate gifts. I spotted teddy bear containers with cute ribbons on them, which will definitely be a hit amongst the ladies and children.
They can even R&D exclusive flavours and colours for your popcorn or cotton candy—- just let them know what you need! Uncle DiDi’s also provides live stations for their handmade popcorn, cotton candy and even nostalgic snacks like kachang puteh. So if you’re planning a party at home or at an event space (and want your guests to leave talking about something that added to the fun), be sure to get in touch with the team here.
Final thoughts
I respect all the hardwork and dedication coming from Wilson and Caleb, which goes into making all of Uncle DiDi’s popcorn and cotton candy. I felt like a kid once again when I visited them at NEWest and will remember that aromatic popcorn fragrance that was so distinct when I pushed open the mall’s front door.
Our SethLui.com readers will enjoy
S$5 off with a minimum spending of S$35 by using the promo code SethLui when you order online here.
Be sure to visit their pop-up events happening at these various shopping mall atriums:
1 to 14 August 2022 – Lot One Mall
19 to 25 August 2022 – Northpoint City
29 August to 11 September 2022 – Jem
12 – 25 September 2022 – Waterway Point
10 – 16 October 2022 – Waterway Point
14 – 27 November 2022 – Waterway Point
For more information on Uncle DiDi’s outlets, click here.
Expected damage: S$3.50 – S$18 per pax
* This post was brought to you in partnership with Uncle DiDi’s.
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