His Dream Of Opening A Restaurant Dashed, Chef Starts Hawker Biz Selling Fab Malay Food From $8.50

Opening a restaurant is no easy feat, but for Nurl Asyraffie Mohamed Shukor, who goes by Affy, watching his dreams unravel at the last minute has been heart-breaking. The 32-year-old chef behind Arang, a popular private diner that serves upscale mod-Malay cuisine, tells 8days.sg that he almost opened his own fine-dining restaurant with an investor a few months ago. “It was like 85 percent confirmed already, it’s just that we couldn’t agree on the ownership [stake],” he shares. The plan fell apart as his investor sought a controlling stake in Arang. “I’ve worked so hard for the brand, it didn’t feel fair to give away a majority stake,” says Affy, who has worked at ritzy restaurants including two-Michelin-starred modern Indian fine-diner Thevar, where he was head chef.

Unable to realise his restaurant dream, Affy opted to set up a hawker stall instead, investing $25K into the biz. Opened in early November at Yishun Park Hawker Centre, Kerabu by Arang is a Muslim-owned stall that offers the titular dish – nasi kerabu, a traditional Malaysian rice dish served with ulam (herbed salad), meat and sides. 

Affy’s version comes with nasi kunyit (turmeric rice) instead of the usual bluepea-tinted grains, and is served with smoky charcoal-grilled chicken, lamb or fish, plus sides like fish keropok, sambal budu (made with fermented anchovy sauce – a traditional dip for this dish) and a wedge of salted egg. As an opening offer till the end of November, the dishes are priced at $8.50 for chicken, $11.50 for pomfret and $15.50 for lamb ribs.

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Forced to suspend private diner due to high rental prices

Known for its innovative Malay dishes like kuih bakar (a traditional Malay cake made with eggs, coconut milk and flour) with sea urchin and caviar, Affy’s six-seat private diner Arang – based out of a Golden Mile Complex apartment that he rented – had been fully booked for its entire year of operation. When its lease expired in April this year, the chef was unable to secure another location to sustain his popular private diner. “The rental prices were ridiculous,” he states bluntly.

“I was very disappointed”

With his fine-dining aspirations dashed, Affy went on a “healing” trip to Thailand. “At that point, I had sold everything like my kitchen equipment to get ready to open a new place. I was very disappointed [that things didn’t work out]. I went to Thailand to chill, exercise and clear my mind,” he shares.

Upon his return, the boyish-looking chef returned to the drawing board. “I was going to a gym in Khatib a lot, and I would check out the coffeeshops and hawker centres in the area after working out. Then I saw an empty stall [at Yishun Park Hawker Centre] and I thought I could start a business here,” he says.

Did he see it as a step down from fine-dining chef to hawker?

Affy doesn’t view becoming a hawker as a step down from his fine-dining aspirations, nor does he have any qualms about working at a humble stall. In fact, he says his parents are supportive and even find his job more relatable now. “They didn’t really ‘get’ what I was doing before. Now, they can bring their friends here to try my food,” he shares cheerfully.

The biggest challenge, so far, has been getting acquainted with his hawker clientele. “Hawker customers are very different. They want food that is fast, cheap and filling. They don’t want to listen to where your ingredients are from, but I’m so used to that [detailed] style of fine-dining,” he explains.

To keep his menu affordable, Affy confesses that his dishes are priced to “only cover food costs” – he’s also not drawing a salary at the moment. “A lot of people don’t understand my food and they ask, ‘why is it so expensive?’ They don’t understand the work behind it. For the chicken, I need to brine it for two hours, then marinate overnight. The whole process is very tedious but they only see rice, chicken and salted egg on the plate and think it should be like, $3.”

However, Affy remains confident that his food will find its audience. “I’m sure there are people out there who don’t mind spending slightly more to get better quality [hawker] food,” he says, adding that he feels heartened when older residents patronise the stall. 

Why sell nasi kerabu?

During the pandemic, Affy started a home-based business selling nasi kerabu. The same dish is now sold at his new hawker stall. His reasoning? “It’s a dish I like, and it’s less common than nasi lemak”.

He developed his own recipe for the traditional Malaysian dish that originated in Kelantan and Terengganu. At his stall, Affy serves “a more affordable version” of what was previously offered by his HBB to cater to the hawker crowd – the basmati rice he’s using now, for instance, is three times cheaper but “less fragrant”.

Initial doubts about hawker venture, but things clearer now

Affy initially grappled with uncertainties about opening a hawker stall. “From cooking for people for $185 per pax to $8.50 is a very huge shift. The volume is also very different. I was serving six pax a night [at Arang]. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing as a hawker,” he shares candidly.

A month into the launch of Kerabu by Arang, the chef has since gained some much-needed clarity on his future. His immediate aim is to keep running the hawker stall, which he helms on his own, while resurrecting Arang’s private dining business – now catering to patrons in their own homes. “I’m starting in January and have a few bookings already. So when I’m not doing private dining, I’ll run the hawker stall during the day. From now till December, I’ll focus on stabilising this stall. Once everything is stabilised, I’ll hire staff and spend more time doing private dining,” he says.

Plans to juggle both private dining and hawker biz

While Affy’s heart still lies in fine-dining – “I miss ‘tweezer’ food – there’s no limit [to my creativity]. That’s the best thing about fine-dining,” he reminisces – the chef is equally excited about Kerabu by Arang’s potential. “For a hawker, you need to scale up. You cannot just have one small stall. Either I want to grow it into a chain, or make it into something like The Coconut Club, where it’s more elevated. So we’ll have Arang, which is the more premium dining brand, and then Kerabu will be the more accessible one,” he envisions.

Nasi Kerabu with Whole Chicken Leg, $8.50 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Visually appealing from the get-go, this is the bestseller at the stall. Affy’s ulam, which features “a mix of Thai and Malay influences”, lends assertive aromatic notes to the fragrant turmeric rice. Texturally, the herbed salad is a delight, with a satisfying crunch from sliced raw beans and pomegranate seeds, plus bursts of citrusy sweetness from pomelo. Slow-grilled over charcoal and coconut husks, the marinated chicken is flavourful and succulent.

Photo: CNA/Aik Chen 

Disclaimer: Affy was out of larger whole chicken legs (see above pic) during our photo shoot, so we reviewed the proper version at a subsequent tasting. The percik (a Malay curry-like sauce made with turmeric, coconut milk and other spices) is luscious, punchy and mildly spicy. We found little need for the accompanying sambal budu and salted egg, served on the side to add saltiness to the dish. Overall, this is possibly the most refined – and yummy – plate of nasi we’ve had in a hawker setting.

Nasi Kerabu with Lamb Ribs, $15.50 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Another standout for us is the lamb ribs – the meat is cooked to perfect slip-off-the-bone tenderness, while imbued with a robust, smoky flavour. Worth the splurge.

Nasi Kerabu with Pomfret, $11.50

This comes with a fillet of pomfret wrapped in banana leaves. The fish is doused in sambal budu and grilled, before finishing with more of that percik sauce we love. Not bad, but we recommend the more shiok chicken and lamb options instead.

Bottom line

Very satisfying and refined nasi kerabu that boasts robust flavours, yet remains refreshing and balanced. The chef-turned-hawker approaches every element with finesse, which in our opinion makes his modestly-portioned sets good value for money. Though opening a hawker stall wasn’t part of the talented millennial’s original plan, we’re thrilled that we can now enjoy elevated Malay cuisine at affordable prices. We can’t wait to see what’s next for Kerabu by Arang.

The details 

Kerabu by Arang is at #01-04 Yishun Park Hawker Centre, 51 Yishun Ave 11, S768867. Open Tue to Fri 11am till sold out; Sat & Sun 10.30am till sold out. More info via Instagram.

Photos: Dillon Tan, CNA/Aik Chen