GarnetDragon
Great Supremacy Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2021
- Messages
- 69,778
- Reaction score
- 138,053
https://www.8days.sg/eatanddrink/ha...o-mee-origanics-buangkok-hawker-centre-825971
Darryl Tong has since enrolled himself in a Business Administration diploma course to become a better hawkerpreneur.
By Gwyn Lim
Vegetarians tend to miss out on a lot when it comes to dining out — while dishes like buttermilk fried chicken and char siew kolo mee are popular and tasty, they contain meat.
But for those who are looking for a meatless meal, millennial hawker Darryl Tong’s stall Origanics offer uncommon dishes that are different from the usual repertoire of vegetarian bee hoon or cai png.
Char Siew Kolo Noodles
His bestsellers include buttermilk fried chicken, caramelised char siew kolo mee and braised duck rice, which he tries to faithfully replicate to resemble the real thing.
He currently has two Origanics outlets islandwide - one at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the latest branch at Buangkok Hawker Centre, which opened last December. His OG outlet was set up in 2021 at Temasek Secondary School, but he has since transferred ownership to a business partner, who has rebranded the stall.
Darryl, 32, is a second-gen hawker whose dad used to run a vegetarian stall at Nanyang Girls’ High School. Most of his cooking skills were taught by his father. “I picked up my foundation from my dad for a year, after which I experimented and learnt from trial and error, ultimately coming up with my own recipes,” he tells 8days.sg.
As for why he decided to become a vegetarian food hawker, Darryl shares that he became a full-fledged vegetarian three years ago as “both [his] parents have been vegetarians for over 20 years, so there was some form of influence at home”. He adds: “I enjoy cooking, so whatever I enjoy eating, I would try to replicate it with a vegetarian version.” Darryl’s goal is to debunk the notion that “vegetarian food is boring and flavourless”.
But Darryl has since returned to school and is pursuing a Diploma in Business Administration at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, a decision he made because he “felt like [he] lacked the soft skills and knowledge to run a business”.
As he was inexperienced in the admin side of running a stall, Darryl explains that he “didn’t even calculate an exact number” for his profit margin when he first opened his stall, and felt the need to improve himself.
He explains that as a newbie hawker, he was only able to keep his first stall at Temasek Secondary School afloat because “overhead costs aren’t as high in a school”, though he admits that he wasn’t earning much there either.
As food prices in a secondary school are controlled, he could only sell his food at around $2.30 to $2.50 per dish. There were also restrictions like no fried food, and the need to provide healthy whole grain meals. So when a stall at NUS became available, Darryl took the chance to set up a second outlet so that he could hopefully bolster his earnings.
As it is “physically and mentally draining” to juggle school and work, Darryl tries to attend virtual classes to lessen his need to travel.
Thankfully, his parents have also been supportive in helping him lighten his workload — his mum works part-time at his Buangkok stall when he has night classes, while his dad, who had closed his own vegetarian stall at Nanyang Girls’ High School due to declining footfall, runs Origanics’ NUS outlet full-time.
So far, Darryl reckons that he has “been able to convince a lot of younger people” to try vegetarian food, by “coming up with dishes that are more enticing to the younger crowd”.
Buttermilk Chicken
For instance, he sells unconventional vegetarian dishes like fried Buttermilk Chicken at his NUS stall — something he has yet to introduce to the Buangkok Hawker Centre outlet since the target market there is older.
Darryl Tong has since enrolled himself in a Business Administration diploma course to become a better hawkerpreneur.
By Gwyn Lim
Vegetarians tend to miss out on a lot when it comes to dining out — while dishes like buttermilk fried chicken and char siew kolo mee are popular and tasty, they contain meat.
But for those who are looking for a meatless meal, millennial hawker Darryl Tong’s stall Origanics offer uncommon dishes that are different from the usual repertoire of vegetarian bee hoon or cai png.
Char Siew Kolo NoodlesHis bestsellers include buttermilk fried chicken, caramelised char siew kolo mee and braised duck rice, which he tries to faithfully replicate to resemble the real thing.
He currently has two Origanics outlets islandwide - one at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the latest branch at Buangkok Hawker Centre, which opened last December. His OG outlet was set up in 2021 at Temasek Secondary School, but he has since transferred ownership to a business partner, who has rebranded the stall.
Darryl, 32, is a second-gen hawker whose dad used to run a vegetarian stall at Nanyang Girls’ High School. Most of his cooking skills were taught by his father. “I picked up my foundation from my dad for a year, after which I experimented and learnt from trial and error, ultimately coming up with my own recipes,” he tells 8days.sg.
As for why he decided to become a vegetarian food hawker, Darryl shares that he became a full-fledged vegetarian three years ago as “both [his] parents have been vegetarians for over 20 years, so there was some form of influence at home”. He adds: “I enjoy cooking, so whatever I enjoy eating, I would try to replicate it with a vegetarian version.” Darryl’s goal is to debunk the notion that “vegetarian food is boring and flavourless”.
Opened hawker stall after dropping out of school
Despite his father’s hawking career, Darryl himself didn’t have much experience going into F&B. When he started his biz in 2021, his highest qualification was an O-Levels cert. He was expelled from Republic Polytechnic, where he had been studying in the Aerospace Avionics course. Darryl recalls: “Back then I hung out with the wrong company, made some bad choices, and had different priorities”, which ultimately led to his dismissal from school due to poor attendance.But Darryl has since returned to school and is pursuing a Diploma in Business Administration at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, a decision he made because he “felt like [he] lacked the soft skills and knowledge to run a business”.
As he was inexperienced in the admin side of running a stall, Darryl explains that he “didn’t even calculate an exact number” for his profit margin when he first opened his stall, and felt the need to improve himself.
He explains that as a newbie hawker, he was only able to keep his first stall at Temasek Secondary School afloat because “overhead costs aren’t as high in a school”, though he admits that he wasn’t earning much there either.
As food prices in a secondary school are controlled, he could only sell his food at around $2.30 to $2.50 per dish. There were also restrictions like no fried food, and the need to provide healthy whole grain meals. So when a stall at NUS became available, Darryl took the chance to set up a second outlet so that he could hopefully bolster his earnings.
As it is “physically and mentally draining” to juggle school and work, Darryl tries to attend virtual classes to lessen his need to travel.
Thankfully, his parents have also been supportive in helping him lighten his workload — his mum works part-time at his Buangkok stall when he has night classes, while his dad, who had closed his own vegetarian stall at Nanyang Girls’ High School due to declining footfall, runs Origanics’ NUS outlet full-time.
So far, Darryl reckons that he has “been able to convince a lot of younger people” to try vegetarian food, by “coming up with dishes that are more enticing to the younger crowd”.
Buttermilk ChickenFor instance, he sells unconventional vegetarian dishes like fried Buttermilk Chicken at his NUS stall — something he has yet to introduce to the Buangkok Hawker Centre outlet since the target market there is older.
