He won a lottery, left his insurance job and opened a roast pork stand

Ivan Leong, 37, worked as an insurance agent – work with net buttoned, perfumes, coffee cats and flexible schedules. Ten years later, when he slices the juicy pork in his own cantonese roasted pork stand, he said that his life was now far from what she was.

Leong began as an administrative assistant in a recruitment company, a job he described as “stagnant”. One day in 2013, his colleagues convinced him to join them to buy lottery tickets.

By a stroke of luck, the lottery ticket he bought with $ 10 Singapore earned him $ 1 million SG. The sudden interruption gave him the confidence necessary to leave his job, and he gave his opinion for a month shortly after.

His first business order was to buy an apartment subsidized by the government with his fiancé. Even with the money from the lottery, the purchase of a condominium or a private property was out of the question, he said, as retired early.

“Honestly, a million is never enough, especially in Singapore,” said Leong. Singapore, a small island in Southeast Asia, is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Then, after trying his hand in the sale of insurance products for a few years, Leong estimated that he wanted to build something of him and be his own boss for a change.

“In Singapore, if you start an F&B company, you can be a boss right away. This is the fastest way,” he said laughing.

He said he liked to cook when he was a child, especially during the Lunar New Year. To go back, he cut his teeth in the roasted pork store of his friend in the Ang Mo Kio district of Singapore.

In 2018, he and his wife opened their own roasted pork, or Char Siu, buying a residential area south of Singapore from Bukit Merah. In the coming years, he would close his original outlet and opened two others – One in Woodlands and another in Ang Mo Kio, which are both residential districts.

Now it easily spends 11 to 12 hours behind the counter daily. Figure a hungry crowd for lunch means reaching its stand at 7 a.m.

The roasted pork in question

Some key things distinguish Leong’s roast pork.

He said he had always found Char Siu in other disappointing restaurants and loaded with food coloring. Nor did he like that customers cannot choose the type of meat they wanted.

For him, a good Siu tank meant roasting the meat up to two hours in a charcoal oven instead of the regular 45 minutes. It also allows customers to choose between three different types of pork: fat, lean or half-gras.

For Leong, an average day involves winning about $ 1,500 from each socket. In terms of meat, this means selling five roasted pork slabs, 60-80 strips of Char Siu and approximately seven whole chickens.

I obtained the $ 8 SG “trio” dish to taste the three types of meat it sold at its stand. The dish was made up of chicken and two types of pork on fragrant rice, with fresh cucumbers and a bowl of hot soup.

The crackling pork skin was super crisp, balanced by tender meat under it.

The Char Siu itself was tender and covered with a sticky glaze, which has joined well with fragrant rice.

The third meat, the roasted chicken, was light and a good break from the whole pork. The quantity was generous – I ended up removing most from a dog bag.

The most surprising part of the dish was clear soup. It was salty, warm and comforting, with boiled slices of vegetables at the bottom. It was a good contrast to all the meat.

Leong’s regulars said his Char Siu was different from those they had before.

Eddie Soh, 36, said that he ate Leong’s Stall Weekly since 2019. He said Leong “has raised the bar” for him for him, and that he rarely eats the dish in other restaurants.

Soh, a computer product manager, added that Leong’s roast pork has become a staple food in his lunar reunion dinners. He sometimes buys “as much as 2 kg of Char Siu and 2 kg of roasted pork” for his family.

Andrew NGO, a 49 -year -old officer from the Singapore armed forces, said he found Leong’s stand last year and that he was about three times a week.

NGOs said the sides are just as good. Tasty rice and confident eggs, which go away from the usual hard eggs served with bus Siu, add to its appeal.

It is not only the regulars who have them in rave – many culinary bloggers in Singapore reported the Leong stand.

Sethlui.com, a prominent local food publication, said in a July Siu Lang exam that pork was “caramelized to perfection” and could compete with greater Chinese food establishments.

In Singapore, small stands like Leong are known to serve world class dishes, including some that have been included in the Michelin guide.

But for Leong, the end of the game looks like getting out of the kitchen

For Leong, negotiating business life for days sweating in front of a charcoal oven was difficult, with everything, from time management to its physical appearance to adapt.

“Regarding the lifestyle, when I was doing financial advice, I disguised myself, I used perfume and I wore all the brands. But in the shop, I wear everything that is comfortable, perhaps a pair of shorts, my corporate t-shirt and I need to wear safety boots,” he said.

The insurance position has also enabled greater flexibility, where it could simply “push the appointment, modify the schedules” for customer meetings. But reaching its stand at 7 am daily is a schedule that requires discipline.

Thus, when he asked him questions about the future of the company, Leong immediately answered: “My end of the game is to sell the company to large organizations.”

He said that long hours of work are not something that he thinks he can support in the long term.

But a return to a business job is out of table, he said. He wants to sell something for himself, explore new businesses and not have to answer anyone.

“I would like to know, to be able to do other things, not just spending my time in the store,” said Leong. “In moments to come, I really need to step back because I really feel like I have spent too much time in this business.”