A former Taiwanese engineer is making waves in Singapore with a restaurant that brings the unique taste of Taiwanese-style stir-fry to the Southeast Asian city-state.
With Taiwanese eateries popping up frequently around Singapore, Nantou County native Tony Chen’s (陳志柏) Tai One Wei (台one味) is a one-of-a-kind restaurant in the blossoming Taiwanese cuisine scene.
Described by Chen as the “first Taiwanese quick-fried restaurant in Singapore,” Tai One Wei has been giving customers a taste of Taiwan since June 11 last year.
Photo: CNA
The eatery features Taiwan-style decor combined with the hometown fragrance and flavors.
What most differentiates the stir-fried dishes from the Chinese variants around the world are the local ingredients, he said, adding that he sources his vegetables and sauces from Taiwan weekly.
He said he ensures an “optimal ratio” of sauce in his dishes to guarantee quality control.
In addition to seasonings, the fresh ingredients he imports from Taiwan include white water snowflake stems, nest ferns and cuttlefish, all of which he said are impossible to find in Singapore.
In an interview with the Central News Agency, Chen said that he was originally an engineer in the semiconductor industry, but his office in the city-state closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He initially thought of returning to Taiwan, but instead stayed and opened a restaurant, he said.
Chen said that his inspiration and talent for cooking comes from his grandmother who taught him to cook at an early age because the adults in his family were usually busy farming.
With the skills he picked up at a young age, he got used to cooking for himself as an adult and gradually developed a love for cooking, he said.
“If there’s something I crave, I make it myself,” he said.
Tai One Wei’s customers are evenly split between Taiwanese expats and Singaporeans, Chen said, adding that the people who frequented his establishment in the first three months after it opened were predominantly Taiwanese.
The ratio of Taiwanese to Singaporeans has gradually evened out since then, largely due to word of mouth, he said.
Other than Taiwanese looking for a taste of home, many of the early Singaporean customers were initially military personnel who had trained in Taiwan.
Having experienced Taiwan’s cuisine first hand, Singaporeans who had served in the armed forces and visited Taiwan came to the restaurant to either enjoy the unique tastes of Taiwan or to share the experience with friends and family, he said.
As Tai One Wei’s popularity grows, it has become an unofficial bridge between Taiwan and Singapore.
That food diplomacy got a boost after Chen was invited to cater dinner banquets for Taiwan new Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), who assumed his position in May, introducing more of Taiwan’s unique flavors to Singapore’s residents.
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