GROWING up in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Justin Yong was constantly surrounded by food. His father ran a restaurant that specialised in charcoal-fuelled char siew and roast pork, and the boy was fascinated from the get-go.
“I love cooking, so every time we went to the restaurant, I learnt how to cook by watching the chef who taught me formally here and there.
“Eventually, I got very hands-on when the restaurant was busy,” recalls the 32-year-old, who is married with two kids.
All that cooking and learning, however, did not lead to a career in food. He became a property agent and started a business doing minor renovation works.
But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Yong’s main source of income completely dried up and he began thinking of ways to bring in some money to sustain his young family.
“I couldn’t do anything at the time, so I decided after the first lockdown to see if I could explore something else in case there was a second lockdown. Thank God I did that because the lockdowns lasted so long!”
Yong then started a home business Tiok Tiok, making the barbeque pork that he learnt from the chef at his dad’s restaurant.
“I also use charcoal, so our meat tastes a bit different (from others’),” he says.
Things have indeed come full circle for the keen student in the kitchen. His fledgling home-based food business was met with overwhelming support from customers.
The business thrived and Yong went on to rent a shop to cater to the demand.
These days, he has resumed his real estate career but still runs Tiok Tiok – which means “to cut pork” in Cantonese – on the weekends as a delivery-only operation.
More importantly, he has never forgotten the support he received from people when things got really dire for him.
He was motivated to run weekend classes to teach his signature recipes and cooking techniques for Chinese-style charcoal char siew pork, roast pork, roast chicken and poached village chicken to anyone interested in starting a food and beverage (F&B) business and looking to use tried-and-tested recipes.
The craziest – and most wonderful – thing about this endeavour is that Yong is offering these lessons entirely for free.
“We received a lot of help and support from customers when we started from zero. So this is like giving back (to society) and helping others get started in the business by sharing our recipes,” says Yong.
He conducts his classes mostly at night and says he is willing to share everything there is to know in order for others to perfect his signature fare. Although he will be teaching people the recipes that helped propel his own brand to success, he is not worried about losing out in any way or the competition that may result from someone else knowing all the ingredients and techniques to mastering his dishes.
“I am hoping that there will be people who can be better and innovate the recipes; if someone is good, they are good,” he says.
Since announcing the initiative on his restaurant’s Facebook page, Yong has been inundated with requests from aspiring F&B owners, existing business owners who are struggling and even those who simply want to see if they are cut out for the industry.
“I now have a WhatsApp group going with about 50 people and many more asking to be involved. Some of them have said they want to start an F&B business but don’t know how while others have lost their jobs and are looking at getting into this line.
“This was exactly my intention – to help people who wish to understand how to get into the business or even those struggling in it. These are things I can help others with, and my whole aim is to give people a bit of hope and show them the reality of the industry,” he says.
One of the recent participants of Yong’s initiative is Kok Suk Yien, 42, a former purchasing coordinator who has been unemployed since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kok says she was browsing through Facebook when she saw Yong’s community-minded initiative and felt it was ideal for her as she likes to cook and wants to keep her options open.
“This was an opportunity for me to learn something new because I am currently not doing anything so I thought I should try it out and see how it is. And Justin was very open and nice about sharing his recipes and tips on how to handle food in the kitchen. So I got a good introduction to what goes on behind the scenes of making roast pork and char siew,” she says.
Alhough Kok is still unsure about her future, she says Yong’s endeavour has opened a new pathway for her.
“It’s something I can try to do because I don’t need a few years to learn a new skill. So, this is an option for me to start a part-time F&B business within a very short period of time. Also, I am so impressed with Justin’s willingness to share his kitchen secrets and I am really thankful to him,” she adds.
Yong says this project doesn’t cost him much beyond time, so he is content to do it for free. But in the long run, he hopes to be able to rope in hawkers, chefs and restaurant owners and get them to share their recipes as well, inspiring a long-term movement of sorts.
“What I am trying to do is start a movement where we can slowly get others to join us and who can share their recipes as well. In the long run, maybe we can support other people like single mothers who are talented home cooks and participants can pay them a fee.
“If there is more interest, I am hoping to convince elderly hawkers to share their recipes because if they have no intention of continuing their business or passing it on to their kids, I am willing to pay them a fee to teach others their recipes. This way, we can try and keep authentic traditional flavours going,” says Yong.
To participate in Yong’s venture, reach out to him on Tiok Tiok’s Facebook page (www. facebook.com/TiokTiokBBQ).
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