adam road food centre stall 7 - zaiton satay


i was having dessert - tau suan - at adam road food centre when i ran into mohd ali. i had been looking out for him since i heard that he was running one of the stalls there. he was there, near stall 7, waiting to interview potential stall helpers whom he would hiring be do the barbequeing (pengang) of the satay.

his first foray into the food business was in woodlands at a place called spectrum 2. he gave that up because the rental was too high. he paid $75 000 for the adam road's stall and the monthly rental is $1500, paid to nea (national environment authority). utilities charges are low - slightly more than $100 a month - because the stall uses charcoal to bbq (pengang) the satay.

he need not have to be at the stall every day. in fact, he cannot because he is a flexi-adjunct teacher at a primary school in woodlands. he has two trustworthy workers to man the place and his wife is there to open and close the stall.

apart from beef, mutton and chicken satays and the ketupat, (ketupat is a savoury rice cake wrapped in woven coconut leaves.) his stall also sells yong tau foo. he sells the satay in a set: 10 sticks plus one ketupat for $6.00.