KL chap overcomes challenge to bring M’sian cuisine to Guangxi

KOTA KINABALU (Sept 28): Despite facing various challenges, a Malaysian man is determined to bring the country’s local cuisine to an international audience.

Having grown up in the Cheras township of Kuala Lumpur, Kelvin Tong Yee Fong had been deeply influenced by the rich and diverse local food culture.

Several years ago, the 44-year-old had been running an international business selling car brake systems from Shenzen city, China, but eventually quit due to irregular work schedules.

In 2018, Kelvin headed north to the Guangxi region to pursue his dreams, investing hundreds of thousands of ringgit in Nanning city to open Malaysian specialty restaurants and promote the nation’s food.

Near the city’s Guangxi University, he launched “Warung Asia Tenggara”, a restaurant serving Southeast Asian cuisines, featuring a diverse menu including Malaysian favorites such as Nasi Lemak, curry chicken, fried rice and satay skewers.

According to Kelvin, the biggest challenge in cooking authentic Malaysian cuisine in China is the supply and price of ingredients.

He said some key ingredients such as Santan (coconut milk), Sambal Belacan (shrimp paste) and Planta-brand margarine are hard to locally source in the republic, sometimes going out of stock for months at a time.

Aside from supply, he said the price of the ingredients is another source of worry due to import taxes, with a bottle of soy sauce commonly found in Malaysian supermarkets for a couple of ringgit costing around 80 yuan or RM47 and a pack of Maggi mee around 38 yuan or RM22.

Therefore, he tireless established contacts with suppliers from various places and even personally visited the production sites to ensure the quality and stability of the ingredients.

Another stumbling block for the entrepreneur is the food preference of locals in the region.

Kelvin had served Malaysian-style Nasi Lemak and Chinese chicken wings at his shop before, but was met with lukewarm reception from the surrounding community.

Roti Canai, or Indian flatbread, was also not favorably received, as compared to the traditional Malaysian Mamak stall way of serving it with curry or dhal, the people there prefer the dish with durian or other fruits.
Bak Kut Teh, a pork rib dish recently gazetted as a Malaysian heritage dish status, received similar response from locals, as they wondered why it did not include white pepper, which is commonly found in Singaporean rendition.

Hence, Kelvin deeply explored the dietary habits and preferences of the locals, and innovated and improved the dishes in a targeted manner.

By doing such efforts, the cuisines of his restaurant feature Malaysian flavor while integrating local elements.

“I have a special preference for Malaysian cuisine and have always been eager to carry forward the food culture of my hometown,” he said when met at his restaurant in Nanning recently.

Due to cultural differences, he encountered language barriers and many other difficulties when he first started his business in this unfamiliar market.

Despite the difficulties coming one after another, he told himself that “as long as I persisted, there would be opportunities.”

In recent years, with the help of the promotion on the new media platform of the Internet, many diners have been attracted to Warung Asia Tenggara.

Among them are diners from ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

After years of hard work, Kelvin has now opened three chain restaurants in Nanning, bringing the fragrance of Malaysian cuisine to the Guangxi region.

In mid-September this year, he opened the fourth Warung Asia Tenggara in the Wuming district of Nanning City.

Kelvin said that his successful entrepreneurship in Nanning is closely related to the strong “ASEAN flavor” here.

Nanning is the permanent host city of the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO).

Over the past 20 years since the establishment of CAEXPO, Nanning, a southern city of China, has developed increasingly closer exchanges with ASEAN countries.

On the streets of Nanning, specialties from ASEAN countries can be easily found.

Many ASEAN youths have come to Nanning to start their own businesses, and Kelvin is just one of them.

He said that through CAEXPO, he has exchanged and cooperated with enterprises and merchants from Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, further enriching his food ingredient supply channels and introducing more specialty products to his restaurant.

“CAEXPO has opened a new door for my business, enabling me to access more resources and opportunities and providing Malaysian cuisine with an opportunity to enter the Chinese market,” he said.

Kelvin always has a bigger dream of food in his heart.

He wants to open more branches of his restaurant in more cities of Guangxi, allowing more Chinese people to taste Malaysian cuisine.

He also plans to establish his own central kitchen and introduce more innovative dishes that integrate Malaysian and Chinese flavor.

“I hope to collaborate with catering enterprises in Guangxi to jointly develop new dishes, integrating Malaysian cuisine with local cuisine in Guangxi and creating more unique experiences for diners,” he said.

Kelvin hopes to use cuisine as a medium to build a bridge for cultural exchange between Malaysia and China and leverage the power of the internet and new media to attract more fans of “A Bite of Malaysia” in Guangxi.

He also hopes to invite Malaysian chefs to Guangxi for exchange and demonstration through culinary cultural exchange activities, promoting a deeper integration of Malaysian and Chinese culinary cultures.