Tau Foo Fa: Malay vs. Chinese business
Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa - that bastion of brown supremacy - has proclaimed that Islam restricts Malays from succeeding in business while the Chinese (due to our implied godlessness, snort) are merrily making moolah (I love alliterations in case you haven't noticed) from all the non-halal businesses.
Well, that statement is so stupid that it's not worth refuting BUT it did prompt me to think about this: what if we were to compare a similar business, which can be run by either a Malay or Chinese or whomever and see how it goes.
So have you noticed that tau foo fa (silky bean curd in syrup, a chinese dessert [apparently I DO get readers from Sweden, Russia and so on.. so have to make it clear, right?]) has become a staple at the Ramadhan bazaar for many years now? Sold by Malays.
I hate to break it to you but it tastes really bad.
It's a simple enough dessert, right? Just soft bean curd in syrup. Not much variation apart of adding ginger to the syrup, OR using brown palm sugar. Really. So why is it that the Chinese stalls sell better? Is it because of racism? Of course not, it just tastes better and here's why:
The key to tau foo fa is the texture, it must be soft. And for it be soft when you serve it, you must leave it in the main container, being steamed continually. Then you only scoop out servings as required. It Takes More Work to Do So.
What went wrong with the Malay tau foo fa business? They tried to save time by pre-packing the bean curd with syrup into plastic containers and displayed them at their stalls. Looks good, tastes bad!
Because the bean curd becomes cold quickly once it is scooped out, it starts to get slightly harder. But what's worse is that it is left to sit in the syrup, which is hygroscopic [the sugar attracts water molecules], this means the bean curd is also losing water - making its texture grainy and harsh on the palette. Another factor, bean curd moisture starts to mix with the syrup - thus diluting it and the water from the curd does NOT taste good on its own, more so in a now diluted syrup with a sandy textured bean curd.
So, want to save time and effort? Don't want to keep an eye on the heater to make sure that the bean curd is a nice warm temperature until your customers want some? Want to make a nice display but don't care about how the food actually tastes like? Ha, this is why Malay food business cannot, cannot, CANNOT succeed until they change their mindset / attitude / work ethic.
I'm not being racist, seriously. I want the Malays to succeed too, this way, the whole country can prosper. But if they keep on with this kind of lackadaisical attitude, ha.. sampai bila la nak maju, abang oi?!
The tau foo fa from a Malay stall is inedible. And they don't even know their mistake.
Well, that statement is so stupid that it's not worth refuting BUT it did prompt me to think about this: what if we were to compare a similar business, which can be run by either a Malay or Chinese or whomever and see how it goes.
So have you noticed that tau foo fa (silky bean curd in syrup, a chinese dessert [apparently I DO get readers from Sweden, Russia and so on.. so have to make it clear, right?]) has become a staple at the Ramadhan bazaar for many years now? Sold by Malays.
I hate to break it to you but it tastes really bad.
It's a simple enough dessert, right? Just soft bean curd in syrup. Not much variation apart of adding ginger to the syrup, OR using brown palm sugar. Really. So why is it that the Chinese stalls sell better? Is it because of racism? Of course not, it just tastes better and here's why:
The key to tau foo fa is the texture, it must be soft. And for it be soft when you serve it, you must leave it in the main container, being steamed continually. Then you only scoop out servings as required. It Takes More Work to Do So.
What went wrong with the Malay tau foo fa business? They tried to save time by pre-packing the bean curd with syrup into plastic containers and displayed them at their stalls. Looks good, tastes bad!
Because the bean curd becomes cold quickly once it is scooped out, it starts to get slightly harder. But what's worse is that it is left to sit in the syrup, which is hygroscopic [the sugar attracts water molecules], this means the bean curd is also losing water - making its texture grainy and harsh on the palette. Another factor, bean curd moisture starts to mix with the syrup - thus diluting it and the water from the curd does NOT taste good on its own, more so in a now diluted syrup with a sandy textured bean curd.
So, want to save time and effort? Don't want to keep an eye on the heater to make sure that the bean curd is a nice warm temperature until your customers want some? Want to make a nice display but don't care about how the food actually tastes like? Ha, this is why Malay food business cannot, cannot, CANNOT succeed until they change their mindset / attitude / work ethic.
I'm not being racist, seriously. I want the Malays to succeed too, this way, the whole country can prosper. But if they keep on with this kind of lackadaisical attitude, ha.. sampai bila la nak maju, abang oi?!
The tau foo fa from a Malay stall is inedible. And they don't even know their mistake.
Comments