Family Run Pau Stall

I have a soft spot for paus. Whenever I pass by a handmade pau shop, I am always tempted to try their big pau, charsiu pau and siu mai. There was a time when most coffee shops would make their own pau. Then came the introduction of factory-made pau which plunged Singapore into the pau dark ages! Thankfully, the last fifteen years have seen a growing popularity of handmade pau stalls. However, it is still not common to see an entirely family-run pau stall.

This stall at Eunos was introduced to me by the boss of JB Ah Meng whom I bumped into when I was eating bak chor mee at Famous Eunos Bak Chor Mee. Being a foodie, he also roams around Singapore for good food and has high praises for Ipoh Handmade Pau.

The owner of the stall, Carol Moh is a native of Ipoh who arrived in Singapore to work in the 1990’s. For years, she had been making paus at home for their consumption. It wasn’t until 2022 that she decided to open her pau stall in Geylang Lor 31 at the urging of her eldest son. Now she is joined by 2nd son, Max who had just completed NS, and her future daughter-in-law (eldest son) at the stall.

Focus on quality ingredients

Carol tells me that the difference between Ipoh-style pau and Singapore-style pau lies in the meat filling. In Ipoh, they tend to favor more flavor from the seasoning. They marinade the pork for at least 2 days and she insists on using quality ingredients like premium Chinese wine ($17 a bottle), sesame oil and soy sauce. I didn’t find her Ipoh style pau that much different from our local ...