There are very few people left who still know how to make her giao – delicate Teochew fish dumplings. And even fewer who prepare them commercially. Rarer still is someone willing todevote his life to mastering and perfecting this single craft.

There was a time when our hawker culture thrived on such singular devotion. The char kway teow uncle would stand behind his wok day after day, year after year, refining his technique until it became second nature. Until he becomes, quite simply, a master. Today, that spirit is increasingly uncommon. Many younger hawkers are understandably drawn to the promise of scaling up, franchising, and building something bigger. It is hard to fault them; making a living from a single hawker stall is no easy pursuit in modern Singapore.

But when I come across someone like James Chua, who spends most of his days shaping each piece of her giao by hand, quietly perfecting a tradition that few still practice, I am reminded of what made our hawker culture special in the first place. It is such dedication that deserves to be celebrated.

From Takeaway to a Full Fledged Eatery

The last time I wrote about James was in 2021. That was when he finally took the bold step of setting up his own modest shop to sell handmade her giao. Having grown up in the family behind Song Kee Fish Ball Noodles in Toa Payoh, he was immersed in the craft from a young age. He learnt the nuances of fish paste and dumpling-making long before most of us were thinking about careers. (You can read more of his story here.)

That small shop was focused mainly on takeaway. They were freshly made her giao and...