Twins open ‘ji gong bao’ chicken hotpot stall with 90-min free-flow buffet from S$19.90

If you’re on the hunt for wallet-friendly hotpot in Singapore, this hidden gem in Yishun offers an all-you-can-eat ji gong bao (chicken hotpot) buffet for just $19.90. The four-month-old stall is run by twin sisters Diana and Joanna Ng, 32, who named their biz Huang Lao Dou after their dad, who owns the coffeeshop their stall is located in.
Compared to the steamboat that Singaporeans are familiar with, ji gong bao is Chinese-style hot pot with a thicker, spicy soup base, cooked with ingredients like chicken bones, Sichuan peppercorns and dried chillies. 
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At first glance, the chirpy sisters — born only seven seconds apart — are nearly identical in appearance, so much so that customers can only tell them apart by the tattoo on Joanna’s hand. But beyond their similar looks, the twins tell us they also share the same interests growing up, like planning to work in the F&B line together, as their parents have always been in the coffeeshop business. 
Back in the day, the twins’ family owned a total of six coffeeshops, which also housed their own chicken hotpot and chicken rice stalls. As he wanted to retire, their dad sold five of his kopitiams, leaving only the current one at Yishun where his kids run their hotpot stall. The sisters (who don’t have other siblings) say they “might inherit” this kopitiam in the future, if they can prove to their dad that they are able to manage it well.
In April, Diana and Joanna took over their dad’s last-standing chicken hotpot stall (formerly named Guai Wei Ji Gong Bao) after he expressed his wish to retire. “We both had the same idea when he said he wanted to close the stall. We wanted to try [running the biz]. I personally love to eat hotpot and love ji gong bao, so it’s quite sad if my dad doesn’t want to sell it anymore,” Diana says. 
Guai Wei Ji Gong Bao was originally located at their father’s now-defunct kopitiam at Blk 110 in Yishun, so the sisters had to invest around $15,000 of their own savings to relocate to their current coffeeshop at Blk 761. Though the sisters have hired chefs and stall assistants to run the operations, they help to make the paste for the hotpot soup bases daily. They spend the rest of their time taking on more ”managerial roles” like making plans to expand their business.
Since they were 13 years old, Diana and Joanna had been helping out at their parents’ kopitiams, doing everything from cleaning to supervising. 
Diana recounts: “When we were young, we always wondered why we had to work. Our friends and cousins could meet up with their friends, but we had to work every weekend and earn our own pocket money. We didn’t just do cashiering work either, we washed toilets as well!” 
However, they eventually got over it, since it was the only way they could earn some pocket money. “My dad usually didn’t give us an allowance, so if we wanted to go out on weekends or on our off-days, we would have to earn it. So we had no choice but to work lor. But we get money from it,” Diana laughs. The twins joke that they also have identical career paths, since their dad would ‘promote’ them at work at the same time.
During the past 20 years they had been helping their parents, the duo worked as cleaners, runners, cashiers and, eventually, kopitiam supervisors managing staff rosters and accounts at the grand old age of 20. But that was after working at their dad’s coffeeshops for seven years, where they slowly gained their dad’s trust that they could manage their workload well.  
According to the twins, working together is ”fun”, despite the occasional spats they have. “It’s very good to work together, though at times we quarrel when our opinions are different. But we’ll talk things out. We can work together, ’cos our strengths lie in different areas and we can combine our skills. My sister is good at talking, accounting and computer stuff, while I’m better with more hands-on things like cooking,” Diana says. In 2013, the duo even set up their own shop selling handphones, but shut it down three years later due to poor business. 
They later took on separate sales jobs (Diana at crystal specialist Swarovski, while Joanna worked at a car dealership), but eventually returned to work for their parents when their dad asked them to. “At the coffeeshop, we meet different types of people so it’s more fun lah. It’s a greater achievement when people say our food is nice,” Diana explains. 
After taking over their father’s stall, the sisters introduced three new soup bases to Huang Lao Dou’s menu: Lala Pot (top up $6), Mala Pot, and Tomato Pot. Previously, their dad only sold an original Chicken Hot Pot (with chicken bone broth) and Herbal Chicken soup. 
They also came up with a new 90-minute all-you-can-eat buffet system, where customers can pick their soup base and free-flow ingredients for just $19.90. There are over 40 toppings to choose from here, including noodles, meatballs and veggies. Seafood, like fresh prawns and clams, can be added on for an extra $4. 
According to the sisters, there’s a funny story behind why they had to implement a 90-minute dining time limit: “We had a customer who ate from 1pm till 6 or 7pm. We had no idea that someone could eat for so long, that’s why we have the 90-minute time limit now!” Diana says.
Their new buffet menu is cheaper than their dad’s previous pricing, which started at $23 for a small-sized chicken hotpot. “A lot of people can’t accept spending over $20 just on one meal, so I was thinking that doing a buffet would be more value-for-money for them, and I can say our prices are reasonable,” Diana says. 
She adds that in order to lower their prices for customers, they negotiate prices with suppliers: “We’ll usually talk to the suppliers, and ask them to lower the prices for us if we order a certain quantity. For the soup and chicken, we use the same [ingredients], and for the side dishes, we see which are the more affordable sides that people will eat.” 
The twins developed the recipes for the new soup bases themselves, but kept their dad’s original recipes for the chicken pot and herbal chicken soup. Though they never had professional training as cooks, they grew up watching chefs working at their parents’ chicken rice shop and picked up basic skills from there. When they took over Huang Lao Dou, the twins’ dad passed down the previous chef’s recipes to them. 
Compared to the Singaporean-style hotpot, the sisters say their Chinese-style ji gong bao is more flavourful. “It’s similar to our local steamboat, but the soup is thicker. The main ingredient is kampong chicken,” shares Joanna, adding that they use kampong chickens as it has better flavour than farm-raised chickens. 
However, they remain hopeful as there are still old regulars who continue patronising the twins’ stall at their new spot. Diana chirps: “Our standard is the same as before, so a lot of our customers from the previous stall came back.” The twins also plan to introduce new hot pot bases, including lotus peanut soup and apple pear soup. 
In the future, the twins hope to expand their chicken hotpot business. Their ultimate goal? “We have plans to open more outlets, even in shopping malls, or have our own standalone shop,” says Diana.
Huang Lao Dou is at 761 Yishun Street 72, S760761. Open Tue – Sun 10am – 10pm. Closed on Monday. Tel: 8791 9294. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Huang Lao Dou, Google/Woan Ying Ong, Google/Sora Yew, Glyn Seah
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