Micro entrepreneur and homesteading enthusiast banks on the beauty of food to bring everyone together!
Schira Hassan
Schira Hassan, who specialises in catering for vegan Malay and Indonesian food has successfully managed to do the unthinkable – establish a customer base that includes meat lovers, including meat butchers!
“That is the beauty of food, it brings everyone together! We all think ‘I’m just one person. I can’t make a difference’ but we are in the millions worldwide. Every little step towards progress is still progress”
Gradually turning vegan since 2019, Schira encountered a stumbling block when she was unable to find any authentic vegan Malay dishes, especially the food she grew up with. Often times, the aromatics used for Malay dishes centred around anchovies or fermented shrimp. However, she remained true to her belief that becoming a vegan does not mean upsetting your meal plan. Schira urges vegans to learn the basics of cooking – a very useful general life skill.
“Experimenting with new flavours and getting excited with cooking will make your vegan journey a lot less intimidating. I thought what better way to veganise my dishes from home than to impart my love and stories into them. It also helps to remind yourself about the planet you presumably want to keep living on,” she explains.
Schira started experimenting in Malay cuisine with the basics. In just a few years, Schira’s orders for her very own homemade Ambeng, a vegan twist on an Indonesian mixed rice platter, and the veganised version of Indonesian beef soup, Rawon, including vegan paru (beef lungs) - one of the many items that makes up a full Rawon dish, have gone through the roof.
The now hyper-busy 36-year-old Singaporean mom has also managed to unearth the mystery of the singularity of Teh Tarik meaning ‘pulled tea’, a drink native to the region, made from cow’s milk. Her oat-based vegan Teh Tarik is strikingly similar to the island-wide drink that you will never miss it as a vegan, bringing back its glorious nostalgia.
She believes that many vegans are not raised vegan so the attempt to replicate meat is for the same reason dieting indivuals attempt to replicate the sweetness of sugar. According to her, protein rich foods tend to have a savory umami flavor that is difficult to replicate. This savory flavor comes from Glutamic Acid, an amino acid that is a key component in protein which happens to be in kelp which she uses generously in Laksa Siglap.
Vegan Paru (beef lungs) Photo Credits: Axel Serik
Vegan Ambeng Photo Credits: Ryza
Vegan Rawon Photo Credits: Ryza
