Original subtitles

This table was made from a 400-year-old tree.

It was an ancient sakura tree

in the mountains.

I'm glad I can interact with

my customers across this table.

We're a restaurant that specialises in

charcoal grilling.

We use ingredients from Japan

and cook it over Japanese charcoal.

This is broad bean from Kagoshima, Japan.

It grows towards the sky

and is considered to be

very auspicious in Japan.

Please enjoy your meal.

Thank you.

So while you can enjoy the bean on its own

you can also scoop up the juicy layer

on the inside of the pod and enjoy it.

It has a creamy texture.

This is Kazu's assorted chicken skin.

We offer four varieties.

The first one is atsukawa

which is from the back.

Please enjoy.

Thank you.

And this is bonjiri, the tail end. Enjoy.

This is momo.

We grilled it until it's really crispy.

Kubi, the neck. Enjoy.

Well...

I love cooking, that's why.

I used to be an office worker

but I found myself

doing the same things every day

and it made me restless.

I wanted more of a challenge.

My elder brother was the active sort.

I tagged along

and we built a log cabin in the woods

where our friends could hang out.

We needed someone to cook for us

and I started doing it.

And that's how I started my cooking journey.

I study cooking every day

and I feel happy

every time I become a little better at it.

I'm enjoying myself, even till today.

This is shima aji

striped jack from Nagasaki, Japan.

—Delicious. —Thank you.

I feel the happiest when I'm cooking.

That's not something I would have learnt

in culinary schools.

The joy and excitement I find in cooking

keeps me going till now.

Especially the high I get

when I experiment

and succeed in figuring out

how to make certain ideas work.

This is surf clam from Hokkaido.

But...

I'm not a businessman.

I'm a chef.

Anyway, please try the kinki fish.

This is kinki fish from Abashiri, Hokkaido.

Firstly, I have a fishmonger in Tokyo

who picks out the good fish for me

and ship it over.

Next, we use charcoal

from Tosa province in Japan.

Charcoal-grilling brings out

the delicious flavours and aroma

of the ingredients used

but I have to pay close attention to the grill

as the fire can be quite strong.

The last, and probably biggest

contributing factor is

my sincerity and my feelings towards food.

I want to serve my customers delicious food.

I hope to stay true to this intent

and hone my skills further

to better convey my passion to my customers.

Thank you.

The satay's done.

Our satay is done Hainanese style.

The outside is a bit charred

while the inside is still tender.

Kwong Satay has been around for decades

and we're skilled in controlling the fire.

We don't take our eyes off the fire.

It takes mere seconds for the meat to burn.

It takes patience and focus to grill satay.

Square. Yes...

We can grill more than 100 skewers at a time.

We sell about 1,000 skewers a day.

That doubles on weekends and public holidays.

Sometimes we can even sell up to

5,000 skewers in a day.

It's a skill.

It's not easy.

This is unique to Hainanese-style satay.

What time are you picking up your order?

Raw or grilled?

For raw, you have to order a day in advance.

Pork and chicken are 50 cents each.

Mutton and otah are 60 cents each.

When my ex-boss went into supplying

he asked if I wanted to take over the stall.

I've been doing this for more than 20 years.

My hands are all burnt and scarred from it.

It has been an arduous journey

but there's a sense of fulfilment

especially seeing how popular

Kwong Satay is in Singapore.

It's tiring, but we go on

because we want to keep

this taste of tradition and history alive.

We have customers

from as far as Australia and Shanghai

who crave for our satay

the moment they get off the plane.

My biggest satisfaction comes from

seeing how much our customers

enjoy our satay.

I'm not tired yet.

I can still carry on grilling satay

by the hot charcoal grill.

Hopefully, my son can bring

our local satay overseas

and keep our Singaporean heritage alive

for many generations to come.

That would make me very happy.

Thank you.