It is never easy to agree on food; sometimes one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Simply put – what’s tasty is truly subjective. Everyone has their preferences and there is no one right answer. That said, one can’t deny a delectable meal especially when it becomes the talk of the town. Are you interested in an unconventional fare? Would you care for a private dining experience? Would you be interested in checking out the deco of someone’s house as you dine? Are you looking forward to sinful looking tomahawk’s, sirloin’s and ribeye’s served right in front of you? If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions above, look no further.
We bring to you The Smok Hous where steaks are prepared for an average of between 2 – 3 hours. With that amount of time of preparation, the outcome can only be more than satisfying. A meal so good, your stomach and heart will remain full for a long time. A meal so worth remembering. A start up once patronised by family members and friends, The Smok Hous has expanded and started preparing meals for strangers, repeat customers and basically anyone who wishes to enjoy a home dining experience. When it comes to culinary and dining, nothing beats passion.
I had a chance to speak to Isrudy Shaik of “The Smok Hous”.
Can we get an introduction of yourself?
Hi, I’m Isrudy Shaik, half of The Smok Hous. The other half’s more of a behind the scenes
kind of person, hence I’m fielding this interview with you guys. My profession is actually in the arts industry, I’m a husband and a father of three kids, loves bicycles and I’m quite the handyman (i think). Oh, and I’m a sociable guy, some say, hahahahahaha!
What inspired you to start The Smok Hous?
I love daging (meat).
Well, it’s a combination of various experiences actually that brought us to this point. For me, it was the experience of being able to live abroad for a short stint and finding yourself hanging out at a butcher shop as the owner indulges you in the pleasures of the meat. Being able to experience good steaks in different places and then coming home to find that it’s quite hard to get a good halal steak here in SG if one were to rewind a few years back. These days there are quite a few halal outlets with good steak but we wanted to create a different experience. Me and my Smok Hous counterpart started it as a hobby by barbecuing for our friends and then slowly it evolved to the low & slow style (or smoking if you may) that we’re currently using at The Smok Hous. So one barbecue day our friends were telling us that we should ‘sell this shit because it tastes crazy!’. So here we are today four months from where we officially kicked off.
Have you ever had FNB background?
Does the home kitchen count?
Where did you obtain the knowledge of preparing steaks?
The University of Internet. Seriously, you can find knowledge on almost anything out there these days, It’s just scary. Just ask my kids! If I said through the experience it’s going to sound cliche. But seriously, learning from various sources, seeing, tasting, practising, smelling, making lots of mistakes and learning from I then replay everything again. I think that’s the key to perfecting anything, not just steak. OMG, do I sound like some published CEO?!
You chose to smoke the steaks. It’s a time consuming process with much
hassle. Why this method?
Like I mentioned before, we wanted to create a different experience for our customers. Yes, it is time-consuming and you have to be passionate about smoking to really do it daily. For us, smoked meat produces a different experience, a different stake. It’s not like it’s better than other methods, it’s just different, it’s the way we like it and it’s what we want to share with our customers. Like they say, “all good things come to those who wait”. Damn! Another cliche.
Definition of a good steak?
Full Blood Wagyu, MS9 or higher. Haha, that’s just for me when I feel like indulging. A definition of a good steak for me is knowing the right cut of meat that you prefer and cooking it to your desired finish with the right seasoning. So in my case, medium-rare with quality salt and pepper, almost butter soft as you slice it (MS9 or higher of course), burgundy brownish outer with a pink centre as you cut it up and giving you that wonderful meaty texture and juiciness experience in your mouth. But everyone has their definition of a good steak so who am I to say. Try our smoked meat and our definition of a good steak why don’t you?
The private dining idea is not something new but might not be ideal in our culture
here, what made you chose this concept?
Well you’re right, it might not be that ideal in our culture but us being us, why not try it, who knows, nothing to lose and everything to learn from. There are quite a few successful ones out there but they’re not halal owned so we thought, why not give our community that experience too?! So I think you can tell by now that we’re testing out a few concepts or ideas on what makes a good steak and private dining. Who knows, maybe private dining is not sustainable in the future and take-outs are more popular, we may then have to think of a central kitchen. I might give up my day job if we need a central kitchen then but on the bright side, you get to taste smoked meat daily.
Does your neighbours always get hungry smelling the aroma of cooked steaks? Lol
Oh yes of course, so we have to constantly bribe them to keep them happy.
Have you ever got a bad review on your cooking from your customers?
Yes, thankfully not the really bad ones (fingers crossed). Though we are open to receiving our customers honest feedback. It keeps us honest and focused on the steak and sides that we’re serving them. It lets us evolve our cooking so that our customers dine on quality food.
Tell us how one can appreciate a good steak?
Don’t eat the whole day (a.k.a Ramadhan). You’ll appreciate any food. Hahahahaha
Try it without sauces, honour the chef, taste the meat with that little hint of salt and pepper. Still not satisfied? Okay, drown it in your favourite sauce now. Another tip is to let your steak rest after cooking it, give it about 5-10mins to sit on the plate. This allows the juices within to flow back into the rest of the steak from the centre as it slowly cools down. Oh, and the fats, don’t trim it all away, make sure you have a bit on each bite, that’s where the extra flavour is. You’re not gonna get choked arteries from some fats, it’s not like you’re eating a dosage of fats daily. Are you?! (Disclaimer, just a figure of speech, fat consumption for each individual is subjective. Please seek your friendly neighbourhood doctor for advice.)
Lastly, any shout outs?
Give our smoked meat a try if you haven’t. What’s to lose, just a few dollars maybe but your bellies will be full. Oh and do let us know if you think we should be smoking meats for your pleasure daily, like during this Circuit Breaker period. Maybe we might just do it full time instead of just the regular weekends.
All photographs by Isrudy Shaik.
For enquiries, click on this link to contact The Smok Hous.
Interviewed by Ogy One Kenobi
SUAVE CARTEL MEDIA Original Series “INDULGENCE”
suavecartelmedia.com 