Eastern Rice Dumplings

Eastern Rice Dumpling is a famous traditional dumpling maker who has thirty years of experience in this business. The unique feature lies in the distinct quality and taste of the dumplings that have established the brand reputation. Eastern Rice Dumpling is a third-generation business whose recipe has been passed down for about 30 years to date. Mr. Lim Cheng Hwee is currently the managing director that runs Eastern Rice Dumpling. Eastern Rice Dumpling started more than thirty years ago, in a kampong village in Katong, where Singaporeans of Peranakan heritage gathered. It was in this kampong spirit of camaraderie that Mr. Lim Cheng Hwee's grandmother learned the recipe for Singapore's own Nyonya rice dumpling from her Peranakan neighbors. Mr. Lim's grandmother then diligently instilled the importance of this tradition to her grandson, showing him the customary process of putting these delicious rice parcels together.

Mr. Lim, now Eastern Rice Dumpling's managing director, remembers his humble beginnings as a primary school student wrapping dumplings for at least one and a half hours early in the morning before packing off to school. This routine lasted right to the time he reached tertiary education, when he had to devote more time to his schoolwork. These wrapping sessions, which were regarded as a sacred family custom, left Mr. Lim with frequent cuts on his fingers, due to manual handling of the pandan leaves used to wrap the dumplings and steam burns from preparing the rice. Mr. Lim still managed to excel in his education, despite this busy schedule, and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. After graduating, he decided to use his educational training to the benefit of his family's business - Eastern Rice Dumpling.

Mr. Lim thus began innovatively improving the dumpling manufacturing process in this traditional, labor-intensive industry turning his business into a modern and efficient one. He designing most of the machinery used himself, Mr. Lim customized the equipment to suit the specific needs of various processes, enabling the implementation of a safe and efficient system to make traditional, tasty and at the same time, innovative dumplings. Eastern Rice Dumpling's main premise is situated at a shop house at Balestier, which remains its main outlet today and is now also offered by select grocery stores (e.g. Carrefour and select Cold Storage locations). Today Eastern Rice Dumpling produces a diverse range of rice dumplings to cater to its wide variety of loyal customers it has built in the last thirty years.