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Tim Yap learns to wok

Published Aug 17, 2020 18:29 pm  |  Updated Aug 17, 2020 18:29 pm

The multi-hyphenate’s got a new hat—and it’s a toque.

Food is happiness, especially at a time like this. It doesn’t matter if it’s a need or a desire or a luxury. If it’s food, we’re happy—while dreaming it up, while waiting for it, while eating it, and while relishing the flavors left on our lips, in our mouths, in our memory.

And so now Tim Yap is into food, He’s always been into food, but now food is among the many hats he has on his head as a multi-media personality, eventologist, host, writer, etc. 

Enter Wok with Yap, his latest passion project, which took him a lot of time to get off the ground. It was supposed to have been launched early this year, but the pandemic happened. Not that he stopped. The kitchen stayed at work, but Tim had to change course and, partnering with Belo and Angkas, directed everything to the frontliners, delivering food to 20 hospitals.

But now Wok with Yap is open. The menu is a work in progress, so far with only eight dishes, what Tim calls “Healthy Bowls,” but all of them TDF, including Kani Mango with Brown Rice, Hainanese Chicken with Brown Rice, and Soy Ginger Tuna with Brown Rice (or,  you can substitute rice with adlai or quinoa). Others on the menu, while your mouth is watering, are Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Hummus and Tabbouleh Salad, Beef and Broccoli, and Spicy Salmon.

Here’s a quick exchange with Tim while he’s busy with first-day jitters in the kitchen.

What made you decide to go into food?

I’ve always loved good food. Ever since I was a kid I have been exposed to women and men who were amazing cooks. And I love to eat!  This lockdown gave me a chance to revisit all my favorite flavors from my childhood, travels, and experiments in taste.  Through it, Wok with Yap was born. 

Of all the things you have learned so far going into food, what was it that made you think, “I never knew this before?”

It made me realize that “it really takes a village.” And that Rome wasn’t built in a day. So I take it one day at a time. It feels like I am starting out again, because I totally am. And I love it! 

If there is only one dish you could order from the menu day after day until Covid is over, what would be it?

Our Hainanese chicken is the best. Because it’s flexible with the sauces and it’s a hearty and healthy dish, I don’t mind having it again and again, just like most of the dishes we are offering now. 

We were supposed to launch pre-Covid. Then Covid happened and we shifted our efforts to helping the frontliners.  But this project never stopped running because I really wanted to open a cloud restaurant of my own that would spread the gospel of good food in these crazy times.

You call them Healthy Bowls. How is health incorporated into the dishes? Are you a “healthy” eater?

Aside from the freshest and best ingredients in every bowl, you can choose your base whether brown rice, quinoa, or adlai. I try my best to be mindful of what I eat.

What is your favorite food? What food item are you trying to avoid? 

I really am partial to Asian food. I love dim sum and anything and everything spicy. I’m trying to avoid chips and diet soda. 

Who are your partners in the kitchen?

I worked with Chef Carlo Miguel on the flavors and did back and forth blind tasting with Javi Martinez to achieve what we are offering today. 

Eat to the good times! What is your message before meal for all of us in these Covid times?

Food is a blessing. With every bowl of Wok with Yap, imagine yourself at your happiest, healthiest, and heartiest. Wok this way, please!

Order your wok now from Grab Food or Foodpanda. Follow @wokwithyap on Instagram.

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