KUCHING: After exploring the food business for quite a while, local food trader Zainal Bojet has chosen his niche.
With celebrity chef Ammar Ali as his idol, the 33-year-old Zainal has finally settled on selling mutton soup and has done so since the beginning of this year’s Ramadan month.
His culinary choice may have raised eyebrows, but he is intent on achieving success with it.
“I chose mutton soup because I am a hardcore fan of mutton dishes. Besides that, there is a lot of potential in selling mutton soup, especially in Kuching due to the high demand,” he told New Sarawak Tribune/Suara Sarawak today.
Apart from that, he said, not many traders sell mutton soup and most of them focus on other food businesses.
“I use to look for food stalls and premises selling mutton soup but it was a bit hard to find as not many people are selling it,” he added.
Zainal revealed that the mutton soup he sells has its speciality compared to others.
“In this cuisine, I use 11 types of spices that are mixed by me according to the proportions to produce a delicious mutton soup.
“This process takes four hours to ensure that the spices infiltrate into the meat so that it is tastier and different from the others,” he added.
According to Zainal, the price of the mutton soup is also sold at a reasonable price as low as RM10 per container.
“The response to mutton soup is very encouraging because most of the patrons are my regular customers from back when I was running the Arab rice business before this.
“Currently, I only run the business in my yard and have done so since the movement control order (MCO) was implemented last year,” he added.
Commenting on the method of promoting his mutton soup, Zainal said he used social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to introduce it to the public.
“I am grateful because the customers come not only from Kuching but also from Samarahan and Bau just to taste this mutton soup,” he said.
Zainal added that so far he has only focused on the mutton soup business although some customers have suggested that the set of dishes be sold with rice, bread and also mutton soup noodles.
“Thank God so far, my income is quite lucrative as I get to earn around RM500 to RM600 a day.
“My wife Sharifah Nazzura and I plan to maintain this business and take it to the next level while maintaining the original taste of our homemade mutton soup,” he added.
Zainal also hopes to open a shop that sells various soups in the future as well as fulfil customers’ wishes to enjoy the special mutton soup.
For customers who love to sample Zainal’s mutton soup, you are welcome to contact him at 016-859 3675 or visit Zainal Bojet’s Facebook page for any questions and reservations.
