Published on 2020-08-14

The food and beverage industry was hit with unprecedented challenges throughout the first half of 2020. An article dated 22 June reports that no other industry apart from the FnB industry that has been as badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, in the first 2 months alone, 13000 restaurants had to be closed down.

However, despite such unfavourable circumstances, a Southeast Asian restaurant in Beijing had welcomed an unending trail of customers within its soft launch period alone. How did Kakikopi, situated at Xiaoyun Road, achieve its instant popularity?

A giant mural greets you as you step into this welcoming restaurant. The top part of the mural depicts the variety of herbs and spices central to Southeast Asian cuisine. The bottom left features an old Chinese man, representative of the Chinese diaspora in the 1920s, whom had focused fiercely on their jobs in Southeast Asia. This old man's job was to make coffee and toast; while he excelled in it, Kakikopi wanted to commemorate his passion and dedication. The bottom right is a realistic portrayal of the traditional coffee shop in Southeast Asia, a place for families to gather.

The couplets on the mural celebrates genuine relationships amidst simplicity, and this is aptly represented in Kakikopi's minimalistic decor. Their objective is simple, which is to preserve traditional Southeast Asian family recipes, their stories, and their heritage. Together with this, they hope to share their love for their culture with China

The mural at Kakikopi

While other Southeast Asian restaurants in Beijing focus on only one cuisine, Kakikopi boasts a plethora of Southeast Asian dishes, from Thailand's tomyum soup, to Sarawak's laksa, to the Filipino beef adobo. Coming here is akin to a satisfying food tour around these countries!

We observed the unending lines of patrons at Kakikopi, and wondered, what could be their secret?

"It should be within our sincerity, love and passion, which is seen through our ingredient selection and food preparation processes," says Jasmine Kho, founder of Kakikopi and also the MULU fame. "We are not just a restaurant, but a vessel for cultural heritage. Much of Southeast Asian cuisine contain Chinese roots, and today, we are just going back to our roots here in China. With this, we hope to achieve continuity of our rich cultural heritage."

Founder of Kakikopi Jasmine

Many Southeast Asian dishes involve laborious processes, some taking up to 20 hours of preparation. A fine example would be Kakikopi's signature dish, the Sarawak laksa, which is made from Jasmine's family recipe. This fiercely guarded recipe includes a savoury stock cooked for 5 hours, which contains chicken bones, prawn shells, together with 7 types of vegetables and ingredients. This stock is then met with 36 herbs and spices, a special laksa paste cooked for twelve hours, and simmered for another 2 hours to create a complex and sophisticated laksa broth. This laksa dish had won over many hearts at the 2019 Asian Food Festival, garnering much local and overseas media attention.

Sarawak Laksa

Many Southeast Asian dishes contain Chinese flavours, and after several generations, these dishes have developed their own unique flavours. Kakikopi thus seeks to celebrate these flavours and honour their heritage, with a homecoming in China.

---