Penang Food Adventures - Malaysian Kuih

This is the final installment of the Penang food series. I have been posting multiple entries about Penang food with pictures taken from my not so recent trip back to Penang in July. I thought I better get on with and post these before my next trip back to Penang in January which would undoubtedly be dotted with more food excursions. More food excursions = more food entries :)

I do food entries here and there on this blog firstly because great memories are created over a good spread on a table. And since I'm away from Penang I like to be able to look back and remember the foods that I miss from home. A blog with pictures is a good fodder for that. Secondly its to sort of promote Penang food. I get random hits from people who are looking for locations of great tasting food in Penang and these posts could lead them to some of the best secrets of Penang. Thirdly, there are many others who like me are far away from home and reading a blog like this could be a way of sharing similar experiences, emotions or evoking memories about our 'old' home regardless if it was Penang or not.

So on to the post for today, Malaysian Kuih!

What is kuih? The simple definition - It's bite sized goodies that are usually sweet in nature although some are a mix of savoury and sweet. They could also be called Asian cakes or pastries and these are eaten throughout the day whenever one can get their hands on them in between meals.

Pictured here are deep fried goodies - The 'Ti Kuih' and 'Lek Tau Kuih'. 'Ti Kuih' is essentially a sandwich made out of a slice of Chinese steamed sugar cake with two slices of yam. The sandwich is then dipped in batter and deep fried. The 'Lek Tau Kuih' is green bean paste made into a patty and then deep fried. There are varieties sold with these goodies like banana and sweet potato as well.

Pictured here is the 'Che Koo Kuih'. This is a brother of the 'Ang Koo Kuih'. I say its the brother because the ingredients are exactly the same in both and the difference is only in the color. The 'Che Koo Kuih' is a tortoise shaped cake encased in a rice flour dough filled with sweet mung bean/green bean. This is often gifted to friends and family when a newborn is a month old as part of a celebration ritual done by the Chinese. These days you can buy it off shelves in certain bakeries or even street vendors. I bought this box at Eaton.

Pictured here is the 'Ang Kong Nga Piah'. I love this simple kuih. It is actually made out of the same ingredients used to make the skin of mooncakes. There is no filling in this one and it is how I like it. I love having it with just a cup of water and letting the mix of a biteful of the kuih plus water just melt on my tongue. This is my favourite kuih to have in front of a tv show.

Pictured above is the 'Kuih Talam'. This is simple two layer kuih, the top most layer is lightly salted coconut cream while the bottom layer is made out of sweet pea flour and pandan extract. The texture of this kuih is slightly gooey and gelatinous but the sweet and salty of both layers plays off each other very well and it is a lovely kuih to have on a hot afternoon.

Pictured above is the 'Ham Chim Peng'. It is a yeast dough filled with red bean paste and lightly fried in oil. This a good supper kuih to have. There is a stall selling these in the old section of Penang town. Business is very brisk, open at 7.30pm, sold out by 9pm. Directions are as such: Across the street from Prangin Mall is Jalan Pintal Tali. Turn down that road and keep going until you hit the junction of Campbell Street. The stall is on your left right before that junction.

This is 'Pak Tong Kuih'. It is simple steamed rice and sugar cake. Very light and delicious, perfect for a hot summer evening. Kids who have lost their appetite when sick are usually given a piece of this to trigger their appetites or at least as a substitute until they regain a healthy appetite for food. The same stall that sells 'Ham Chim Peng' mentioned above also sells this kuih. It does not run out as quickly and you can sometimes still get this at 9.30pm.

This here is the 'Tai Yong Pau'. This doesn't actually fall into the category of Kuih but more steamed Chinese Buns but heck, I'm not doing another entry just specifically for buns so I'm putting in a mention here. This is similar to lotus seed bun except this is mega sized with a hidden treasure in the center - that being a full salted egg yolk! Absolutely yum.... If you love salted egg yolk like me, you will love this. It is cholesterol hell but its tastebud heaven.

For more details on Malaysian kuih, go here.

If you reside in Sydney and want to place orders for some kuih, go to Makan at Alice's. They also serve lunch and dinner. The menu looks really good and this is now on my list of places to hit while visiting Sydney.

Thus ends my Penang food ramblings - till February ...

cheryl