Originally Posted by
FlyerEC
StuckInYYZ , our young friends are in the “ food industry “ but not the ones making the ang ku kueh ( red tortoise cakes - a mish mash of Hokkien & Malay which is common in Singapore as well as Malaysia ) .
Her family are the ones behind the famous Pontian noodles ( as others especially Malaysians tell me ) and he is a chef . Currently assisting in a patisserie in a company ‘ s stable of eateries . This is while waiting for an iconic East Coast / Joo Chiat Peranakan area coffee shop to reopen and where he will be a manager .
Years ago , ang ku kueh were all red & had similar tortoise shapes , perhaps slight variation to denote the different fillings like bean paste , shredded coconut or crushed peanuts . About a decade or so ago , a greater choice of fillings was introduced hence more colours needed to differentiate the type of filling .
I think maybe you should give a shout out for your friend's coffee shop. When I go to Singapore, I'm usually staying in that area (have relatives there...) and wouldn't mind stopping by... I've been watching too many food vlogs so building up a large list of places I want to visit assuming they're still around.
When I was a young'un, all the ang ku kueh would be red and be laid out on a square banana leaf with crushed peanuts inside. But definitely looking at some of the more odd flavours now. It has given me some ideas. Just wish I had the time to action them.
Originally Posted by
FlyerEC
Good that you chimed in , quirrow . Saves me some ..
On another post , my cousin ‘ s now closed cafe in Melaka was mentioned . Their family used to fry their ang ku kueh and that was the first time encountering this version which is quite delicious as is crispy on the outside so not “ gooey “ & the insides melts in your mouth .
I've ran into fried ang ku kueh before... not often (and I've never done it myself). But I guess it depends on how you do the frying. It should be similar to sweet nian gao... personally I would probably take one, give it an egg wash and then put it on an oiled frying pan... give it two or three minutes a side to heat the insides (longer if coming from a fridge) and crisp up the egg and then serve. If you want to get fancy, while it's "frying", sprinkle some shredded coconut on top. Depending on the companionship and time, if you have some ma tie gao (type of steamed cake done with water chestnuts) done similarly, that'd be a good lighter accompaniment.