Tag: kueh

This Young S’porean Sells Traditional Nonya Kueh On Instagram Using His Ah Mah’s Recipes

Making Nonya Kueh is not a typical career path most Singaporean men would take fresh out of National Service.

Most of us would dream of being teachers, doctors, engineers but this 23 year old decided to take on a whole new challenge and sell Nonya Kueh using his Ah Mah’s recipes.

Meet Keith Su, a 23 year old whose love for kueh spurred him to take his fondness for pastries a step further – by making them from his kitchen and selling them on Instagram (@ahmahzingsg).

Exploring Traditional Food With Ah Mah

Operating out of his kitchen in his family flat in Ang Mo Kio, Keith started taking in orders in April 2018, selling nonya treats like Kueh Salat and Kueh Bingka Ubi via Ahmahzing‘s Instagram Account.

The name is a play on  the words ‘ah mah’ (meaning grandma, in hokkien) and ‘amazing’.

“I wanted a name that reflects the concept of heritage and tradition,” he shares. Which led him to to think about his grandparents and that his happiest childhood memories stem from being pampered by ah mah.

“While I was serving National Service, I spent my free time visiting public libraries and borrowing cookbooks,” he added.

He would study the recipes and experimented with them until he got it right.

“The Kueh Salat took me about four attempts before I actually got it right and when I did, the feeling of satisfaction was indescribable,” he quipped. His first successful attempt at making the technically-challenging Kueh Salat, spurred him on to try other recipes, building up his repertoire, one kueh at a time.

It wasn’t just the positive comments he received that spurred him on, it was his personal interest and love for kueh that motivated him to do better.

While most millennials would prefer a sugar-packed cupcake to a more traditional Ang Ku Kueh, Keith believes that kueh is something that we are all familiar or grew up with, and hence we will crave for it from time to time. It is this symbolic value about kueh that makes it more than just a commoditised product.

One of the best-tasting kueh in his arsenal would definitely be the Ang Ku Kueh. The chewy red skin is made from sweet potato which he boils and then mashes before adding coconut milk and oil to get that supple, chewy texture. Tucked within is generous filling of mung beans.

Keith also recently started selling Soon Kueh which took a lot of trial and error to get the right texture and thickness of the skin. He shared that the Soon Kueh requires a lot of effort from start to finish: from slicing the turnip into thin strips, to rolling out the dough and stuffing them into dumplings. Lots of attention to detail is required to ensure that the dumplings are not overstuffed or else they will split open while steaming.

Always on the adventure to explore other kinds of Kueh, Keith expressed that his current interest is in Teochew Kueh. He is also intrigued by the Hainanese Yi Buah, which is less commonly known. He also plans on doing more pop-ups and looking at more locations to set up shop. Who knows, Ahmahzing might just set up shop at a neighbourhood near you.

“Kueh is more than just a snack; it is part of our childhood and unique to our local culture,” he added.

I mean, let’s be real. Most of us would rather eat a real good Kueh Salat over a lemon meringue tart any day.

Interested in Keith’s homemade Nonya Kueh? Check out Ahmahzing’s Instagram page and maybe order a few for your Ah Mah to try!

Ahmahzing
Website

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(Header Image Source: @ahmahzingsg)

These Exotic Ang Ku Kuehs Are On A Kueh-st To Conquer Your ‘grams And Tastebuds

Before all the fad foods that exist today, there were good old traditional pastries like Ang Ku Kueh.

A traditionally red pastry consisting of a sticky, chewy skin, wrapped over a sweet filling, this kueh was a regular feature on the dining table when many of us were children.

Kueh Ho Jiak, which literally translates to ‘kueh nice to eat‘, hopes to bring the humble kueh to the ‘gram-loving, health-conscious generation by changing up its flavours and appearance.

Located in the CBD, at Tanjong Pagar Plaza Food Centre, every one of the kuehs here is handmade with love.

Think multi-toned kuehs in purple, brown, yellow, and black hues. These kuehs come in a variety of shapes: bear, Hello Kitty, flower, heart, and circle. This facelift feels fresh, while still pointing to the kueh’s traditional roots with the banana leaf at the base of each one!

A Fresh Spin On Kueh

While Ang Ku Kueh skins are traditionally made of glutinous rice flour, the skins of Kueh Ho Jiak’s Ang Ku Kuehs are made of 5 different varieties of sweet potatoes: Japanese sweet potatoes, Purple sweet potatoes, Jewel sweet potatoes, Hannah sweet potatoes, and Garnet sweet potatoes.

The different coloured sweet potatoes are also what give these kuehs their unique hues. No artificial colourings are used in the making of these little snacks!

Appearance aside, what lies within the skin is even more intriguing. Some of the more unusual flavours include durian ($1.60) and hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimp) ($1.60). Other flavours you’ll find are mung bean ($1.20), red bean ($1.20), peanut ($1.20), coconut ($1.20), and yam ($1.60).

While hae bee hiam Ang Ku Kueh may sound odd, don’t write it off without giving it a try! Spicy without being overly salty, this is likely to be a winner among those of you who love your savoury foods.

Generally, the kuehs here are less sweet than those you may be used to eating. While this threw us off at first, the more we had of it, the more we grew to like it! The skin of these kuehs is also softer than others we’ve tried – another thing we really like.

The crowd favourite here is the durian Ang Ku Kueh, so make sure to give that a try if they’re available when you stop by!

Made With Love

Everything at Kueh Ho Jiak is handmade with love.

In the evening, the people at Kueh Ho Jiak start making the kuehs. At around 1am, they start to steam them, and at 6am, the kuehs are delivered to the coffee shop to be sold. Some of the kuehs are brought to the store uncooked and are steamed fresh at the store once the previous batch is sold out.

Aside from Ang Ku Kuehs, some of the other things you must try while you’re here are the Bomb Puffs ($1.50) and the Ubi Kayu (cassava) ($2.20).

The Bomb Puff is the bomb. A curry puff with a crispy, fluffy pastry, its filling is chunky and very flavourful. Eating it, you can tell that the people at Kueh Ho Jiak have put a lot of effort into perfecting every element of the puff.

The Ubi Kayu here is delicious as well. Served with a fancy pair of toothpicks, these cassava balls are fragrant and so soft, they melt in your mouth!

A New Lease Of Life

Kueh Ho Jiak is all about inventing new recipes and giving traditional kuehs a new lease of life. A novel idea, these photogenic kuehs are sure to capture your heart and tastebuds!

Made with no preservatives, no pork, and no lard, you can even request for vegan versions to be made! Every kueh is made using healthy, fresh ingredients, so you can be sure you’re putting only good things into your body.

Looking to get your hands on these goodies? Place an order with Elizabeth at 9028 4359 because the kuehs here tend to sell out quite fast. While officially, Kueh Ho Jiak opens until 2pm, most days, it is closed by noon because it has run out of kuehs to sell!

Affordable, delicious, and so photogenic, you won’t regret trying these little treats!

Kueh Ho Jiak
Address: 6 Tanjong Pagar Road, #02-20 Tanjong Pagar Plaza Food Centre, Singapore 081006
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat: 7am – 2pm; Closed on Sun
Contact no.: 9028 4359
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