Story & Photo By: Helen Ong ~ a self-confessed foodie who loves to hunt down the best of Penang
I LOVE santan, that luscious, thick, creamy coconut milk that is brought forth when you squeeze freshly-grated coconut with a little bit of water, and which is used in one of Penang’s most famous products, nyonya kueh.
These salty-sweet local cakes, made with rice or glutinous rice (pulut) and santan, are scrumptious.
Anything else just doesn’t hack it – I’ve tried them made with evaporated milk, cream or even coconut water, but it’s just not the same. There are savoury versions, of course, but more about this another time.
Take one of the most famous and my personal favourite, kueh talam, made with ground glutinous rice flour tinted green with pandan juice, which also gives it that sweet, unique fragrance.
This is steamed with a white layer of ? yes, you’ve guessed it, santan. If well made, with just the right amounts of pandan and santan, the contrasting flavours of the sticky green sweet paste with the saltiness of the rich coconut is exquisite.
This kueh has an equally delicious alter ego – the Seri Muka, which has a green custard topping and white glutinous rice base.
There are many varieties: kueh kosih, glutinous rice paste steamed with a sweet, brown filling of grated coconut and gula Melaka, and its cousin kueh kosih santan, steamed with added white coconut cream, one of my all-time favourites but which, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be much available nowadays.
Then there is the familiar indigo-speckled pulut tai tai, traditionally coloured with the dried flowers of a local flower, bunga telang, and served with a good dollop of sweet, rich kaya.
Many others have names as exotic-sounding as their flavours: kueh ketayap, kueh ondeh ondeh, kueh abok abok, kueh lapis (our own colourful steamed version, not the Indonesian kind), pulut inti ? the list goes on.
These delicacies are perfect for any time of day or night, eaten on their own, with a cup of coffee or Chinese tea, at tea time or as dessert.
They also make great finger food at cocktail or drinks parties, served in bite-sized pieces. Cut in typical diamond shapes, their beautiful greens, reds and whites brighten up any dessert table.
So where does one go to buy good nyonya kueh? Unfortunately, most are no longer made by little old ladies with sangois (hair buns) to supplement their meagre income, then sold by the Indian kueh man.
Then, different stalls would sell their own versions, each tasty in their own way.
Nowadays, they are often mass-produced in factories and sent out to different stalls, so many tend to taste the same.
Another sad fact is that for hygiene and practical reasons, many come pre-wrapped in individual pieces, although there are still some who sell from the large round cake trays the kueh were steamed in.
Every morning, markets all over Penang come to life, and there will inevitably be a nyonya kueh seller about.
Pulau Tikus still has quite authentic ones sold by individual stalls, and I love exploring the goods on offer at the various stalls which line the lanes outside the market.
Tanjung Bungah Market also offers good pickings.
In the afternoons, there is a stall which sells good kueh in Batu Lancang Market, just off Green Lane, and another at the Padang near Dato’ Keramat.
I mentioned the Indian kueh man, unfortunately a dying breed, and so far I have only managed to uncover two.
It is no longer so labour-intensive as those days when they would lug about a sturdy pole laid across their shoulders, a basket hanging at either end, calling out, “Kuuuuwehhhhhhh” in a distinctive wail.
One sells in the afternoons outside Prima Tanjung opposite Island Plaza, where you can also have a bowl of laksa standing by the roadside, just like in the good old days.
The other is 61-year-old Pandi, who, as he proudly proclaims, has been selling kueh for 46 years, only recently moving to the One Corner Cafe in Swantow Lane at the back of Penang Plaza on Burmah Road, cycle, stall, charcoal brazier and all.
He serves his customers standing up, dispensing cakes and homemade laksa with equal aplomb.
“My kueh is made by a nyonya who has been making it for over 50 years,” he beamed, “I’m one of the very few original ones left selling it.”
Long may he continue to do so.
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