Kueh Appreciation Day 2019
Kueh Appreciation Day celebrates Singapore’s rich and varied traditional sweet and savoury kuehs, as well as their makers. Expect an assortment of delicious kueh crafted by local artisans spanning many of Singapore’s communities: HarriAnns (Peranakan), Kuehs and Snacks (Teochew), Mary’s Kafe (Eurasian), Hainan Xiao Chi (Hainanese), Pang’s Hakka Delicacies (Hakka), and our new vendors for 2019, Deli Maslina (Malay, Halal), Julie Bakes (Malay, Halal), Chef Damian D’Silva (Eurasian) of Folklore and Poh Cheu Kitchen (Chinese).
A sell-out favourite at previous Kueh Appreciation Day editions, the unique Hainanese larp dumpling (sticky rice and pork cooked in woven coconut-leaf cases), will again make its appearance at the Hainan Xiao Chi booth. The making of larp will also be demonstrated at a class by Singapore Hainanese Clan Association members.
In addition to the food vendors, accessory and jewellery crafter ThePigBakesClay will be purveying her range of earrings, rings, ornaments, necklaces and keychains, charmingly shaped with colourful kueh and local food motifs.
Those eager to encounter rarely-seen kuehs and explore their stories and the intricacies of their making can make online bookings for three Kueh Demonstration Classes on Klook (www.klook.com), or purchase tickets at the door on the day itself (pending availability).
Led by heritage kueh exponents who have been invited by Slow Food (Singapore) to share their insights, the classes are priced at $40 per person per class:
10am–11am: CLASS 1 – Bolu Cocu (Eurasian coconut sponge cake) by Chef Damian d’Silva of Folklore
12pm–1pm: CLASS 2 – Kueh Rose (crispy fried sweet and savoury flower-shaped kueh) by food writer and cookbook author Christopher Tan
2pm–3pm: CLASS 3 – Hainanese Larp Weaving Demonstration by Madam Ho Soo Pong, representing the Hainan Hwee Guan
ENTRY & TICKETS
Entry is free to the general event and market to purchase kueh and lifestyle merchandise from the featured artisans. Tickets for the Kueh Demonstration Classes can be purchased online by the public, bookable at Klook (www.klook.com).
KUEH APPRECIATION DAY 2019 – ARTISAN VENDORS
Poh Cheu Kitchen (Chinese) – NEW – 127 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-230
Started in 1985 by husband-and-wife Neo Poh Cheu and Lim Kim Noi, with the goal of making the best ang ku kueh and soon kueh, the business moved to a couple of districts before finally settling in its current home in Bukit Merah. Their daughter Ang Eng Wah, joined the business when she felt her parents were getting along in years. Her son Jerome Ng, the third generation, joined Poh Cheu after university and is looking to use technology such as online platforms to improve his family’s business while still retaining the traditions that are the foundation. Poh Cheu started with six flavours of ang ku kueh – peanut, green bean, salted bean, yam, durian and coconut. They now have 12 flavours, adding red bean, black sesame, green tea, mango, pineapple and coffee. With three generations working together, Poh Cheu is confident of becoming a household name in kueh.
Deli Maslina (Malay, Halal) – NEW – 151 Bedok Reservoir Road, #01-1743
Since 1981, Deli Maslina has been well-known for its wide range of more than 50 traditional kuehs, snacks and cookies, such as kuih jongkong, kuih bakar, makmur, lapis, onde-onde, epok-epok and pineapple tarts. While some items are still available at its original location in Bedok North’s Mukmin coffee shop, its larger and now flagship branch is in Bedok Reservoir. For nearly four decades, Deli Maslina has been faithfully supplying Malay kueh devotees with their true-blue traditional recipes, especially for festive occasions such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Julie Bakes (Malay, Halal) – NEW – 14 Baghdad Street
Founded by Juliana Jahayer, Julie Bakes started out as a home-based business but can now be found nestled on Baghdad Street. Her kueh-flavoured cakes, other baked goodies and daily specials (which are often her mother’s heritage recipes, such as epok-epok and kuih talam) fly off the shelves – the stipulated operating hours are “while stocks last”. Julie’s fusion of Asian and Western flavours and techniques has proved popular with a growing group of fans. The ondeh-ondeh cake and ondeh-ondeh tarts are crowd favourites.
Chef Damian d’Silva (Eurasian-Peranakan) – NEW – Foiklore Restaurant, 700 Beach Road, Level 2
Of Eurasian-Peranakan parentage, Chef Damian D’Silva serves up ‘Singapore Heritage Cuisine’ at his restaurant Folklore, which he opened in 2017. Focusing on home-cooked flavours, time-honoured cooking techniques and kitchen wisdom from Eurasian, Peranakan, Chinese, Malay and Indian cuisines, he also creates dishes using signature flavours from all the above to appeal to a new generation of foodies, such as the sambal buah keluak fried rice.
Pang’s Hakka Delicacies (Hakka) 小彭客家菜, facebook.com/hakkapang
Being a Hakka and frustrated with the scarcity of traditional Hakka food in Singapore, Chef Pang Kok Keong – the established French-trained pastry chef behind the Antoinette patisserie – is determined to recreate recipes that will hopefully be passed down through the generations. He has been actively researching and testing recipes of traditional Hakka food for the past seven years. Chef Pang hopes that his small effort will go a long way towards preserving noteworthy Hakka culinary heritage. With a small menu such as abacus seeds, mee tai mak and mugwort kueh, this pet project has Fans order through the WhatsApp number on his Facebook page and collect their purchases in the alley behind his Antoinette cafe at 30 Penhas Road.
Mary’s Kafe (Eurasian) – 20 Bendemeer Road
At this very popular lunch spot, Mary Gomes, author of The Eurasian Cookbook, cooks up classic Eurasian cuisine, distinguished by a blend of Portuguese and South-East Asian influences with a long history. The set lunch – comprising rice and curry, vegetables, drink and dessert – changes every day, with different curries from Mary’s considerable repertoire on offer: ayam buah keluak, beef smoore, fish curry, curry debal and so on. Also highly recommended are sugee cake, pang suzie, pattie curry puffs, apom bekuah and chocolate cake.
HarriAnns Nonya Table (Peranakan) – 230 Victoria Street, #01-01A, Bugis Junction Towers
HarriAnns Nonya Table is a family-run café chain popular for its Peranakan delicacies crafted with precious family recipes. Founded in the 1940s as a humble push-cart run by Madam Chia Ngak Eng, the business moved a decade later into Tiong Bahru Food Centre, still run today by Madam Chia’s son, Harry, and his wife, Annie. Branches at Bugis Junction, Suntec City and Ocean Financial Centre are helmed by the third generation, Harry’s son, Alan, and his wife, Sharon. Popular items include kueh rainbow lapis, kueh sarlat, ondeh ondeh kueh dadar and chu bee png (glutinous rice with braised peanuts).
Hainan Xiao Chi (Hainanese) – 22 Toa Payoh Lorong 7, #01-35
A real social hub for the Hainanese community in and around Toa Payoh, this stall was started by the late Madam Yeoh Min Lin in the late 1970s to support her family. Now run by her son Simon Goh, it has become renowned for its yi buah – an quintessentially Hainanese kueh made from glutinous rice flour, shredded coconut, palm sugar, ginger, sesame and peanuts, wrapped in banana leaves and usually eaten at special occasions such as weddings and birthdays.
Kuehs and Snacks (Teochew) – 125 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-164 Alexandra Village C3 and Block 7 #01-84 Empress Road (Farrer Road market)
Specialising in Teochew kueh, Kuehs and Snacks are dedicated to making classic recipes the traditional way. Madam Chia Siew Ying, who came to Singapore from Amoy in China as a little girl, still rises early to begin hand-making her specialties along with her son Simon Goh and their family of helpers. The signatures include soon kueh filled with succulent bamboo shoots, chive-stuffed koo chye kueh, png kueh enclosing seasoned glutinous rice, as well as the rare Cikak kueh, whose skin has a unique aroma and taste from a Chinese herb that grows wild near rice paddies.
EVENT DETAILS
Kueh Appreciation Day 2019
Organiser: Slow Food (Singapore)
Date: 28 July 2019, Sunday
Time: 10am to 4pm
Venue: OUE Social Kitchen, Downtown Gallery, 6A Shenton Way #03-02/03, Singapore 068615 Price:
Free entry to the general event, kueh prices apply.
Kueh Demonstration Classes bookable on Klook (www.klook.com).