KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Depending on which part of the city you’re located, different food items appear more often as community favourites.
Around the Ampang area, the Teochew chai kuih is much loved for a light breakfast or even just as an afternoon snack.
This shop located near to the famed Jia Li Mian Noodle House in Pandan Jaya is a wonderland for all kinds of snacks, light bites and even frozen food.
It’s mainly a takeaway joint but a few seats at the back can curb your snack cravings immediately.
Many come here for the chai kuih – steaming away in an enormous steamer fronting the shop – said to be made in-house.
Four different flavours – yam bean, pumpkin, chives, taro – can be selected for RM1.20 per piece.
Each plump morsel is wrapped in a translucent skin, pinched in the middle to resemble a leaf-like shape.
The skin is thin, slightly stretchy but doesn’t break easily as you use your chopsticks to daintily pick up a piece.
Each maker has their own proprietary recipe to create that all important skin, which needs to be resilient yet not too thick to upset the ratio of skin to filling, affecting your mouthfeel.
This version also feels healthier as it’s not slick with oil, as some kuih makers use oil to allow inexperienced hands to handle the whisper thin skin easily.
The generous fillings do not disappoint too, each flavour catering to different preferences, from savoury to sweet, or soft to slightly crunchy.
Traditionally, it’s yam bean and this version is slightly sweet with soft-crunchy textures mingled together.
Softer fillings are the ones with pumpkin and taro, with a creamier mouthfeel for the sweet pumpkin and a fluffier bite for the cooked taro that has a hint of savouriness.
Gleaming a vibrant jade green, the Chinese chives with dried prawns has a strong flavour of onion and garlic, a trademark of this vegetable.
It comes with an orange coloured chilli sauce. complementing the chai kuih with a zingy flavour rather than heat.
Here, the snack game gets better with their homemade tong sui, six varieties prepped daily.
Bubur Cha Cha was my pick, since it’s pretty scarce on menus and this version is heavy on the ingredients, especially the soft chunks of purple and orange sweet potatoes.
The purple hued coconut milk was light and easy to drink with the chewy mochi too.
Other picks I decided to takeaway were their super thick Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert and the heat busting Ginkgo Barley, essential for these hot days.
The tong sui is priced at RM3.80 for a small portion.
On the cards here, expect homemade simple meals, assorted kuih from Aroma Nyonya, baked goods and packed food like nasi lemak Pulau Ketam and mee Siam.
Try their Tomyam Fried Beehoon, lightly fragrant with torch ginger flower and chillies, fried with vegetables and omelette strips. Options to add a fried egg or fried chicken are also available.
For the nasi lemak Pulau Ketam (RM3.70), it’s pretty plain with just a small portion of their trademark tiny prawns and spicy sambal.
Go for the hefty Yam Cake (RM5) topped with fragrant fried dried prawns and fried shallots for a more substantial snack, paired with the same zingy chilli sauce used for chai kuih.
Apparently the Kaya Kok (RM5) is a crowd favourite, as seen by this lady who took away at least three boxes of the pastry with her!
The golden flaky pastry is half filled with thick pandan kaya, making it a good snack on the go.
A chicken version for RM7 is also available but less sought after.
Orders can also be made via WhatsApp to book the chai kuih and if you want the convenience of dining at home or the office, you will need to arrange for delivery yourself.
Si Xiang Restaurant,
No. 33, Jalan Pandan Jaya 2/2,
Pandan Jaya, Kuala Lumpur.
Open: 8am to 4pm. Closed every second Tuesday of the month.
Tel:016-4012729
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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