Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Gorgeously Golden; the buttery and fragrant Cempedak Cake from Hoong Tho in old town of Ipoh

If you’re an avid fan of Secret Recipe’s, JJ Cakes or Gold Vision, then you’re probably cursing under your breath now, or soon to be loading your ammunition and warming up your artillery in anticipation of bumping into Motormouth on the streets.

For what you’re about to read in this post won’t fit exactly into the mould, YOUR mould to be exact. We have a possible candidate for the one and only “Cempedak Cake” in Ipoh, a sweet Teochew biscuit named “Lar Pia” (or literally translated into WAX biscuit!) and a fluffy kaya puff that has already reached legendary status amongst the locals and tourists to Ipoh. Read on to find out ….

The immensely fragrant whiff of butter and fresh cempedak created a most tantalizing sensation to the palate; One could not help but fell into a trance-like state

Hoong Tho Restaurant in old town of Ipoh (read the previous review of various noodle dishes at Hoong Tho’s) is not only popular for their savoury dishes, but also bakes some mean and classic confectioneries. You can find traditional biscuits like “Lou Por Peng” (wife’s biscuits; a yellow or red pastry skin biscuits with red bean or lotus paste fillings usually used for weddings), “Hup Tou Soh” (a crumbly, and crispy walnut biscuits) and even a special type of Cempedak mooncake for the Mid-Autumn celebration.

Cempedak Cake for RM9.00/USD2.70 each; last for 3 days only in room temperature.

The Cempedak Cake from Hoong Tho is a perennial favourite of their strong following. Maybe not so well known amongst the younger generations, but ask your parents or grandparents and I’m sure they would have fond memories of dining at Hoong Tho back in those years, or even attended a wedding ceremony there!

The fluffy and buttery cake may not have the richness, or the smoothest of texture in comparison to most gourmet/designer cakes, machine-made creations, or commercialized varieties in the market.

No, no, no. At Hoong Tho, they believe in preserving the utmost importance of tradition. Everything made from scratch and painstakingly baked without preservatives. And using only the best and freshest of ingredients.

Cempedak Mooncake with red bean fillings (taken last year) from Hoong Tho.

That’s exactly why every bite of their Cempedak Cake reveals the coarse yet pleasantly soft texture of the cake. And the juicy pulps of fresh cempedak embedded within lent the cake with a much-revered zest to the cake.

Since they do not put preservatives in their cakes, the Cempedak cake can only lasts 3 days in room temperature; and must be kept in fridge thereafter.

And by the way, the Mooncake Festival/Mid-Autumn Festival is already beckoning, do look out for their annual creation of Cempedak Mooncake with Red bean fillings (read last year’s review) on the shelf. Something you should not miss out on, if you’re a fan of niche mooncake that is a diversion from the commercialized (and somewhat generic) lotus paste/red bean paste with egg yolk in the market.

Hoong Tho Restaurant
20, Jalan Bandar Timah,
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Tel No : 605-254 9673, or 6016-555 8858 (Yuen Chin Onn)
Closed on Tuesdays. Opens from 10am until 9.30pm.

This one’s called “Lar Pia” (with a nasal tone, please …) according to Mum. A Teochew style of mooncake with winter melon fillings.

Aside from Hoong Tho, Ching Han Guan Biscuit Shop (www) on Hugh Low Street is an alternative traditional confectionery with even more fantastic creations, since 1949! Sounds familiar? They are famous, sorry … DAMN famous for their Lotus Paste with Meat Floss biscuits (read the previous review HERE).

The sweet yet nutty Teochew mooncake tasted uncannily like a Lou Por Peng.

But there’s one other biscuit from Ching Han Guan that I actually wanted to introduce. But I stashed the old shots somewhere in the labyrinth that is my hard disk, and could not locate the pictures for the life of me. A mini-sized, fried pastry with smooth, creamy yam fillings within (Yam Paste Pearly Crust Mini Mooncake) The biscuit looks like miniature mooncakes, with a pale, white pastry.  But one bite into the biscuit and you’ll be drowned by ecstasy, lapping up the creamy mashed yam fillings within. Seriously.

CHING HAN GUAN BISCUIT MANUFACTURING CO (www.chg.my)
145, Jalan Sultan Iskandar,
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 605-254 5126.
Business hours : Mon-Sat (8.30am-6.30pm), Sun (9.00am-12.30pm)

A hop and a skip away from Ching Han Guan would be this extremely famous kaya puff producer; Sin Eng Heong. (Read my first post on them HERE)

Though nothing related to mooncakes for the coming festival, Sin Eng Heong kaya puff has always stay close to my heart.

Way back then, when they have yet to appear in TV shows, magazines and newspapers, we were already munching on the crispy, flaky kaya puff (incomparable, I tell you) from them, at only RM0.50 per piece.

Now, the price has gone up to RM0.70 per piece, the shop has gone slightly upmarket (with air-conditioning, and some bad publicity stemming from the poor service, it seemed), and they’re making many new fans as well as new biscuits to cater to the varied tastebuds.

Ask Tummythoz and you shall know why I was nicked Kaya Puff J back then!

I have seen queues snaking until the next door, or reaching the sidewalk spilling over to the streets! It’s mad, so please please remember to reserve your puffs if you’re from outstation and can’t bear the thought of losing out on the sweet pastries.

But no fret. Let’s say you really, really cannot get more than 5 or 10 pieces of the legendary puff to bring back to a family of 16. How then?!

Go for the other types of biscuits. They also bake a funny-sounding yet delicious “Siew Pah Wong“, a type of round biscuits the size of Penang’s tambun biscuits, with a filling of Pandan-flavoured lotus paste, and salted egg yolk. Or the Lou Por Peng, Hup Tou Soh, or even mini “Kai Dan Gou” (baked egg cakes).

Sin Eng Heong Foodstuff Manufacturers
No. 64, Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri (Clare Street)
30300 Ipoh, Perak.
Telephone : 05- 2439659, or 012-4534596 (Elaine).

HAPPY WEEKEND DEAR READERS, AND DO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW …