Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

How Beautiful Are They? Don’t this make you feel a little bit home sick (if you are oversea)?

The annual homecoming for the Mooncake Festival or more righteously known as Mid-Autumn Festival has always borne fruit in terms of discovering or rediscovering one-of-a-kind mooncake experience. The sheer fact that Ipoh is a treasure trove of nostalgic delights packed into small parcels in the nooks and corners of the laidback city makes it all so worthwhile to come back once a year; and surprise myself with new finds.

And no, I don’t fancy the commercial brands that are charging an arm and a leg for an ultra-sweetened, mass-manufactured, machine-made mooncake.

Call me old school, staunch/stubborn egoist or plain Motormouth, if you will. I love my mooncakes that come in irregular shapes; the paste not sweetened to an artificially insulin-deprived level, and packaging without the fancy golden thread or sparkling and glossy that justifies the MYR15++ per piece charge.

Okay, maybe sometimes. But when I have a choice, I revisit places like Ching Han Guan, Sin Eng Heong, Hoong Tho or Ming Yue Confectionery. Sounds alien to you? Read on. And find out about the delectable BBQ Meat Mooncake (also known as bak kwa or chu yuk korn). Read the rest of this entry »

Trays of freshly baked, flaky golden brown puffs filled with delightful ‘kaya’ (sweet coconut jam) from Sin Eng Heong on Clare Street (Jalan Mustapha al-Bakri) in Ipoh.

In a matter of days, Sin Eng Heong would be celebrating its 50 years in business. Yup, you’re not dreaming. It’s not 5, 10, 15 or 30 years anniversary. Half a century on, and the brand’s stronger than ever.

Not only that, they’re even expanding to the adjacent shoplot. If you’ve been there before, joining the snaking queue come weekends/public holidays (sometimes only to be turned away regrettably because the not-so-selfless one in front of you bought the last 50 pieces!), and survived to tell the tale, then you would have borne witness to their unparalleled popularity.

Modern technology? What technology?

Read on for more revealing shots of the stripped-down-to-its-finest-core manner of manufacturing/baking, and a revelation of this Ipoh’s legacy in the making.

Read the rest of this entry »

A Meat Floss Puff now? Something different from Sin Eng Heong for a change, in case of the legendary “Kaya Kok” (Kaya puff; a type of pastry filled with a smooth, creamy and sweet coconut and egg jam)

To imagine I started this post way early this morning, waking up early and more refreshed than the projected complete devastation of Motormouth’s spirit and soul after a weekend in the Klang Valley.

Today’s a public holiday in Selangor too, hence the whole day of rest. Can’t say I am pleased and fully adapted to the traffic in KL, and the general speedier pace of life.

For someone hailing from good old Ipoh, this is a very, very jarring difference …..

And yup, you read that right. This post took me a good 16 hours to complete. Not that I wrote a whale of a masterpiece. In fact, that is so far from the truth. Do read on for more incoherent nonsense from Motormouth, and the new creation from Sin Eng Heong; hands down one of the top confectionery in all of Ipoh. Frankly, how often do you see Yee Hup, or even Ching Han Guan crowded to the sidewalks?! Read the rest of this entry »

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 …. Read the rest of this entry »