Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels

Monday, April 21, 2014

YummY! - Nyonya Kueh Cakes @ Baba Charlie

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YummY! Jotaro's Food Review

NYONYA KUEH CAKES @ BABA CHARLIE

Malacca City, Malacca, Malaysia - April, 2014

We are down for some cycling in Malacca on invitation from Chris, a friend who is local to Malacca. On our first day we would be cycling from town to Tanjung Bidara, a beach resort about 40 km. from town.

Chris thought it would be a great idea to have a picnic lunch at the beach, so here we are at Baba Charlie to take-away some authentic Nyonya cakes (or in Malay called Nyonya Kueh) for our later beach fun.

Photo of my grandmother, Khoo Kooi Chiew & great-grandfather, Khoo Teng Khit (circa 1910)

I come from a Baba-Nyonya lineage and am thus rather passionate when it comes to its food. My grandmother Khoo Kooi Chiew was a grand old Nyonya lady steeped in traditional values, AND she made Nyonya Kueh to sell too! This makes me quite critical about the quality of Nyonya food, so do excuse me if I do pass some judgements of my own here.

Nyonya Kebayas on display at a shop in Malacca.

Malacca like its counter part George Town has been included into the UNESCO Heritage Sites listing. Both are on the cross-roads of early days trading, with Chinese, Thai, European, Indian & Malay culture coming in to blend through the centuries into a interesting pot-pourri. This included the influence on food, so from there we have Nyonya food part of which are the Nyonya Kueh.

Baba Charlie has a good and comprehensive range of Nyonya Kueh & cookies; from Pulut Tai-Tai (or some call Kaya Kueh), Kueh Buluh, Kueh Bengka Ubi Kayu, etc.

More types of kueh : Kueh Koci, Pulut Udang, Ang Koo ("red tortoises"), etc.

The shop operates on a deli-style concept, with much of the dry preparation work open for viewing by patrons. The more tedious work is behind the scene - such as steaming, preparation of rice dough, frying, etc.

Those boxes with roses are packages of Ang Koo, Nasi Kunyit (tumeric glutinious rice), red hard-boiled eggs for a baby's full moon celebration.

Workers busy with their work. The one on the left is packing Nasi Kunyit with some curry. On the right Another is packing up or-kueh (steamed yam cake).

This Nyonya auntie here is wrapping up Kueh Lapis. She reminds me so much of my grannie - warm, friendly and chatty.

Photos of some of the kueh follows; here is where I will get critical, my Baba fussiness rearing its head.

The Kueh Lapis or in Hokkien called Kau Chan Kueh (meaning nine-layer cake). These are made by steaming watery glutinous rice mix in alternating white and red layers.

1. The kueh of Malacca tends to be be more dark reddish (this applies to their Ang Koo also), whereas the Penang ones are lighter bright red.

2. The layers have to be about the same thickness; the ones here are almost there except for the bottom layer which is thicker.

3. There are only eight-layers here! My Grannie would definitely have kicked up a fuss.

4. These days the edges are straight cut. Back then the kueh is cut with a serrated knife, giving them wavy and beautiful edges.

Delicious looking Or Kueh or Steamed Yam (Taro) Cake. Looks good don't they? But a lot of hard work has gone into making them. First dried prawns are fired with some garlic and shallots. Then these are slowly stir fried in a kuali until the watery rice dough mix becomes thicker and sticky in constituency. The mix is then put into a tray and steamed until cooked; grounded ground-nuts, more fried prawns and shallots are added on top. Mmmmmm...mmm mouth watering!

Onde-onde being boiled, when cooked they will float up to the surface. These are made by moulding rice dough around a core of Gula Melaka. The green colour here seems to be from artificial dye instead of from the natural pandan leaf juice thus lacking in a bit of that strong pandan aroma and its slight bitter underlying taste. These ones are about an inch in diameter, whereas the Penang ones are smaller at about 1/2-inch in diameter.

The boiled glutinous balls are sieved out and covered with grated coconut flesh. Onde-onde should be eaten warmly fresh OR put them into the fridge to chill them down. Cold or warm they are nice.

A colorful blue-white mix Pulut Tai Tai. The glutinous rice was just nicely steamed so that they are not too soft, the blue colour seems to be too dark. I am not sure whether they are using the natural Butterfly Pea Flower as dye (which in that case would be a slightly lighter blue) or artificial colouring. The Kaya (egg jam) is another story, it's too watery.

The Pulut Udang is steamed glutinous rice infill with a mix of stir-fired grated coconut and prawns.

I love these, the infill had just the right amount of ground white paper to give it that spicy kick!

Our stash of Nyonya goodies for our picnic at Tanjung Bidara - Pulut Tai-Tai, Pulut Inti, Pulut Udang, Pineapple Jam Cookies and Dodol.

Nyonya Kueh may look simple but generally they are quite tedious to make, involving several stages of preparation - frying of ingedients, mixing of rice dough, moulding, steaming, etc.

Although the kueh from Baba Charlie is not as good as my Grannie's they are still one of the best around; authentic and YummY!

BABA CHARLIE AUTHENTIC NYONYA KUEH

Address: 72, Jalan Tengkera Pantai 2,

75200 Melaka, Malaysia.

Tel: 019-6662907 / 06-2847209 / 06-2842907

GPS : 2.203439, 102.231537

Hours: 9:30 am to 3:15 pm (Closed on Thursdays)

View BABA CHARLIE NYONYA CAKE LOCATION MAP in a larger map

Related Blogs:

Peranakan Bikers - Day 1 :19th April 2014

We are down in Malacca again, this time on a longer ride from the city to Tanjong Bidara.

Authentic Nyonya Food @ Moh Teng Pheow

Authentic Nyonya fare set in an interesting place; the kitchen! - George Town, Penang, Malaysia.

Raj Nyonya Kueh @ Fettes Park, Penang

Delicious Nyonya pastries from a simple road-side stall
Fettes Road , Penang, Malaysia

Fresh Onde-onde @ Kedai Aku & Dia

This bitey rice cakes, freshly & authentically made by a warm Nyonya really captured my heart - Malacca, Malaysia.

Peranakan Bike-Packers - Day 2 :14th November 2012

Second Day of a 3-day bike-packing adventure from KL to Malacca

Day 2 : Ride Around Malacca Town

Submarine Museum @ Malacca
Klebang Beach, Malacca : April 2014
Visiting this educational submarine museum rekindled my old salt of the sea spirit.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

YummY! - Tonkutsu Ramen @ Restaurant Torazou Ramen

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YummY! Jotaro's Food Review

TONKUTSU RAMEN @ RESTAURANT TORAZOU RAMEN

Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - April 2014.

I have a penchant for Japanese food, likewise I think many Malaysians like Japanese too. But for many the drawback is the high price of Japanese food in most places. So where can we get reasonably priced ones that don't burn a hole in our pocket? Where can we find cheap Japanese food?

One place I found is the Sukiya chain in Japan, and they have recently opened several outlets in Malaysia. Sukiya serves pretty good Gyudon (rice with sliced beef) dishes that are also halal. But these are mainly rice staple dishes, where can we get good & cheap ramen?

By some chance business dealing, I met two enterprising young men, Alvin & Jack. With some good experience in Japanese restaurants, they were going to head off on their own. They will be starting a ramen joint, called Torazou Ramen. Good for me!

So a while after they opened their place, I popped in to try out their fare. And I must say I have no regrets as I had very good ramen and some side-dishes without stretching my wallet.

The main dish was Tonkutsu Tan Tan Ramen. Tonkutsu ramen distinctiveness comes from it's soup that is cooked with pork cutlets or pork bones, as such the soup stock is slightly murky when compared to the straightforward ramen. But it is soup with a stronger flavour, one with a heady after-taste.

This one came with two slices of barbecued pork somewhat similar to char siew & some mince pork. Embellished were some bean sprouts, cut spring onions and chili oil. AND the ramen noodles are made by themselves everyday.

Unlike the regular ramen which normally has a wafer slice of meat, Tonkutsu ramen comes with large and relatively thick slices of meat.

Stirring the ingredients together, the chilli made the dish looks spicy red. I hope that the name Tonkutsu Tan Tan will not mean one mouth of this spiciness and it's Ta-ta to the ramen. Well, it was chilli hot, but only slightly. Nothing that we Malaysians can't handle. The soup as expected was good, so good that I slurp the whole bowl until not a drop was left.
The mince pork stirred well into the house-made ramen, making the bite alternating between chewy ramen and munchy pork interesting.

Now comes the kicker, the barbecued pork. Nicely done, the lean meat was tender and the sliver of fat on top, with it's slightly burnt surface, was ..... was oo-la-la!

To go with the ramen, we ordered Tamago eggs; I have tasted better, the yolk of these were not runny enough.

Er.... what shall I do then. Ok, let's plonk the egg into the ramen soup and hope it will be better. Some slight improvement there; if the yolk was runny then this meal would have been perfect.

One of side dishes we ordered were the Gyoza dumplings. Being use to the Chinese Wo Tip, I found this the filling a bit spartan. Still it was okay having that nice partly burnt skin, and the Japanese pickled ginger went well with it. At MYR 6-80 for five pieces, one can't really complain.

The Miso Eggplant came in a hot plate and topped up with some grounded nuts. As this is slightly salty, it should be eaten dipped into the ramen soup or with white rice.

A range of tea, soft drinks, etc. are available. But if you feel like going for something with a kick, there is Asahi beer and cold sake too.

Cosy seating at covered outside corridor which pedestrians may not use as there is an adjacent five-foot way.

Indoors, the seating has been arranged in a cordial arrangement, with an overall warm, cosy environment.

On one wall are light-box displaying colourful Manga-style cartoons.

Yes, they do really make their ramen themselves everyday. At a front, in a glaze partitioned corner, can be seen ramen making equipment. I can imagine them making the ramen on show to the passing public.

Our simple meal for two. Okay it was REALLY a simple meal, one bowl of Ramen shared by two - Lynn was a light eater.
Cost wise :
1. Tonkutsu Ta Ta Ramen = MYR 16-90
2. Tamago eggs = MYR 2-00
3. Gyoza dumplings Set = MYR 6-80
4. Miso Eggplant = MYR 5-80
5. Green Tea for two = MYR 4-00
Total = MYR 35-50
Cost per pax = MYR 17-75
Very reasonable for a meal for two.

The following are their menu (Note: pricing is at time of this blog) :