One thing I love about being Malaysia is the type of food we're exposed to, in particular the desserts. We do make them at home from time to time, but the amount of effort+time+energy put into it, it's not worth making a small batch.
So it was a real relief when we found a Malaysian eatery that sells Malaysian cakes, or kuih, in a few different ranges. Be quick though, they do sell fast as they are that delicious.
Buying these cakes always brings back memories from the good ol' days, when there were food stalls on the side of the road, quite a few in a row, and we'd pull over, explore what they have (with a bit of explanation from mum or the stall holders) and end up tasting/buying at least something from eat stall. What better way to bring together the different cultures in Malaysia as well as bring together the community.
Ok, back to the kuih in Thornleigh. The day that I went to visit, there were only a few options left, but my current favourite is available so I'm not complaining.
All three types on display
First up, we have Kuih Serimuka. The way to describe this would be to say a pandan flavoured custard set ontop of sweet glutinous rice. Does that sound appertising? You're probably wondering what pandan is too, well, it's a plant with long strap like leaves, long+wide+strong enough to make into bags and sort. The flavour is extracted to flavour rice, desserts, curries...well pretty much anything. To describe the flavour is actually quite hard, but it's delicious and possibly an acquired taste.
Side vision of Kuih Serimuka
The texture of this kuih is two toned as there's the softness of the custard ontop of the harder rice. There's a bit of chewing involved as the glutinous requires more chewy due to its slight stickiness. The pandan flavour is powerful (though could be stronger) but still allows for the slight coconut flavour to break through from the rice base.
Kuih Kosui is one that I haven't tried in such a long time, I've come close to forgetting what the taste is. But after biting into it, it doesn't actually bring back any memory so it makes me wonder if I've even eaten this before. Eitherways, the palm sugar sweetness of the kuih is cut short by the saltiness of the coconut sprinkled on top. It has a texture harder than jelly but still able to be easily sliced through by your teeth...I want to describe it as soft tendon but how many people eat tendon? I'm probably one of a few people who do still eat everything on an animal :) One or two bites and this baby's gone.
Kuih Kosui, it looks larger than it really is
Kuih Ang Koo has been one that's implanted into my memory from my childhood, the red flat blobs of sticky casing sitting ontop of a square banana leaf. This is just as good. A friend has mentioned of their peanut version, which wasn't available, but I'm not fussed as I'm used to the mung bean filling. Taking one bite of this reminded me of the sticky texture the rice flour has turned into, sticking to your throat if it's not chewed probably. The mung bean filling is slightly crumbly and it bitten on the wrong angle, the entire filling could fall out. This definately takes more than two bites.
Kuih Ang Koo: top section and the filling
Having just eaten one piece from each box, I sit there contemplating if I should have another piece. Knowing that there are other family members likely to eat it, I eat one more of Kuih serimuka and kuih kosui, savouring all the flavours and textures not knowing when I will be purchasing these next.
262 - 264 Pennant Hills Road
Cnr and entry via Bellevue St,
Thornleigh, NSW 2120
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