Thursday, October 09, 2008
Chop Kian Lai Seng
Its been ages since I've been back to my good'ol hometown, Batu Pahat. As we drive down the familiar North-South expressway from KL, exiting at Pagoh, cruising along the windy trunk roads, palm oil estates lining up on either side of the road, passing thru towns so small that you've passed it before you say town!
It's always nice to be back home.....
Usually we'll make a quick stop at Yong Sheng to get a batch of their soft-filled biscuits, or what we call "kiam piah". They used to have it in the traditional rolled up white slightly waxed paper and a pinkish reddish paper with black wordings, the nice authentic style. Now with the upmarket branding, the old-style packaging is also right out the window.
So imagine my delight when we found this one nicely spruced up shop nicely tucked within some rows of old shops in old BP. Chop Kian Lai Seng. Even the name also so authentic. Zhun man!!
So imagine my delight when we found this one nicely spruced up shop nicely tucked within some rows of old shops in old BP. Chop Kian Lai Seng. Even the name also so authentic. Zhun man!!
Well, what you see is what you get. Clean, unpretentious, simple and delicious ''kiam piah''. Rolled in white wax paper and the familiar pinkish red little paper stating what it is. Just the way I like it =>
The ''kiam piah'' comes in packets of five for RM2.20. We found some just out of the oven ones still being cooled down at the back of the shopfront. The owner said, fresh tastes the best but advise to get the packed ones if we're keeping them for later coz the fresh ones are still moist and may spoil the taste if packed without proper cooling down. Simple yet thoughtful little things to make the best of his products.
Those baskets at the top are the old-styled biscuit baskets used in earlier days by the Chinese during wedding to carry wedding biscuits or ''hei peng'' by the groom's side to the bride's family as part of dowry. The owner said these baskets have been in his family since his grandfather and his great-grandfather started this shop many years back.....
Google Chop Kian Lai Seng and no entries matched. A name not etched into this interconnected web of information. How original is that. And I've just screwed it up. As usual.
END.
