A bite of the Sing Eng Heong kaya puff can put a smile on your face.
ALMOST anyone who emerges from Sin Eng Heong, a tiny biscuit shop on Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri in Ipoh, has some sort of a jubilant look on his or her face.
The satisfied looks are telltale signs that they have just successfully “secured” boxes of the shop’s much sought-after kaya puffs.
Crispy on the inside, yet the flaky pastry underneath crumbles as you bite into it – that is how some fans describe the bite-sized puffs.
Others swear by the generous amount of steaming hot homemade kaya that oozes out when you sink your teeth into it.
Hot off the oven: Ng Lian Pin removing a tray of freshly baked kaya puffs from the oven at his shop.
Sin Eng Heong owner Ng Lian Pin says the kaya puffs are made on demand to ensure freshness.
True enough, there is always a long line of people waiting at the shop for the 74-year-old biscuit maker to take them out of the oven.
And before there is time for the kaya puffs to cool down, they are already sold.
“Customers have to pre-order for weekends and holidays,” Ng cautions against any disappointments.
Ng had started out as an apprentice in biscuit and pastry making at the age of 16, learning the tricks of the trade from various “sifu” in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
“I didn’t go to school and didn’t have a job.
“That was in the 1950s and I’ve been baking biscuits and pastries since,” he says, modestly.
Ng also makes traditional wedding cakes, ham tan sou (lotus paste and salted egg yolk puffs), Hong Kong wife biscuits, heong peah, and variations of everyone’s favourite dragon ball biscuit.
Sin Eng Heong opens daily from 9am to 8pm but go early if you intend to get your hands on some kaya puffs.
To play safe, however, call 05-243 9659 to place orders.
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