Rise…

I googled and found out that bangkit in Malay means rise and this is what we call kuih bangkit…

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If I am not wrong, it is made from sago flour and the quality of the flour is of vital importance in order to make really good ones. Those days when they used to make it at home, some might not be so white, sort of yellow or brown in colour and some might have a not-so-pleasant smell to it. Other than that, there is also the question of how much santan (coconut milk) is added, how thick and rich it is.

My missus bought these…

…at a supermarket here, made in Singapore and it was not expensive. However, I could hardly taste any of the much desired coconut fragrance in it, far from being anything like the real thing.

In my younger days, my mum and aunties and also my maternal grandma would make our own. We would all converge at my grandma’s house and all of them would work together to make the most delightful kuih bangkit. They would make the dough and use a brass mold to stamp out the flowers and I would help clip the “designs” on top using these brass pincers…

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…and once ready, they would be baked painstakingly to perfection in this brass oven…

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…over a hot charcoal fire with some of the embers placed on top of the thing as well. Of course, the connoisseurs would tell you that the ones these days, baked in an electric oven, would come nowhere near the ones that we used to enjoy so much a long long time ago.

A few years ago, I heard that the ones at the nyonya stall at one of the leading shopping malls in Kuching had very nice ones…

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I think the stall is still there though I have not heard of anyone dropping by to grab their Chinese New Year cookies lately so I do not know if they are still making them.

Meanwhile, here in Sibu, I stumbled upon these…

…very nice ones…

No, they did not make them themselves. I was told that they were only helping a friend out, selling them  for him or her.

No, they do not look quite like the ones we used to make…

– the shape of the flower mold is not the same and it does not have the clipped patterns on top either. Obviously, they have used a flower mold and that was it!

However, they are very nice. The moment you open the jar, the whiff of the rich santan fragrance will sweep you off your feet, definitely a lot nicer than the ones my missus bought from the supermarket and nicer than some that I have had, available here and there at any time of year. They do not come cheap though – RM22.00 a jar and if you buy 10 jars, you will get one free! Well, if you are interested, you can drop by the café where they have samples for you to try and you only need to buy only if you think it is really that good and value for money, no obligation whatsoever…but you’d better hurry before it runs out – they’re selling like hot cakes, so to speak. LOL!!!