I think I did mention in an earlier post that my missus tried her hand at making chai kueh…
She did not have any problem with the filling, largely made up of sengkuang/mangkuang (turnip/jicama) and carrot but her first attempt at making the skin failed. Thankfully, she tried again and it turned out really well. We sure enjoyed the fruit of her labour and I dare say that hers can give all those outside a run for their money. Unfortunately, she did not mince her words when she said that it was terribly work-intensive and she would never want to make them again.
It certainly looks like I would have no choice but to go back to that bakery again whenever we feel like eating chai kueh. Of course, it is easier said than done as it seems that they are always sold out! An ex-student/Facebook friend shared some photos of the rose-shaped ones (with meat) and was grumbling that they were in no way shaped like chai kueh as he would know them to be. I told him about the ones with hay bee (dried prawns)…
…and he went back the very next day to buy those. He mentioned in his Facebook page that he went after 8.00 a.m. and there were only two packs left.
That was why I decided to go early on Saturday morning, way before 8. The bakery was open but the counter was bare. They did not have any at the time. I went for a bite to eat and came back one more time. Much to my delight, I saw two plastic bags on the counter, one with 5 packs of the hay bee chai kueh and the other with 5 of the ones with meat. Of course I told the girl to give it ALL to me, RM50.00 altogether! The ones with hay bee are RM4.50 a pack and the ones with meat, RM5.50.
We had some that day and yes, it…
…was very nice and I kept the rest in Tupperware containers to store in the fridge so we can easily heat up and enjoy some other day.
No wonder they are all sold out so quickly. Obviously, the lady making them only sends over a limited number of packs. I was told that she does not send any on Sundays as the bakery opens late and opens for half a day only and on Wednesdays as well. That means you can only get them on Mondays and Tuesdays and on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
BIG THUMB BAKERY (2.293889, 111.826492) is located at No.71-73, Jalan Tuanku Osman.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Perhaps after reading this, she will not mind making more for you. 😀
Who? My missus? No lah!!! I can just go and buy, no need to make her suffer – such a lot of work.
They are generous with the fillings. Looks like they are using cabbage in their chai kuih. The tedious part of making chai kuih is in the preparation of the fillings, alot of cuttings to be done.
A mix of cabbage, mangkuang/sengkuang, carrot…and in the meat ones, salted vegetables too. I guess the one I picked to show the inside had more cabbage.
Ahhhh I miss this so much, only have one stall in PJ selling them at night.. can’t wait for MCO to be over.
As time goes by, good ones are getting fewer and fewer. The old ones are getting tired, the young ones are not interested in anything so tedious. I’m glad I stumbled upon this one. So far, I only know of one place selling reasonably good ones, not as nice but quite o.k.
The limited number of packets may be due to the tedious process of making chai kueh. LOL! Well, you got to sapu two plastic bags of it. So lucky.
Yes, still got in the fridge, enjoy slowly. Enough to buang gian for quite a while, no need to go back and buy that soon.
It must be hard work. I feel her. Tried hands on making baos. Not easy. I never make chai kueh but I believe all the preparation sure is lengthy.
A lot of work in preparing the filling – like making popiah filling…and making the skin sure is not easy…and after all that, you would have to wrap the chai kueh one by one, not easy too…so much easier with curry puff pastry.
Ya better buy than ask her make, so much work, since the chai kuehs you bought taste good too.
Yes, unless we cannot buy really good ones, then no choice, will have to make our own.
They look pretty good to me!
Yes, they are, just hard to buy owing to limited supply plus the shop is in a congested part of town, parking problem and all that.