My girl said she would be o.k. with our meat-free Sarawak laksa…
…for lunch the other day, Friday so at the break of dawn, I went to the neighbourhood shop in the next lane to buy some of the ingredients that I needed. While I was there, I decided to pick up a few items for our breakfast.
I bought these kuih lenggang…
…three in a packet. That is the name we have always known it by, going all the way back to our childhood days. I don’t know if it is called thus in our family only or that is the name among the Sarawak Malays. In West Malaysia, they call it kuih ketayap, dadar gulong in Indonesia.
My late mum used to make her own all throughout my growing up years and unlike the ones sold outside, she never cooked the grated coconut filling with gula Melaka (palm sugar) and for sentimental reasons, we prefer it this way – plain/white with a sprinkling of sugar…
They used to make really good ones at another place here but I heard they are no longer doing it there. This one isn’t quite there – the skin is a bit too thick and rubbery and they are not very generous with the filling. Ah well! Beggars can’t be choosers – at least, we can still get one that is decently o.k. here at this point in time.
The same would apply to the yew chang koi…
…that I also bought that morning.
In our younger days, everytime when we went to see a movie at the Lido Cinema…
…now a hotel after they rebuilt it when it was destroyed in a fire, we would go to that tricycle stall by the side and enjoy this at only 10 sen a bowl. They steamed them in those small enamel bowls and when we asked for one, they would cut squares in it using a bamboo spatula like we were going to play tic-tac-toe, pour the lovely sauce all over it…
…and hand it over to us to enjoy.
To me, this is something like our Foochow version of chee cheong fun and just like chee cheong fun, the texture must be right. Unfortunately, this one that I bought was at best around 80% only, not quite there but just as in the case of the kuih lenggang, we should be thankful we can still manage to buy some to enjoy. They had very nice ones at the pasar malam here and I did stumble upon the brother or somebody doing it at a coffee shop in town. I don’t know if they still have them at those places but during these troubled times when I am not all that keen on venturing out and going here and there, I would happily settle for what is not too bad though not the best.
My missus asked my girl to try it that morning but no, she did not think it was anything she would want to eat again – she would very much prefer some very nice chee cheong fun instead, she said…and she was not really into those kuih lenggang either. Sighhh!!!
SWEE HUNG (2.316161, 111.840441) is located along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right – next to a hair salon at the extreme end…and on the other end, to the left is the Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
You are right. Need to be grateful to be able to savour the various kind of delicacies. So perhaps you can let them know how to improve. They need your feedback. 🙂
I suppose generally people are not as fussy as I am – these are homemade, placed at the shop for sale. Dunno who makes them, sold out in no time at all! For one thing, they’re not easy to come by, the yew chang koi especially – hardly anybody else selling!
For me, having laksa the most important thing is the laksa broth, not so much about the ingredients. I don’t mind having meat-free laksa as long as the laksa broth is nice. Kuih lenggang is one of my favourite and I don’t remember having those in white/plain coconut fillings. Mostly sold are coconut with gula Melaka fillings at the kuih stalls.
Yes, even on days when we do eat meat, we will not bother about the shredded chicken and will just go without it in our Sarawak laksa. My girl just wants the egg…and the tofu puff, typical Sibu style.
Yes, that is why I cherish this kuih lenggang, even though it is not that great – no others have plain filling, all with gula Melaka so not like how my mum made hers when I was growing up.
There was a time that after eating kuih ketayap for the first time, I was obsessed with it. LOL! I have not eaten it in a while and I am sure I would enjoy it again but won’t go crazy over it.
Ya, not my favourite Malay kuih but I will buy and eat sometimes. I love serimuka, extra lemak…onde onde that squirts…so many nice Malay kuihs.
I am always happy to eat meat-free. There is such much diversity in the plant world.
Not me. I would like a balance of both, can’t imagine turning vegetarian.
I love those kuih lenggang but the ones I tried were brown inside because they use brown or palm sugar, is that the same thing?
Yes, one and the same. Usually it is brown with the palm sugar – what’s important is the skin, must be very nicely done. This one is a little too thick. We like the white coconut filling for old times’ sake – my mum made hers that way.