In my growing up years at No. 96, Race Course Road at Simpang Tiga here, there was an old lady named Rek’sah (not sure if that is the correct spelling) from the kampung (village). Some days, in the afternoon, she would drop by our house, carrying two huge NESPRAY tins of kuih bahulu, the Malay version of the Chinese kay nerng kor (egg cake)…
…but of course, I would not say they are exactly the same…and my mum would always buy from her for us to enjoy for our afternoon tea.
I think it was in 1980 that we moved away and I never saw nor heard of her since and I don’t remember ever coming across any kuih bahulu again until 2008, I think, when I saw them selling those at TESCO in Sungai Petani. Of course I wasted no time in grabbing a tub and carting it all the way back to Sibu. I gave some to my mum, already bedridden by then, to enjoy and she was so happy to get to eat it again after all these years. Of course, we thought those were not as nice as Rek’sah‘s and hers came in different shapes – I remember there were some in the shape of a fish. Ah well! As they say, beggars can’t be choosers.
In 2014, I was in Bintulu to attend my niece’s wedding and I dropped by the Ramadan Bazaar there. Much to my delight, I saw these kuih bahulu…
…and needless to say, I just had to buy a tub home. Yes, I did share some with my mum again and yes, she enjoyed them too.
I have not seen anybody selling kuih bahulu here and I, for one, used to drop by the stalls in the kampung, those days before the pandemic, never mind nice or not nice. That is why we are quite happy to settle for these…
…from that Johor company that produces those halal mooncakes every year as they are quite nice and considering that we do not have any other choice.
My girl enjoys them very much and on days when she does not have much of an appetite, she would just have two of those for breakfast…
…and that is it! No, she is not like the father and does not have a voracious appetite like him, any time of day. LOL!!!
These kuih bahulu are very soft and the texture is real fine…
…unlike those in the past when everything was done by hand, not machines. I remember helping my mum to beat the batter for her cakes using that spring-like thing that went up and down like a pogo stick.
Of course, the taste is different too as these have a hint of the honey in them but on the whole, I would say, they’re not bad and RM5.00 for a tub of 20, 25 sen each, is quite affordable. They do have other options as well, some kind of muffins but my girl said she did try once and no, she did not think they were any good. I guess this is pretty obvious because everytime fresh stocks arrive, the kuih bahulu will be gone in no time at all while the muffins will be there day in and day out right up to the next round of deliveries.
For one thing, they last a long time…
…unlike some of the locally-made buns and cakes, so there is no hurry to finish all of them at one go whenever we buy a tub and bring it home.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Ohhh I miss those ones, they are really good freshly baked, I can definitely devour a lot of that
Yes, I used to enjoy these too but now I’m on a low sugar diet so I just buy for my girl…mostly.
Yes, I remember as kid I love those kuih bahulu and till this very day I still love it. I used to buy the locally made ones from the kuih stalls at Stutong Market and ever since the outbreak of cases at the market, I seldom venture there anymore. I have seen this packed kuih bahulu at the Supermarket where I used to get my groceries but never buy to try. Your girl is such a small eater. Jaga badan..? 😊😊
No, she does not eat as much but may eat a lot of what she likes and yet does not put on weight, so blessed. Iprefer those made by the Malays – these are nice but too fine for my liking.
I’ve never seen them at the Malay stalls here and anyway, with the pandemic – you see how the lockdowns involve all the rumahs and the kampungs, I wouldn’t want to venture anywhere near those places!
I am not fond of kuih bahulu because they tend to be on the dry side though they taste and smell lovely. Back in Terenganu when I was a child, I used to love “kay nui kuih” which looks like kuih bahulu except that it is much bigger and fluffier.
Yes, we have those here too, the Chinese “kay nerng kor” – I do buy those quite often and just like everything else, we must know where to go for the good ones.
They’re almost the same but I think the old school kuih bahulu is a bit kasar, not so fine in texture. I do enjoy them both.
Surprisingly, my girl will eat kuih bahulu but I don’t think I’ve seen her going for the kay nerng kor all that much. Don’t know why.
So glad you found them and your mom got to enjoy kuih bahulu.
Happy Wednesday, STP.
Yes, we enjoyed them so much in my growing up years.
A Happy Wednesday to you too, thanks for dropping by and commenting.
I only like kuih bahulu when they are freshly baked, soft and spongy. They become dry every fast, so have to finish fast. I prefer the Chinese type of “kay nerng kor”. Nice to eat with black coffee. Yums!
Do they? I never realise that they go dry so fast. I like both as long as there is a strong egg taste – that, I feel, is the main draw.
Oh I don’t think we have kay nerng kor (photo 1).
But we do have kuih bahulu, I think the conventional shape is more like oval not round.
I could be wrong, haven’t had these kuih for ages.
>Protestant chapel?
Yes, Fitzrovia Chapel was a high churh of Church of England.
But it was deconsecrated many years ago, so it’s mainly being used as a music/ art/ event hall now.
Oh, ok! Thanks for the info.
Dunno if this is a Foochow thing, the kay nerng kor or what we call lung ngor in the dialect. My Kuching friends’ mum made her own using the brass chuan (mold), all kinds of shapes including fish, but those were like kuih bahulu, not like our lung ngor.
I have fond memories of returning home from school and mum having a snack ready for us.
East, west, mum’s the best! Never failed to get all the meals day in and day out ready on the dot and there was always something for morning or afternoon tea!