ISO Kueh Kueh (Southeast Asian Sweets)

[GaijinGirl]

I'm in search of some good Kueh Kueh in NYC (like Onde-Onde and such) - I know Chinatown pretty well, but can't find anything in the Malaysian/Indonesian vein other than restaurant fare (some Pilut Hitam, but that's about it.) Can anyone advise? Thanks! --Janet

(Sorry if this came through twice - the first post didn't seem to take.)

[Laksa]

I, too, would be interested in the replies to this question.

I remember dining at a Malaysian restaurant in Manhattan Chinatown, whose name I have forgotten, but I think it had a green and white sign and not too far from Grand St subway station, that had some kuih you could take-out. I had some deep fried crispy shrimp kuih and I think they also had panggang and angku kuih among their small selection. Don't remember if they had ondeh ondeh. Would kill for some ondeh ondeh, kuih salat, pulut inti and panggang right now. Oh man!

Until I get my fix, I'll just have to salivate over these pictures of kuih-muih.

[Laksa]

The resident eGullet NY forum expert on all things Malaysian, Pan, is on vacation, I think. I hope he can give us some useful information when he gets back.

[phaelon56]

Pan will definitely know but he's not back until close to the end of August. I do know of a tiny corner grocery on te edge of Chinatown that serves banh mi sandwiches, a killer cup of iced coffee with condensed milk and has a really big selection of sweets and pastries, many in day-glo colors not found in nature I'm guessing that they're all Viet, Cambodian or Hmong but perhaps they have some others. I don't recall the exact corner that's it's on but it's in a thread here somewhere and I could dig it up if need be.

[Laksa]

... a really big selection of sweets, many in colors not found in nature 

Aren't those the best colors though? That and the colors you can't see without psychotropic chemical assistance.

[GaijinGirl]

That Banh Mi place I know - Sau Voi. It's great, but strictly Vietnamese, from what I can tell. Maybe Nyona or Eastanda (are they even still open) might have something???

[wilsonrabbit]

I remember dining at a Malaysian restaurant in Manhattan Chinatown, whose name I have forgotten, but I think it had a green and white sign and not too far from Grand St subway station,

Hmm, not sure if this is the one, but there's the chain malay restaurant on Elizabeth, Penang, near Canal. There's also a malay restaurant in the "alley" between Mott and Bowery near the huge HSBC bank. I've never been there so I don't know what they have.

There's a really yum yum malay place in Queens off Main St...er...sorry, don't recall the name or street name. I do know the street is L shaped and and a few blocks from the Tai Pan bakery. Across from them is a good Shanghai place. The name also escapes me. I'm not much help huh?

Edited August 19, 2004 by wilsonrabbit (log)

[Laksa]

My search for kuih in NYC has finally hit paydirt.

I found kuih at Sanur Restaurant at 18 Doyers St, Manhattan Chinatown.

There's more information about it in this post from my eGullet foodblog.

You may need to scroll down the page a little to get that specific post. I'm not having any luck at all trying to link to it directly, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Pitchblack70, you can see some of the Malaysian hawker food I've been eating the past week in the blog as well. I think you asked about that in another topic...

[Transparent]

My search for kuih in NYC has finally hit paydirt.

I found kuih at Sanur Restaurant at 18 Doyers St, Manhattan Chinatown.

There's more information about it in this post from my eGullet foodblog.

You may need to scroll down the page a little to get that specific post. I'm not having any luck at all trying to link to it directly, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Pitchblack70, you can see some of the Malaysian hawker food I've been eating the past week in the blog as well. I think you asked about that in another topic...

Direct Link to Post

I go to Chinatown every Friday, and I'm really looking forward to this Friday now. :D

[GaijinGirl]

Laksa,

You ROCK!!!!!! I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend...! (Gee, and I *was* just going to go over to Eastandah, but this is much, much better!!!!!)

--Janet (Pitchblack70)

[Pan]

Laksa, it's exciting that you blogged! I have a lot to catch up with after a 2-week trip to China. I actually wouldn't have had any idea where to get kueh in New York. That Sanur Restaurant seems to be the same place as the "Malaysian-Indonesian Restaurant" I used to go to until a particular incident took place. Do you have any idea whether the management, as well as the name, is new?

[Laksa]

That Sanur Restaurant seems to be the same place as the "Malaysian-Indonesian Restaurant" I used to go to until a particular incident took place. Do you have any idea whether the management, as well as the name, is new?

Until a particular incident took place? That's wild!! Now I'm intrigued.

Looks like it's a husband and wife team that owns the place. They're both Chinese. He is from KL and he told me he's been in NY for 6 years. The wife is the one who makes all the kuih. That's all I know.

I have a business card from him which I seem to have misplaced.

Welcome back, by the way. I've been reading about your trip on the China forum.

[Laksa]

Gee, and I *was* just going to go over to Eastandah, but this is much, much better!!!!!

Janet, let me know how you like the kuih. My favorites are the ones that have glutinous rice or gula melaka (palm sugar) or both. I don't like the ones with the "dry" fillings that much.

Where is Eastandah and do they have kuih? I still haven't found kuih salat or ondeh ondeh.

Edited August 28, 2004 by Laksa (log)

[Pan]

Laksa, I once got a small roach boiled in my tea in the old Malaysian-Indonesian restaurant. I think the ownership team in those days was a man from Batam, Indonesia and a woman from I think Ipoh, both Chinese. Unless I have things confused. But definitely one was from Malaysia and the other from Indonesia, both Chinese. Sounds like it may be a new team. Oh, and here's the menupages.com page for Eastanah. I've never been there but have heard some very bad things about it. Even the person I met who praised it said upon questioning that it wasn't spicy, which I'm sure you'll agree is a damning comment on a Malaysian restaurant.

[GaijinGirl]

Re: Eastandah - I haven't eaten there yet, but it is on my list. (Keuh Keuh first...)

I wouldn't be interested in Eastandah, but as far as I know, they're the only place that has Murtabak on the menu, which I also want to try!

--Janet (Pitchblack70)

[Pan]

Hmmm...well, don't overlook the idea that you might have to go to Kota Bharu to get really good murtabak. They're kind of fatty, though.

[spaghetttti]

Re: Eastandah - I haven't eaten there yet, but it is on my list.  (Keuh Keuh first...)

This made me really laugh... Keuh keuh in Sundanese, the dialect of West Java, means headstrong, determined, stubborn.

So Janet, I guess you're keuh keuh to have some kueh kueh, eh?

Edited August 29, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[Laksa]

I've never been there but have heard some very bad things about it. Even the person I met who praised it liked it said upon questioning that it wasn't spicy, which I'm sure you'll agree is a damning comment on a Malaysian restaurant.

Michael, you know, over the years, I have lowered my expectation of heat/spiciness level of Malaysian restaurants outside SE Asia. I can understand that they may be motivated by a desire, misguided or not, to cater widely to the "local" palate.

Thanks for the link to Eastanah's menu. It interests me to see that they have two types of Laksa, neither of which are in the "Penang" style.

Oh, there's not a lot of information on the kuih. I wonder how many pieces you get for $5.50. The ones at Sanur are 60c a piece.

Seems to me the prices at Eastanah are generally higher than other Malaysian restaurants I've been to in NYC. Does it fancy itself as a higher-end place, I wonder?

[Pan]

Seems to me the prices at Eastanah are generally higher than other Malaysian restaurants I've been to in NYC. Does it fancy itself as a higher-end place, I wonder?

I think "it's in SoHo" is sufficient to answer that question.

[GaijinGirl]

Pan - question: Murtabak - is it a crispy roti, or bready? (I've had roti canai, which was crispy, and I wasn't as impressed with it as the Jamaican bready/doughy roti I'd had previously, so I'd hate to go rushing to Eastanda for something I'll be so-so over...)

Spaghetti: Well, my husband says I'm Keuh Keuh in general.....!

[Pan]

Pan - question: Murtabak - is it a crispy roti, or bready? (I've had roti canai, which was crispy, and I wasn't as impressed with it as the Jamaican bready/doughy roti I'd had previously, so I'd hate to go rushing to Eastanda for something I'll be so-so over...)

[Tangent mode]It really is "Eastanah." The name is a pun on the English word "East" and the Malay word for palace, "Istana."[/tangent mode]

You found roti canai crispy? Hmmm, well, not compared to the old-fashioned larger roti canai that used to be cooked in griddles on the streets of Kuala Lumpur back in the 70s, but I see your point. I find it more flaky than crispy, myself, though.

I'm not sure I can address the crispiness quotient of murtabak, but from memory of last summer's murtabak in the night market in Kota Bharu, I'll describe it this way:

It's rich meat- or banana-filled dumplings (I think some other variety like fish murtabak was available in one stand) fried over a griddle. I suppose the batter can be described as thin, and flaky rather than bready. I thought it was fine but a little too rich for me, and I preferred Ayam Percik and some of the dishes I could get over rice at that market. However, you're not in Kota Bharu and there's absolutely 0 chance you'll find an authentic [red-flag word, but it applies here] Ayam Percik in a country where the crucial fresh herbs don't exist. And while the ingredients for a fair simulacrum of a Kelantanese murtabak do exist in New York, if you end up underwhelmed, don't overlook the possibility that the fault may not lie in murtabaks as such, and that perhaps it's just that Eastanah may not be very good.

[Laksa]

You found roti canai crispy? Hmmm, well, not compared to the old-fashioned larger roti canai that used to be cooked in griddles on the streets of Kuala Lumpur back in the 70s, but I see your point. I find it more flaky than crispy, myself, though.

In my last experience with NYC roti canai, I ate a very "stretchy" roti. The dough was highly elastic and when I tried to pull at it to break off a piece, I ended up getting a chest workout.

Myself, I like the flaky dough with a slightly crispy exterior, but I'm still looking. I have nothing but time and a little persistence.

I'm no expert on murtabak but I always like to think of it as a Malaysian version of Greek moussaka. Why? because both names start with the letter "M".

[Pan]

Nothin' to do with moussaka, kawan.

[Laksa]

I was thinking of the minced lamb/mutton... It's a stretch, I know, I know.