The other day I wrote about Kimberly Street Char Koay Teow. Next to this CKT stall, there is one stall selling dessert which has very brisk business. If I am not mistaken, this owner is related to another almost similar one is New Lane. Well, they look the same, maybe brothers?
This uncle sells almond paste with crunchy yau char kuay, gingko, lotus see, red beans and dried longan soup only. His soup is tastier and smell very fragrant. No matter how I tried to copycat his method of cooking, I can never get the same results.
The trick to get thongsui like that, i.e. clear soup and not cloudy, is to boil the ingredients with minimal water and plenty of sugar. Leave the ingredients to soak in the syrup for sometime. Then, when serving, add water. This will ensure that the ingredients like the gingko, lotus seed, red beans taste sweet.
You can find some recipes for dessert on this blog and also my Penang Faces. Just check on the categories under dessert and recipes.
I have another old photo of a bowl of see koh th’ng. This is the more economical version of dessert normally sold at pasar malam and those stalls accompanying the Chinese opera shows. Quality wise, it is not as nice as the thongsui sold at New Lane and Kimberly Street.
Thanks for the tip, Lilian. I thought you boil them seperately. The almond paste with yau char kwai sounds interesting.
boo – Yeah, usually I boil those that cooks within the same period of time together. E.g. red beans separate from longan and the fresh gingko and fresh lotus.
You know lilian, the char koay tiao which besides this tong sui shop is one of the thumbs up I must say!