Ramadhan Special 2014: Chef Andi's Kueh Lapis

I know this guy. His name is Andi. And he's a chef.
He's been a chef for a long time and I can tell you this - his cakes are delicious!

Well, to be honest I'd only had his 'Western' cakes in the past. I'd visit his cafe and bakery and whatever I had was always delicious (especially his Lemon Majari cake!!). I mean, this guy even baked me a birthday cake once and it was awesome!

But when he told me he was gonna be baking Kueh Lapis, it was quite a surprise.
Let's be hones - Western cakes and Malay Kueh are two totally different stories am I right... Just because you're good at one does that mean you're definitely gonna be good at the other?

Well, in this case, the answer is - YES!!

Original

Prune

Pandan

Mixed Fruit

Coffee

The Kueh Lapis was really good!!
Even my Mum loved it and that's a big deal because she's very particular about Kueh Lapis.

The Lapis was soft and so full of flavour. You can go for the Original of course if that's your thing.
And you can see how generous he is with the Prunes! My personal favourite is actually the Mixed Fruit... cos I love Candied Fruit. Seriously.

Prices are as follows;
Original / Pandan / Coffee (1kg) - $45.00
Prune / Mixed Fruit (1kg) - $50.00

I know there are a lot of 'Home Bakers' around now and I know some of them are pretty good. Well this guy is pretty good too. Perfect timing to order for Ramadhan but you'd better order fast before he reaches his order limit. (I already have a head start cos I ordered 5 LOL)

And Chef Andi has a special offer to readers of The Halal Food Blog!!
When you place your order, give him the password 'The Halal Food Blog Ramadhan Special' and he'll give you a special discount!! Maybe something off the price or maybe free delivery?

You can place your orders by calling or sending an SMS to Chef Andi at 9725 4231.
Enjoy!!

Bazaar Raya Utara (Woodlands Bazaar) - Putu Piring

I remember back during fasting month in my active NS days, I used to visit the Woodlands Bazaar.
We're talking about back in 2005 when my camp was in Mandai and in our spare time in the evenings, we'd either go to Choa Chu Kang or to Woodlands mainly because the buses outside our camp went to either.

And in 2005, Woodlands Bazaar seemed like it was such a wonderful place.
It was the first place I had ever heard of 'Bee Hoon Briyani' and also a place for us to get food there was no way of getting anywhere near our camp like 'Siput Sedut' and 'Murtabak'.

So I thought what a nice idea it was for my darling wife and me to take a trip there.
Revisit the old days of exploring the wonderful offerings of the Woodlands Bazaar.

Oh boy was I wrong.

Don't get me wrong it was still a massive area of food stalls. But the problem is they were all selling the same thing. And I know you're probably saying "Why you complaining? It's the same everywhere what!"
Well, in that case I choose not to travel all the way too Woodlands when I can experience the "same" in the east side.

But some notable mentions though.
I saw a really long queue forming along one of the stalls which was apparently selling 'Nasi Bukhari'.
It seemed so popular that when one giant pot finished, people were willing to wait while another giant pot was being delivered to feed the masses.

Another popular stall was one selling Laksa. But we didn't buy any.

We did however buy some Putu Piring.

So there was this table set up beside one of the bigger stalls selling Nasi Briyani.
I mean literally a table with no sign and just this dude and a pregnant lady making the Putu Piring.

Seemed like a decent enough set-up and well I guess I was hankering for some Putu Piring.

Putu Piring (5 for $2.00)

So this traditional Malay kueh is basically gula melaka encased in rice flour before being steamed.
It's served with grated coconut and definitely satisfies a sweet tooth.

Okay so the Putu Piring itself was not too bad and was going for a decent price.
However, truth be told, there are definitely better quality Putu Piring out there for the same price.

Okay so I don't care so much about the rice flour because in the end the kueh is still there.
But as my darling wife was the first to point out - the gula melaka was mixed with normal granulated sugar.
And for some reason - that really really made a difference.
If you click on the photo I took above of the guy adding the gula melaka to the kueh, you can see (if you zoom) that it's not really pure gula melaka.

But hey hey who knows maybe times are hard and gula melaka prices are on the up and up. So that's fine.
But another thing - it wasn't even cooked properly...
Maybe the growing crowd made them think they could shave off a few seconds of steaming time.
Big mistake.

In my humble opinion, Putu Piring is one of those things that you should eat as soon as possible while it's still warm and soft. So I guess the fact that we ate it only 2 hours later for our breaking fast plays a big part.
(But I doubt that eating it hot would have made us miss the granulated sugar)

Adam's Verdict:

Putu Piring 2/5

Maryah's Verdict::
Putu Piring 1/5

Well overall it wasn't so bad if you ask me.
Not the best I've had but it's still good enough for anyone who feels like having some Putu Piring.
Just make sure they cook it properly.

 No Name Putu Piring
(Look for this sign)


Bazaar Raya Utara (Woodlands Bazaar)
Beside Woodlands MRT Station


Operating Hours: 2.00pm - 7.00pm