Now that I’m more aware of what I’m eating, I enjoy going on food expeditions to have a look at where I’m getting my food from, especially from old school places like Tan Hock Seng. When I was younger, I used to love beh teh soh, but I never knew what it was called. I remember asking my parents for the nice sticky chewy thing, but I never could remember its name. Well, going down to the source of my favorite traditional snack has been an extremely enjoyable experience, which I am going to share with you!
See the man in white? He’s da boss, literally. Be careful not to walk pass rather non-descript stall! I always imagined it to be a huge shop, but its just like any small traditional bakery well stocked with fresh goods coming out of the oven.
Haha, “Every day famous one” indeed.
Stacks of freshly baked goodies.
Now, on to what I ate!
I’m embarrassed to say, I don’t even know what this is called. Its like a hunk of fried sweetened flour, probably stuck together with honey. This tasted like most of the usual ones, not bad but nothing amazing either.
Once again, I don’t know the exact name of this, but I shall call it “White Cake” since that is what it is. Its basically light butter cake, coated with flour (i think). It was alright, I bought it just to try cause I’ve never seen it before, but it wasn’t delicious. In fact, eating it was quite a messy affair cause the flour just fell everywhere and coated everything! But it was fun eating something my parents ate when they were kids.
This was the traditional kind of Tau sar piah, (unlike the Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah), but it was quite nice! Its quite high quality, so if you like the more traditional form of tau sar piah, you should try this.
Now, for the “Every day famous one”! Here’s my favorite snack of all time, sticky chewy goodness. These taste best when they are hot, and the filling is nice and generous. The crunchiness of the topping is probably what people enjoy in contrast to the soft filling, making this the perfect snack! This is all you need to try when you come here, after all it is what they are famous for.
I always thought that there wasn’t much of a difference between Phong Piah and Beh Teh Soh. Well, I learnt something new. Phong piah is a larger, flatter version of Beh Teh Soh, and it doesn’t have a crunchy exterior. In fact, the pastry casing is thinner for the Phong Piah, so the texture when you bite into it is like biting into a Lao Po Bing (Wives’ Biscuit). I actually like this better than beh teh soh. My favorite part of the beh teh soh was the filling, not so much the crunchiness of the casing. So the Phong Piah is the ideal choice for me, since it is softer and has more filling.
Of course, choosing between the Beh Teh Soh and Phong Piah is based on personal preference, so do give both a try and cast your own verdict! The lady boss was pretty shocked that I decided to try one packet of Phong Piah in addition to the Beh Teh Soh, since she said that most people came here for the Beh Teh Soh.
I would highly recommend you to drop by, you don’t even have to park your car, I’ve heard that you can tell them your order and they’ll serve you. Great food and friendly service, what more could you ask for?
Rating: 9/10 (for Beh Teh Soh/Phong Piah)
Foogo! 