You could have either stumbled onto this page while blog-surfing or purchased our Magnetic Ang Ku Kueh (红龟糕). In either case, THANK YOU!!! We love our local heritage and we would like to share more about this local snack with you.
When i was a child, I heard this hokkien refrain countless times: "Ang ku kueh sio sio, jia liao tio beh pio!" Translated into Singlish: "Ang Ku Kueh is very hot, after you eat it you will strike lottery!"
Well, "KU" in hokkien means tortoise and traditionally (and biologically), a tortoise has long life. "Ang" is "red" in hokkien and "Kueh" means any type of cake. Now, altogether they mean "red cake shaped in the form of a tortoise". Look at the kueh. Doesn’t it look like a tortoise?
This popular snack has a soft sticky skin with a variety of fillings. The kueh usually has a banana leaf steamed together, which makes it fragrant. The traditional ingredients for the fillings used are peanuts, red bean paste and green bean paste, amongst others.
Ang Ku Kueh is used as a ritual offering to the deities during Taoist religious festivals and also as a child’s first-month gifts, packaged usually with red eggs, cake and other auspicious foodstuff.
Nowadays, there are a lot of varieties - in flavours and colours, reflecting the innovative kueh makers. So, don't be surprised to see purple (probably yam paste), yellow, green, and any colour which you can ever dream of!
Bon appetit!
The packaging that you have in your hands is designed by Rachel Tan, a local paper crafter. Her website is: https://www.facebook.com/MyBeansprouts
