Kuih-zy for You

From kuih lapis with purple sweet potato ‘toupees’ to kuih talam perfumed with truffle oil, these aren’t the kind of teatime treats your folks grew up eating. Okay Kuih is recontextualising Nyonya kuih for the Instagram generation

- Samantha Lim

At the risk of infuriating traditionalists, we didn’t think it possible to improve on angku kuih until now. If like us, you find the glutinous rice dessert a bit stodgy at times, you’ll be grateful to find a better version in Okay Kuih’s modern menu. Miniature squirt sauce bottles lend some moisture to the kuih’s starchy filling while hints of kaffir lime, lemon and gula melaka make the chewy treat doubly delightful.

But there’s more. While savoury santan and truffle oil seem like strange bedfellows, the pair makes for obscenely delicious kuih talam. Furthermore, who knew that pulut panggang could reach new heights when dipped in yuzu shoyu mayo?

After successfully turning us on to contemporary kuih, Angeline Lo, Joey Lee and Chan Wai May of Okay Kuih indulged us with an interview:

Prior to setting up Okay Kuih, did you put out feelers to see if the community would take to contemporary kuih?

Lo: We didn’t, actually. The idea came out of the blue and we decided to jump straight into action! I shared my thoughts with Joey and she said, “Okay, let’s do it.” After recruiting pastry chef Wai May to join us as an operational partner, we begin to feel quite confident about our assorted kuih.

We think the vast majority of Malaysians ascribe kuih to their childhood memories, and most everyone has an appetite for it.

While it’s hard to choose, what was your all-time favourite kuih as child? Which of Okay Kuih’s creations are you partial towards now?

Lo: Truffle Talam and Ubi Brûlée.