I've blogged Ye Lai Xiang before, but didn't find it that impressive back then. But recently, I was back at Bedok Food Centre and I could not resist a cold dessert because the hot weather seems to have come back after that ominous flash flood in Orchard. I decided to try the S$3 cheng tng (cold) which has the works, and I was blown away. Wow!
I counted at least 12 different ingredients. Dried persimmon, dried longan, barley, salty boiled tapioca and sweet potato, snow fungus, ginkgo, lotus seed, candied melon strips, sago pearls, split mung beans, and that fuzzy brown stuff floating in the sweet cold pandan-infused water. Does anyone know the name of that fuzzy brown stuff?
I know, S$3 seems pricey for a hawker dessert, but I thought it was worth it. I am never going back to the S$2 version again.
YE LAI XIANG - CHENG TNG
Stall no. 31, Bedok Corner Food Centre
Block 1 Bedok Road
it's called sea olives, if i'm not wrong.(sounds something like pong-da-hai in hokkien if i'm not wrong) that is an important but quite difficult to prepare.
ReplyDeleteHave to soak them in clean water for awhile - and no disturbance to the water allowed, if not, the sea olives would not expand and you the 'brown fuzzy stuff' would be hard to separate from the other stringy stuff that you don't want. not an easy job.
That must be the secret, then: Ordering one with "the works"! :D
ReplyDeleteThe fuzzy brown stuff is called 胖大海 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterculia_lychnophora
ReplyDeleteYou can get it from tcm shops, hope it helps!
Sounds like a good for our Hot weather in KL now. the brown stuff is commonly known as Kembang Semangkuk here in Malaysia. Cantonese name is Phung Tai Hoi.
ReplyDeleteits the seed of the cheng tng tree that has been soaked in water so it expands and floats on top of our cheng teng dessert!
ReplyDeleteWe Malays call it 'Buah Semangkuk'. Maybe short for 'Kembang Semangkuk' as mentioned by babe_kl. Maybe because the insides filled up the bowl where it was soaked in.
ReplyDeleteDuring fasting month, some folks mix this with rose-scented, diluted evaporated milk and 'biji selasih' (basil seeds that look like frog-eggs when soaked). The drink, called 'Air Katira' is good for cooling the body down after a day of fasting. And its sweetness help re-energise our body as well.
Hey thanks for all the interesting information! So that's what that brownish stuff is. Cute names - phung tai hoi and buah/kembang semangkuk!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, I've seen it in Air Katira too!
looks so refreshing! :)
ReplyDeletewow! so many ingredients..sure worth the $3.
ReplyDeleteHehe in fact the "real" cheng tng should have the Phung Tai Hoi but ppl these days just too lazy to do it
ReplyDeletehey does anyone knows what's the opening hours?
ReplyDeletethanks :)
So many 'liaos' in the chng tng!
ReplyDeletealso, beautiful picture of it!
ANyone knows where i can buy that buah Semangkuk and biji selasih?
ReplyDeleteI'll look for a recipe to make this desert. Cause Summer days are killing me. The weather is too hot.
ReplyDelete