Ipoh Biscuit Wars

Ipoh, just a few hours north of Kuala Lumpur on the North-South highway, is known for many things. It's the capital of Malaysia's Perak state. Dubbed the 'town that tin built', it was formerly the center of tin mining in the Kinta Valley. Though partially gutted by a fire in the late 1800s, Ipoh retains, in its 'old town' section, some lovely vintage shophouses.

Oh, who am I kidding? Mention the word 'Ipoh' and Malaysians start salivating. Because in the national psyche, this dot on the map is known for one thing and one thing only: food. Ipoh ranks second only to Penang on Malaysian chowhounds' list of favorite drive-to-eat destinations.

They go for the white coffee (brewed from butter-roasted beans), the char kueyteow, the Hainan chicken rice served with a plate of bean sprouts. They linger for hor fun, wide rice noodles whose especially soft and silky texture is attributed to the local water. And they often leave town toting (among other things) a bag or two of heong peng ('xiang bing' in Mandarin), deliciously flaky, "fragrant biscuits" with a sweet palm sugar filling.

Ipoh's trade in heong peng market appears to be dominated by two players: Yee Hup Bakery, which displays monarchical aspirations with its self-awarded monicker of 'Biscuit King', and the slightly less strident Soon Ann Biscuits & Confectionary. The biscuits (or, in local lingo, 'biskut') turned out by these rival organizations bear a remarkable resemblance to each other (Yee Hup on the left). Close examination, however, reveals differences.

Overall appearance: Soon Ann's (right) heong peng are taller and more rounded, and sport a more generous topping of sesame seeds than Yee Hup's. They're colored a deep tan, to Yee Hup's longer-baked nut brown a (a darkness that might possibly be attributed to margarine in the pastry dough).

Texture: The Yee Hup biscuits are crisp, exceedingly so; one bite sent shards of flaky pastry dough flying about the kitchen. Soon Ann's, while crunchy, hold their shape a bit better when chomped into. Note, in the photo above, how 'flat' the Yee Hup (left, again) biscuit is in comparison to Soon Ann's. When broken, the Soon Ann pastry proved much more yielding, and I didn't have to squeeze the biscuit top-to-bottom as much to pry it apart. Both biscuits boast layers and layers of flaky dough, but Yee Hup's are more tightly bound, or 'compressed'. Soon Ann's pastry layers, by contrast, seem to trap more air.

Flavor: It's here that the biscuits diverge most strikingly. Soon Ann's pastry, while crisp, is bready, with a full-on 'wheaty' flavor. It's no wonder, as 'wheat flour' is one of the ingredients listed on the Soon Ann biscuit bag (Yee Hup lists simply 'flour'). Neither pastry dough is at all sweet; Yee Hup's contains lard, while Soon Ann uses only vegetable oil (this would explain Yee Hup's superior flakiness).

Both biscuits ooze smoky sweet palm sugar (Yee Hup's is darker than Soon Ann's), but Soon Ann throws a savory twist into its filling with the inclusion of onions. They're chopped so fine (or, perhaps, melted?) that they add no texture to speak of, but even before I perused the Soon Ann ingredient list I knew they were there. To anyone not used to the southeast Asian way with scallions/shallots/onions and sweet stuff, it sounds an odd mixture. But conjure up the sugary savoriness of slowly caramelized onions and you may begin to see the attraction.

Verdict? I'd call this a draw.

Sorry Yee Hup, but there is no indisputable 'Biscuit King' here. The crown must be awarded on the basis of what one is hungry for at the moment. Yearning for a substantial, bready - perhaps teatime - treat with a strangely alluring sweet-savory note? Look no further than Soon Ann's heong peng. Yee Hup's crackly, crunchy - and equally pleasing - offering falls more clearly into the 'dessert' camp.

Soon Ann Biscuits, 19-25 Laluan Tasek Perdana, Medan Tasek Perdana, Ipoh. Tel. 05-549-6927. Yup Hee Bakery, 7 Jalan Sri Ampang, Taman Ipoh Jaya, Ipoh. Tel/fax.05-313-2328.

Comments

[CW]

These look delectable! It's been YEARS since I've tasted these biscuits...

[Susan]

Love the dissection on heong peah! More on Ipoh please! Would love a cempedak post too...

[Tan]

Heh. My mum buys those 'heong peng' every week from the pasar malam and I absolutely love it, the part in the middle, at least. I have a sweet tooth Yummy~!

[Jayne]

The biscuits look gorgeous! :) I don't usually eat Ipoh heong peah.. parents are advocates of Teluk Intan's version.. haha =)

I've linked your blog - hope you don't mind! Keep up the interesting entries! :)

[rokh]

you should try the Taiping's (just 45 minutes up north of Ipoh)heong peng instead, those are really the undisputed one, not to say i'm bias cause i'm from there, but all my relatives who stays elsewhere sworn by it.

[Paul]

You should try the ones in Taiping market in town.

The one in Yee Hup is dry and Soon Ann is not delectable.Even Penangites buy the Taiping heoh peah.

Me being an Ipoh guy,then working in Penang and also go to Taiping frequently.

For Penang Him Heang would be good on the tau sar peah,Ghee Heang is still okay,but both do not sell good heoh peah.

Just try the Taiping one and you can see the difference immediately

[Robyn]

Thanks all for Taiping testamony. We have heard those are superior and will try to get up there in the not-too-distant future.

Paul - whoah buddy, let's not go overboard. You're insulting my taste buds here. ;-) The ones featured may not be up to Taiping version, but I wouldn't go so far as "dry" and "not delectable". It's a bit like lasagne bolognese - it'll always be best in Bologna, but my version is darned good.
Nonetheless, I'm getting a real sense of your sincerity and will try the Taiping version soonest.

[Jackie]

U should taste the delicious (Bee Hiang heong peah)which is made in Kuala Lumpur.It"s biscuit is very crisp and the pastry is soft same as the jeli.It"s more delicious heong piah than OTHER I hav ever try.when u come KL u must try it by yourself!!!!!!!!!!

[Geraldine]

To those who supports Taiping heoh peah, HIGH 5 !
I'm a big big supporter too, and my saliva is gonna flooding in my mouth reading your comments. I'm missing those biscuits so much (I'm in UK now). The chinese biscuits here, even if I don't say, you can guess that it's way more expensive. I have to pay around RM2.45 for a small little tau sar peah. But I can't get heoh peah with maltose here, too bad.
Anyway, cheers to all biscuits supporters !

[Yie Yen]

There is another heong peah manufacturer, Seng Kee Heong Peah located in Gunung Rapat. They are using tradisional method of baking heong peah using coconut shell broil in special make cray oven. It is very delicius, worth trying. Simply different from those using conventional oven. Even Hong Kong Movie Star and Astro visited Seng Kee to make a tv program on it.

[cute boy]

I agree too.Seng Kee's heong peah is ultra delicious.I like to eat so I always ask my mother to buy heong peah(Seng Kee).Amount all the heong peah,i like seng kee heong peah the most.

[PIXEL]

pls visit my page~surprise~!

[PIXEL]

www.bisgood.com.my
pls visit my page lo~~

[SL]

I tried many heong peah but liked SGT (manufatured in Perak too) heong peah best. Especially fresh baked from oven while the inside (watchacallit) is still warm. I'm from Melaka and recently found a place that sells fresh baked SGT heong peah. It's in a new place called Asia Village (just beside Crocodile Farm) in Ayer Keroh.

[lee]

hi i would like to ask if anyone knows whether the Yee Hup Hong Piah is available for sale in Singapore?

[lwy]

Hi hi.... there are Yee Hup Hong Piah selling at Bugis Village... to satisfy your taste bud....

[Cheryl]

Hi everyone

I missed the biscuits in Ipoh do anyone know is there a way that I can import it to Canada or where can I buy it in Canada (BC)

Thank you
Cheryl

[Bluu Asia]

Nice post! Please note that we've featured your Ipoh biscuit picture in our article on Perak (http://www.bluu.asia/blog). We credited the picture with a link back to this post. If you have any objections, please let us know. Thanks!

[MB]

Where can i buy Yee Hup biscuit in KL?

[Rose]

Loved the heong peah from SGT, anyone know where to get them in Singapore, thanks?

[jane]

i love YEE THYE Heong Peah....if compare to others......anyone know where to get in s'pore??

[Khor]

I've tryied Ipoh Yee Hup, Penang Him Heang ,Ghee Heang, and Taiping heoh peah, but the best is from Parit Buntar Guan Hiang Biscuit. This bakery is not really a shop, it’s snugged in a quiet unsuspecting housing estate in Parit Buntar, 1.5hr drive up north of Perak from Ipoh. It really took us some time to locate it. And we was told that they just setup a blog with location map - http://guanhiang.blogspot.com/
You should try this one!