JB Banana Cake · Hiap Joo 100 Year Old Bakery & Biscuit Factory Johor Bahru 协裕面包西果厂

✍️ Update 11 Mar 2024. By now, we can say more or less everyone in Singapore and Johor knows Hiap Joo's banana cakes, and it needs no further introduction.

Anyway, here's my periodic update chronicling the changes of our heritage food over time.

Bakery name: Hiap Joo Bakery & Biscuit Factory

Address: 13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Bandar Johor Bahru (10 minutes walk from JB CIQ)

Tel: +607 223 1703

Hours: 7:30am - 4pm

The price today 11 Mar 2024.

Hiap Joo has other bakes but the grand old bakery is most famous for its banana cake.

Hiap Joo's banana cake has a brownish sheen on top from baking in the 100+ year old wood fired oven. At times, this looks dark brown.

The cake is fluffy, pillowy soft, moist. In the mouth, mixed with saliva, it dissolves into a sweet wet custard.

The banana and eggy flavours are quite subtle, without artificial flavouring. You will be able to discern the sweetness if you slow down and let the flavours spread, and linger on your tastebuds. Today's cake didn't have that subtle taste of carbon from the wood fire.

The sweet aroma was also subtle.

The last time I had this, it was sweeter, and the subtle taste and smell of carbon were more discernible.

I like the banana cake I had today. Other people may prefer it sweeter. 

Hiap Joo third generation owner Lim Meng Chin (right).

Joseph is one of the fourth generation of Hiap Joo, together with his family keeping the traditional cake shop thriving into the future.

🕗 8am: The crew was busy kneading, rolling, filling buns, getting the dough for cakes and buns ready for baking.

The century old wood fired oven was firing up while the buns were on hot stand by.

At about 10:30am, the buns go into the oven.

Each batch of cakes and buns stay in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes.

11:45am: They are ready!

Outside, a queue had formed up in great anticipation to buy Hiap Joo's bakes.

The wood fired oven at Hiap Joo was built in 1919. At one time, there were up to 9 such bakeries in Johor Bahru but today only two are left, Hiap Joo and Salahuddin.

The original owner left for England in the 1930s and sold the bakery to a group of nine Hainanese partners which included Joseph's grandfather. At that time, many Hainanese worked with colonial officers as cooks either in their homes or facilities such as military bases. They learned to bake these Western breads and pastries 面包西果 from their British employers.

Japanese soldiers fighting in the streets of Johor Bahru 1942

Then the Japanese came and business came to a halt till they left in 1945. In 1960, Joseph's grandfather became the sole proprietor and renamed the bakery Hiap Joo 协裕面包西果厂.

At first, Hiap Joo made a wider range which included loaves, baguettes and even Swiss rolls. They later narrowed down to the present banana cake and buns which were the most popular items.

The original recipe used Indian bananas but later changed to berangan bananas which they still use now as it gives the cakes the desired texture.

When you go to Johor Bahru, especially the old downtown area around Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, you will see many people carrying this HJ bag, the fashion statement of JB day trippers 😅🤭

Written by Tony Boey on 11 Mar 2024

✍ Update 15 Oct 2019. Most veteran JB foodies would have tasted Hiap Joo bakery's iconic wood fired oven baked banana cakes. Now, they have a crispy crunchy version of the banana cake which I felt could be Hiap Joo's next big thing.

I first tasted the crunchy crispy stiff banana cake back in 2014. It wasn't for sale then. It was made by tossing banana cakes left over from the day's sales into the oven, letting them toast slowly overnight over smothering embers from the day's work. It was given away to friends and regulars as gifts.

When I popped by today, I found out that the crispy crunchy stiff banana cake is now available for sale at RM5 a bag (with 6 pieces inside). They don't have a name for it and just call it "crunch", like a cake version of Roti Kok (baked sugar toast) or cake rusk (as buddy Peter Yeoh pointed out). 

Update: They now call it cake kok. Still at RM5 for 6.

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Why should you try it?

If you like crunchy and crispy food, this is right up your alley. It felt like a thick piece of hard crackly biscuit. It has the same taste as the original "soft" banana cake i.e. gently sweet with natural banana fragrance and a bit of smokiness.

Dipping it in my kopi O sui dai (Nanyang coffee with less sugar) added a bit of bitter taste and softened the biscuit's outside a little bit, with the inside still crispy.

Give "crunch" a try, in addition to Hiap Joo's famous spongy banana cakes and coconut buns. Do note that availability of the "crunch" version is limited as it depends on "left overs".

✍ 28 May 2016. Hiap Joo Bakery in Johor Bahru's Tan Hiok Nee street cultural district needs no introduction. It's one of a handful of bakeries in Malaysia that still uses wood fire in its over 100 year old brick oven. Hiap Joo's banana cake is the best that I have tasted anywhere.

Hiap Joo's buns with various fillings like curried potatoes, otak otak, red bean paste, spicy anchovies (ikan bilis) and shredded coconut are also extremely popular. 



There is always a queue outside Hiap Joo waiting for the freshly baked banana cakes and buns. (Don't worry. Once the cakes are out of the oven, the queue clears very fast as all customers are take-and-go.)



The dancing wood fire that gives Hiap Joo's pastries a smokey flavour that cannot be replicated by electric ovens.



The wood used to fire the brick oven inside the century old bakery.



Getting the oven ready takes a lot of skill and elbow grease. It also takes the most time in the process of making the cakes.



While the oven is being prepared, the pastries are made with the whole family and extended family chipping in. Everything is still done by hand at Hiap Joo (except for a machine to knead the dough).



Joseph, the fourth generation of Hiap Joo.

Hiap Joo's oven was built by an Englishman in 1919, and was sold to Joseph's great grandfather in the 1930s before the Englishman returned to England.



Hiap Joo uses real bananas for their famed banana cakes (and none of that banana essence nonsense).



In goes the dough. The heat inside the oven is intense, reaching 800-1000 °C. In comparison, most of our electric home ovens reach only 250 °C maximum.



James, another fourth generation of Hiap Joo. 

Once in, the pastries are ready in 5 minutes, so the pace of work is as intense as the heat from the oven.



The steamy hot pastries are immediately packed for waiting customers.



Hiap Joo's banana cake is spongy, light and slightly moist. Every bite releases a gently sweet banana flavour and aroma onto our taste buds and our nose. The dark brown outer layer has a nice smokey taste which makes Hiap Joo's banana cake so special.

Hiap Joo's banana cake tastes great hot off the oven but I found that it tastes even sweeter when left overnight and eaten the next day. However, as no preservative is used, the banana cake should be eaten by the third day of baking. That is really a redundant caution, as Hiap Joo's banana cake can never last more than a day before it is all eagerly snapped up 😄



Hiap Joo's buns have a sweet fluffy spongy skin and the fillings are generous. They are as popular as Hiap Joo's banana cakes.



👉 Hiap Joo bakery is one of the defining shops of the Johor food scene. You must try their banana cakes at least once. Whether or not you join Hiap Joo's legion of fans who keep coming back, you will have at least experienced a piece of JB food heritage. A most delicious food icon, to boot.



Hiap Joo is located right at the entrance of Johor Bahru's cultural district at the junction of Jalan Tan Hiok Nee and Jalan Trus.



Name: Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory 协裕面包西果厂
Address: 13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru 
GPS: 1.456781, 103.764404 / 1°27'24.4"N 103°45'51.9"E 
Hours: Daily 7:30am to 5:30pm (Closed on Sunday) 

No pork, no lard, no Halal cert 

Dates visited: Numerous times since stumbling on Hiap Joo on 1 Jan 2012


👆 Click to JB Best 100 page

✍ 12 Jan 2012. The popular Hiap Joo 协裕 bakery, which customers include the Sultan of Johor, has been operating in this hole in the wall shop in old downtown Johor Bahru since 1919. So, this year 2019, Hiap Joo celebrates its 100th year 🎉🎉🎉

Hiap Joo bakery was started by an Englishman and was handed over to the great grandfather of the current owner in the 1930s before the former returned home to England. 

Not much have changed since then, and perhaps today as a piece of living history, Hiap Joo is now more popular than ever before.

Even today, Hiap Joo’s breads and cakes are still baked using wood fire in the same soot coated, clay brick, kiln-like oven since it was founded. 

The wood used to fire the oven are mostly discards from construction sites brought here by building contractors.

 



Hiap Joo, like many similar set ups in Johor, is a family business. I often see heart warming scenes of the whole three generation Lim family, young and the elders, all chipping in happily together.

I also saw a lot of quiet pride and dedication. Everything is hand made at Hiap Joo, everything fresh everyday. Every step in the process of making the cakes and breads, from start to finish, is made with the same personal touch and commitment.



Today, the key task of baking with the vintage oven is handled by the founder's great grandson James.

The breads and cakes start coming out of the kiln at between noon to 2:00pm.

Even the very last step, is done with the same focus and commitment. This banana cake is sliced by hand, and yet every single piece is precisely cut. They are all exactly the same size - if I had not seen it being done with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe that it is hand cut!

All these attention to details all finally adds up in the taste of the cake that attracts queues of regular customers waiting to get their first pick of Hiap Joo’s freshly baked buns and cakes. 

Customers are often seen darting in to grab their cakes and then dashing back to their cars, parked illegally on the curb in the old town's narrow streets.

Hiap Joo’s star attraction is their delicious spongy banana cake. The famous banana cake is slightly charred on the outside with a mild smokey flavour and inside it is bouncy soft, fragrant and moist. 

As no chemical essence or artificial flavourings are used, the cakes are subtly sweet - not sugary. It feels light, spongy and airy, unlike the usual heavy, dense and grease saturated supermarket cakes bricks that leave me feeling bloated and stuffed.

This large banana cake (cut into 10 pieces) costs RM8 (2012 price).

Remember to try also Hiap Joo's coconut buns. The fresh coconut shreds with gula Melaka wrapped by a fluffy smokey bun are juicy and not overly sweet.

As Hiap Joo’s breads and cakes contain no preservatives, they are best consumed within a day and should not be kept for longer than 3 days. This is never a problem for me as Hiap Joo's cakes never lasted more than a couple of hours at home, sometimes they are all gone even before arriving home 😂

Whenever I am in the area I would pick up a banana cake or try the other items on offer at Hiap Joo. Hiap Joo’s cakes are always a joy to bring home to our families to enjoy together.

I was inspired to do this heritage version 😄

Another traditional bakery well worth visiting for its curry puffs and breads as well as it's old time charm is Salahuddin's which is just a stone's throw away from Hiap Joo.

👉 One of only two bakeries left in Johor that still uses a century old wood fired oven to bake their breads and cakes. Enjoy tradition, heritage and delicious food together. The signature banana cake is a Must Try.

Name: Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory 协裕面包西果厂

Address: 13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru

GPS: 1.456781, 103.764404 🌐 1°27'24.4"N 103°45'51.9"E
Tel: +607-223 1703
Hours: Daily 8:00am to 6:00pm (Closed on Sunday | opens at 12 noon on Mons)

Halal

Dates visited: 1 Jan 2012, 4 Jan 2012, 11 Jan 2012, 26 Dec 2012, 23 Feb 2013, 3 Jun 2013, numerous other times (I stopped counting)

   

Written by Tony Boey on 12 Jan 2012