I passed this way at the food kiosks at Trengganu Street in Singapore's Chinatown many times. But, only now did I start to realise that there are some little gems here.
There's Indo Sumatera stall serving Indonesian style kueh including Putu Bambu or Indonesian Bamboo Cake.
Putu Bambu is a popular traditional Indonesian street snack made by packing rice flour, palm sugar and grated coconut into the hollow of a short stem of bamboo.
The kueh is cooked by putting the stuffed bamboo stem over steam vents.
Once cooked, the soft steamy hot kueh is pushed out of the bamboo.
Truth be told, I am not a fan of putu bambu as those that I had tried before were not very tasty nor aromatic. (Every pasar malam in Johor Bahru has a putu bambu stall.)
But, this at Indo Sumatera wowed me. The rice cake made only when there is an order was moist, soft and subtly sweet. Stall owner 爱心 who hails from Medan Indonesia uses Thai fragrant rice to make her rice flour. The caramelised palm sugar filling (gula Jawa from Java, Indonesia) was moist, smooth and aromatic without being overly sweet. The moist grated coconut had a nice squeaky crunch and slight savoury sweet taste. Ms 爱心 goes to the market every morning to hand pick the fresh coconuts.
This was the best putu bambu that I have tasted (though I must admit that I haven't tried that many).
I also tried Indo Sumatera's other Indonesian cakes such as kueh kosui, sago cake, tapioca cake, huat kueh etc. Lady boss 爱心 and husband make all the kueh fresh at the stall.
I like it that Indo Sumatera's kueh are not overly sweet and are clean tasting as 爱心 uses only natural ingredients and 30% less sugar than traditional recipes.
Lady boss 爱心 has been here at this humble little food kiosk for 15 years and has a loyal following from far and wide (including from overseas) who must have her Indonesian kueh whenever they are in Chinatown.
Recommended for you 👍 Probably the best putu bambu in Singapore. (Please share your recommendations as I love to try them.)
Restaurant name: Indo Sumatera
Address: Trengganu Street, Chinatown, Singapore
GPS: 1°16'56.5"N 103°50'37.7"E 🌐 1.282360, 103.843818
Nearest MRT: Chinatown
Hours: 12:00 noon to 8:00pm
No pork, no lard
Date visited: 7 Mar 2019
have to agree with you on this, as an Indonesian myself, I find her Putu Bambu very delicious. I always make a point to drop by her stall every time I happen to be in Chinatown. Her brown sugar kue apems (huat kuih) are also very good.
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