History of Singapore Tu Tu Kueh 嘟嘟糕

Kueh Tu Tu 嘟嘟糕 is a unique little pillowy soft steamed rice cake filled with gently crunchy crushed toasted peanut or moist grated coconut flesh sweetened with palm sugar. The sweet street snack was invented here and found only in Singapore.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore

Small snowy white discs on squares of green pandan leaf that fit perfectly in the palms of tiny hands. It was the Singaporean treat that evoked innocent gleeful squeals from easily contented children of the days before international fast food chains. Tu Tu Kueh push cart stalls were common at pasar malam (night market), wayang (street stage theatre), outside cinemas, generally in places where you can find lots of people.

 

As a child, I watched with delight how the hawker deftly filled the little shallow chrysanthemum shaped cup with powdery milled rice flour, then some grated coconut or crushed peanut, then covered it with more rice flour and finally pulled a small sheet of wet white cloth over it like some magic show.

He next inverted the small cup, gently laid the little rice cake in a shiny steel steaming pot and then covered it. Moments later, steam huffed and puffed inside the pot. When uncle lifted the cover, escaping sweet smelling steam made a muffled whistling hissing sound. Someone decided decades ago that that sounded like "tu tu" (got meh? 🤔 ) and so "Tu Tu Kueh" was born.



Tan Bee Hwa (also spelt Tan Bee Hua) owner of Tan's Tu Tu Coconut Cake said Tu Tu Kueh was created by her father who came from Hui'an county in Quanzhou of China's Fujian province 福建惠安.

Tan Bee Hua said that her father Tan Eng Huat (alias Tan Yong Fa) came from China in 1932.



At first, Tan Eng Huat sold 泉州 style 松糕 which were steamed rice cakes made with milled rice flour and sugar. He invented Tu Tu Kueh by shrinking the 松糕 and filling the plain rice cakes with grated coconut flesh and palm sugar. He also created another version filled with crushed peanuts.

 


Tan Bee Hua said her father gave his creation the name Tu Tu Kueh because the charcoal fired steamer had a pressure relief valve that made a "tu tu" sound during cooking (like a steam train whistle). It's a catchy name that made everyone want to try this new snack 😄



Tan Bee Hwa's brother Tan Cheong Chuan also started a Tu Tu Kueh stall when he arrived in Singapore from China at age 13. She took over his stall in 2004 after her brother Tan Cheong Chuan passed away. Tan Cheong Chuan's wife Ho Cheng Kim now runs the Tan's Tu Tu Coconut Cake outlet at Havelock Road Food Centre.



In a separate account by owner of Lau Tan TuTu Kueh, Tan Gek Eng shared that her father Tan Hay Swee who also came to Singapore from China created the sweet snack in 1949.



Once fairly common in a more laid back Singapore, the future of Tu Tu Kueh is now uncertain. The handmade snack is not easily scalable, so margins are relatively low, making it harder to sustain in our high pace, high cost environment.

Putu piring at Haig Road Hawker Centre Singapore

Putu piring in Johor Bahru with turmeric powder

Putu piring and tutu kueh have similar ingredients and method of production but is seen to have different roots. Shall be exploring the origins of putu piring soon. I warmly welcome any insights you share.

👆 Get to know Singapore through its food. Image credit: Wikipedia

Date: 8 Jun 2020