Continuing our deep dive into Singapore’s food heritage, Chef Melvyn Lee and I visited the East Coast Road branch of Kim Choo Kueh Chang, home of the famous Nyonya rice dumpling. There, we met third generation owner Edmond Wong, who joined forces with his brothers Desmond and Raymond to take their grandmother’s food legacy to the next level.
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According to Edmond, the brand was founded in 1945 by their grandmother Lee Kim Choo, who started off as a street hawker selling food her grandmother had taught her to make. Operating out of a makeshift stall by a banyan tree on the corner of Joo Chiat Place and Everitt Road, Kim Choo’s rice dumplings stood out. With encouragement from her neighbours in the community and a bank loan secured with the help of then-MP for Joo Chiat Dr Fong Kim Heng, she moved into a shophouse at 60 Joo Chiat Place.
On the second floor of their East Coast shophouse, we were welcomed with a simple Peranakan lunch of chap chye and rice homecooked by Edmond’s mother Helen. “It’s actually survivor food for my family. My grandma, together with her maternal grandma, would go to the wet market to buy scraps of vegetables that had been discarded, and they would make a vegetable stew,” he shared. “My mum learnt cooking from my grandma and she’s like the version of Little Nyonya where she had to pound and learn everything from the start.”
After taking us through a kueh chang wrapping session, Edmond recommended we try their 2 best-sellers, which should be eaten at ambient temperature, not hot out of the pot. This was to better judge the quality because flaws can’t be hidden at ambient temperature. I found the glutinous rice tasty on its own, its savoury notes complemented by the spiced meat filling. Little chunks of candied winter melon added a touch of sweetness to each toothsome bite. For variety, chicken and vegetarian options are also available for Kim Choo’s signature Nyonya chang.
Another best-seller was their XO Traditional Salty Chang, made from the same premium glutinous rice stuffed with dried scallop, dried oyster, whole chestnut, shitake mushroom, fatty pork belly and salted egg yolk. Larger in size due to its abundant meat and seafood filling, this rice dumpling was my favourite. It was a purely savoury treat with a luscious mouth-feel. Chef Melvyn agreed: “I feel that a lot of people will have their own creation and rendition of ‘chang’ nowadays, right? But catching the balance of flavour, I think you guys did a fantastic job.”
With an interest in heritage and community, Edmond manages business development and Corporate Social Responsibility. Did you know that Kim Choo Kueh Chang provides job opportunities to the marginalised or disadvantaged who need a safe place to work? The family have also retained grandma’s original Joo Chiat shophouse as their food factory and the East Coast Road branch serves as a retail and workshop space, as well as an official Singapore Visitor Centre for tourists.
At Kim Choo, the vision is to stay local, yet go global, so that grandma’s legacy and culture is amplified beyond Singapore’s borders for generations to come.
- TASTE:
Kim Choo Kueh Chang
(Singapore Visitor Centre East Coast branch)
Address: 111 East Coast Road, Singapore 428800.
Open Daily: 9am – 9pm.
Makan Kakis on Gold 905 