Kalsom Kuih Muih Curry Puff at Yishun Park Hawker Centre

Zaidi Zainal and Kalsom Kamis, his wife, have been running a stall at Yishun Park Hawker Centre for over a year. This stall was in the news when 6 youths stole $1,064 from the cash register. That sum is equivalent to selling 600 pieces of those handmade curry puffs. The couple was forced to raise the prices of each curry from $1.20 to $1.50 trying to recoup the losses. 

I ordered the Curry Puff and Sardine Puff, the size is bigger than the usual puffs out there. 

My dining companion tried both and said, "I would prefer the Curry Puff to Sardine Puff. The Sardine Puff is too tomato-ish and with too much onion." 

I would also prefer the Curry Puff a bit more. It consists of a generous amount of potato with a piece of a boiled egg at the right level of spiciness.

KALSOM KUIH MUIH CURRY PUFF

51 Yishun Avenue 11 #01-01 Yishun Park Hawker Centre SINGAPORE 768867

Operating Hours: 2.00 pm to 8.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)

AMK Curry Puff : they are back to Ang Mo Kio

They are back. They are back to where they first started. Mr Leo Chin Sang, founder of the AMK Curry Puff was part of the team that started Tip Top Curry Puff in 1979 before incorporating the ABR Group. He went to start AMK Curry Puff in July 2013 at a coffee shop at Toa Payoh Central before passing away about 2 years ago. I talked to Mr Leo then but he did not really want to elaborate on what happened. The Tip Top Curry Puff has renamed to Tip Top The Puff Factory after the incorporation and has remained in the coffee shop before moving to occupy the corner shop at Jubilee Square recently. I wrote an article for Makansutra in 2014 on this.

I asked, "The stall at Toa Payoh still around?" That lady nodded and said, "This is our second outlet. We have just opened about a week ago." I said, "I was told that the elderly Uncle has already passed away." She replied, "He was my Uncle." I also said, "I grew up in Ang Mo Kio and I remember there used to be a group of Aunties making curry puffs here." She pointed to the side of the stall and said, "Yeah. Right there." 

She added, "We decided to come back to Ang Mo Kio when they moved out." She said, "Hope to see you again." I decided to order a Sardine Puff and a Curry Puff at $1.50 each. Those puffs are still handmade and serve fresh. 

The Curry Puff was a pure disappointment. I could not taste any chicken chunks in it, the filling that mainly consists of potato was not as packed, not fragrant and not spicy. The crust tasted a little too dry, lacking the distinctive butter taste with a different texture. 

The Sardine Puff was equally disappointing. I did not like the crust as well, the filling that consists bits of sardine and shredded onion was very little, enclosed in a thick crust. 

Something is just different, it is smaller in size at a higher price. It just used to be much better but not so now. It left me feeling disappointed. 

AMK CURRY PUFF

Block 722 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 SINGAPORE 560722

Operating Hours: 9.00 am to 8.00 pm

Milah Hokkaido Curry Puff at Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre

My dining companion told me about this stall after he went walking around the food centre. He said, "There is an interesting curry puff located at that corner." I decided to go check it out. When I was there, the "Hokkaido Curry Puff" on the signboard actually caught my attention. They are using 100% "Wonderful Traded Flour" from Hokkaido as indicated on their signboard. This is a halal stall owned by a Malay owner.

The friendly owner spotted me and he asked, "Any curry puff for you?" I asked, "What exactly is Hokkaido Curry Puff?" He pointed at the paper bag that has "Tokachi Mill Factory" printed on it together with some Japanese characters and said, "I am using the flour from Hokkaido to make all these curry puffs." He added, "There are different flavors ranging from the usual potato and sardine to cheese potato and mentaiko cheese potato." I asked, "How long have you been running this stall?" He answered, "We have been around for about 7 months." It is 1 piece for $1.20 or 3 pieces for $3.00. I decided to get one of each of the remaining flavors for a total of $4.20. 

We tried the sardine flavor and the potato flavor first, it actually tasted just like the usual curry puffs from the Malay stalls. We then tried the mentaiko cheese potato, it did not have the taste of mentaiko though we could actually see it amongst the filling. And, the cheese potato flavor did not have the taste of cheese in it. My dining companion said, "Though they claimed to use flour from Hokkaido, I could not quite tell the difference. It did not seem to have much effect in enhancing the texture of those puffs."

The size of these curry puffs is quite small. 

The owner seems to be passionate enough to keep this stall going and perhaps, give it more time and it will get better. 

MILAH HOKKAIDO CURRY PUFF

31 Commonwealth Crescent #02-64 Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre SINGAPORE 149644

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 6.00 pm (Mon to Fri) / 9.00 am to 5.00 pm (Sat & Sun)

(Closed on Thursdays)

Sweet Heart Dessert : Sardine Puff and Potato Puff, must-try

A friend recommended the Sardine Puff and Curry Puff from a dessert stall at Toa Payoh Lorong 5 Food Centre. He did not recommend any of those desserts on the menu but just the puffs. I was there at about 1 pm on a Friday but the Sardine Puff have already sold out, left with the Potato Puff and Fried Popiah. The homemade Curry Puff and Sardine Puff are 3 pieces for $2, the homemade Popiah is $1 each. I was asked to self-service when the lady noticed me. I took 3 Potato Puffs and 1 Popiah for $3.00. The same friend mentioned that Sardine Puff is actually much better. 

My dining companion took a bite of the Potato Puff and he nodded his head, said, "This is simple and nice. It tasted warm and the crust was crispy."  He actually prefers this to those by Epok Epok Central at Eunos Crescent Food Centre. 

This is easily one of the better Potato Puff that I have eaten. It does not need to have egg or some fanciful fillings, this is good enough for me.

I went back for the Sardine Puff today. There were some left at 1.30 pm and also some Potato Puffs but no more popiah. I decided to go with 3 Sardine Puffs and 3 Potato Puffs. There were some customers ordering their hot desserts at that time.

My dining companion took a bite of the Sardine Puff and said, "I still prefer the Potato Puff a bit more. The puff is value for money though, it is packed with sardine filling. I do not think you can get another at this price elsewhere." I actually liked the Sardine Puff though, the filling was generous with a very mild spiciness, which is nice.

SWEET HEART DESSERT

Block 75 Toa Payoh Lorong 5 #01-06 Toa Payoh Lorong 5 Food Centre SINGAPORE 310075

Epok Epok Central : Nasi Lemak is good

This stall is one of the pioneer stalls in this food centre that started as a pushcart about 30 years ago in Geylang selling epok epok, a Malay-style curry puff. Madam Bayah Ahmad, the founder, is already in her late 70s and has handed the stall to her son, Lokman Kassim, 42. This stall also serves Nasi Lemak. 

There was a short queue to order Nasi Lemak when I was there on a Sunday for lunch, some of these customers took away a few packets. The standard order of Fish and Ikan Belis or Egg and Ikan Belis are only $2 each. When it was my turn to order, I ordered it with the fried chicken wing and it is $3.50 if I remember correctly. The coconut milk infused rice was fluffy and the chilli has got a good balance of spiciness and sweetness. The star has to be the well-seasoned fried chicken wing that happened to be freshly fried. 

The epok epok has 3 different types of filling, potato ($0.50), Sardine ($0.50) and Egg ($0.70) using a recipe that passed down from the first generation. The small, old-fashioned, deep-fried pastries were fried well to have a thin and crispy crust, this is what makes it stood out from the others apart from the tasty fillings. It was still crispy even after leaving it for a while. The dough is made fresh and using a manual pasta machine to roll it into the right thickness before frying it in the oil at a certain temperature. 

There was a mixture of sardine and onions in the Sardine Puff which my dining companion did not quite like. He said, "The potato one is nicer. If I have to choose, I still prefer the potato puff at the Sweet Heart Dessert, it is much better." 

EPOK EPOK CENTRAL

Block 4A Eunos Crescent #01-09 Eunos Crescent Food Centre SINGAPORE

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 7.00 pm (Tues to Fri) / 7.00 am to 4.00 pm (Sat & Sun) 

(Closed on Mondays)

New Tip Top The Puff Factory Vs AMK Curry Puff

Have you ever wondered why the curry puffs from Tip Top The Puff Factory did not taste as nice as before? check out my article on MAKANSUTRA.

Epok Epok Central

I was there to check out this food centre when came across this particular stall that seems to be specialised in the curry and sardine Epok Epok. I have always been a huge fan of this local snack. And, what exactly is Epok Epok? It is more commonly known as Curry Puff or Sardine Puff.   

I was excited but a little too full so i ended up getting just a sardine and a curry Epok Epok for 0.40 cents each. 

The size of both types of Epok Epok was really small. You might be wondering how small it is. Well, it is so small that it only took me 2 mouthfuls to finish one of it. I went for the Curry Epok Epok first. I was slightly disappointed after the first mouthful as it was rather hollow in it with very little curry potato filling. 

The potato has got a nicely mushy texture with a light curry taste though. The pastry tasted rather light, thin and not too greasy.  

The Sardine Epok Epok did not fare any better. It was equally hollow in it with very little sardine filling but the sardine filling tasted well.

I would think 0.40 cents for such a small piece of Epok Epok is considerably expensive.  I was told by a someone on a particular forum that it is possible to get a better tasting and bigger Epok Epok in the same area. Though it tasted nice but the size did not quite justified the price charged for each so i doubt i am likely to go back.

On the side note, their traditional type of Nasi Lemak is strongly recommended on the same forum. I guess i might just try it if i happen to be there again.

EPOK EPOK CENTRAL

Block 4A Eunos Crescent

Enuos Crescent Food Centre #01-09

SINGAPORE 402004

AMK CURRY PUFF, the original TIP TOP CURRY PUFF

It was by chance when we crossed path with this particular curry puff stall. The banner displayed right outside the coffee shop caught my attention. It said, 'Original AMK Curry Puff'. 

I was greeted by the friendly Auntie. I asked her, 'This stall used to be from Ang Mo Kio?' She nodded her head. I asked further. 'I stay in Ang Mo Kio for decade long but never did come across a stall by the name of AMK Curry Puff.'

Auntie said, 'Yeah. We used to be at Ang Mo Kio.'

I asked again, 'Which part of Ang Mo Kio?'

She said, 'We used to be Tip Top Curry Puff.'

I was so taken aback. 

My immediate reaction was 'OH!'

Auntie said, 'Couldn't you tell the difference when you eat it now? The taste is no longer the same.'

Honestly, i did not quite realise. I have not been patronising as much after they increased their price to $1.30. 

The Uncle said, 'The business was not as good so we decided to sell away the brand name and shop.'

I guess their business is not as good as before. Only a handful of curry puffs were on the display. It tasted quite the same. It is rather moist with an aromatic curry taste and full of ingredients like cubes of potatoes and bits of chicken together with a slice of hard boiled egg.

The crust was rather flaky with a slight buttery taste and fried well to give it the rather crispy texture, not too oily though.

Auntie said, 'Next time, when want to eat Curry Puff, remember to come to this stall!'

It seemed the Auntie and Uncle started this staff from scratch. They do not have any assistant now just both of them. The Auntie was sitting down, hand making the curry puffs one by one and the Uncle was right behind, preparing the filling.

It is still one of the better Curry Puffs that i ever tasted.

AMK CURRY PUFF

Block 184 Toa Payoh Central

#01-372 Super 28 Coffee Shop

SINGAPORE 310184.