Min Xiang Tai Pastry Shop @ Penang Road
The Penang Road branch of this Chinese traditional pastry shop chain is like all the others decorated with old bric a brac from the 1950s eg tiffin carriers, old radios, votive offerings, cake moulds, vintage posters and even an old bicycle ( in olden days, the biscuit vendors went door to door to sell their wares on bicycles). For dessert I ordered taufufa (cold bean curd pudding with syrup) and a salted egg pastry, one of the chain’s popular pastries. The bill was RM6.50.
Min Xiang bake most of the pastries in house. You can see the bakers at work unloading trays of pastries from ovens.
As I was eating my dessert of taufufa at Min Xiang Tai Pastry Shop at Penang Road, I spotted many colorful cellophane lanterns for the Mid Autumn festival for children on display. It brought back fond memories of my paternal grandmother who used to make them for me and my siblings in the shape of rabbits, pigs and cockerels every Mid Autumn festival.
Of course my grandmother’s amateur efforts cannot compare with these works of art. The Mid Autumn festival lanterns on display at Min Xiang Tai were not only handpainted but the wirework and paint decoration showed considerable skill. See pictures below.
I will light a candle in her memory tonight in the gold fish lantern I bought from the shop for RM12.90. The shop assistant showed me how to fold the lantern flat, and included a free candle and bamboo stick with my purchase.
The gold fish lantern RM12.90
The history of Min Xiang Tai
