Seng Hong Coffeeshop: A Blast from the Past
With Damien
Steamed Lohti with Peanut Butter 50 cents per slice
Nostalgia is a precious commodity in Singapore. In our fast paced society where "Land is Scarce" most places only have a limited lifespan. So you are not likely to find the old oak tree where grandpa was supposed to meet grandma and run away together. A lot of the significant spots that Amagada and I fondly remember from our dating days have either been renovated or demolished altogether. Heck, even SM Goh's old dating hotspot, the National Library, is no more.
Bread steaming over pot of boiling water
So when Damien mentioned this old coffeeshop which still steam their Lohti (traditional bread), I got really excited.
It gets better. Not only were they steaming their Lohti, they were still boiling water from an ancient pot which, I am told is at least 70 years old. Rest assured, they clean the pot and decant the water at the end of the day, so it is not one of those legendary braising sauce stories where the pots are never washed out and theoretically, you can still be eating the part of same sauce from great grandpa's days.
You hardly see steamed bread nowadays, but I tell you, it really is very shiok! I was literally transported back in time ala Anton Ego's flashback sequence from Ratatouille. Mom used to steam bread for Grandma who prefers it to toast as it is easier on her dentures. In those days I never really appreciated steamed bread. In fact, when Gardenia made its first appearance in our supermarket shelves, we were all awed by its "so good you can eat it on its own" tagline and we kids looked upon steamed Lohti as passe.
Needless to say, the steamed Lohti with peanut butter was one of the best things I have eaten. It's warm and it is superduper soft. No wonder Grandma could gum it without her dentures! It was so good, I had to order a second serving and I would have a third if not for the fact that we came here right after lunch. 4.5/5
Kopi 80 cents
The Kopi here is what it should be like. Thick, full bodied, creamy and fragrant. It's no wonder since they can trace their origins back to Tong Ya at Keong Saik Road. It happens that 40 years ago, the third son of the owner of Tong Ya left to open his own coffeeshop right here. Just like Tong Ya, the coffee tends to be a little on the bitter side but this can be fixed easily with the addition of evaporated milk if you don't like it too bitter. 4.25/5
Kaya Toast
The Kaya Toast is good here but would have been better if they made their own Kaya. With so many places making Kaya Toast nowadays, you really do need homemade kaya in order to stand out. 3.75/5
Mr Tan standing at the original counter brought over from Keong Saik Road
Conclusion
I wonder why not many other places serve steamed bread. It is really very very shiok and sitting in that old coffeeshop, sipping Kopi and eating soft lohti is just one of those things in life that are so simple and yet so enjoyable. And all for less than two bucks!
Seng Hong Coffeeshop
Blk 58 Lengkok Bahru
6am to 6pm
Closed alt Sundays
22 comments:
It would be interesting to note that the real teochew word for bread is actually not lohti but minbao. I have pure teochew friends living in vietnam whom parents arrived from teochew few decades ago and they can almost understand everything i said except the word lohti. They always tell me, "MINBAO" ma, why you call it "LOHTI"? LOL!
One of my favourite ways to eat bread is to put a piece of cheese between 2 piece and put it into the oven for 30 seconds. That was one of my fav lunch last time. Damn soft bread with the melting cheese. If I can throw in some lettuce, cucumber and some salami, sure can give subway a run!
Oh that superduper soft lohti sounds so shiok.
I would have loved this with butter and sprinkled with sugar on top, that wud be really nice.
jencook, you party animal ar? everytime go your blog, you have that party song to entertain readers, always bring out the party mood everytime i go your blog. You should put a clip of you dancing to that tune ma. kekekeke.
wat i really miss are the bread toasted over charcoal, slap a piece of frozen butter and white sugar in between.... mmmm....*flashback*
Lohti is actually from malay word roti.....but teochew call minbao meh? sounds like cantonese leh
btw, i think it should be blk 57, blk 56 is where zi yean is ... bunhiong@magix.com.sg
Sorry typo, should be Blk 58
This is the first time I've heard of steamed bread! I love learning about SG's food history.
But I have to admit, I prefer wholegrain bread...
Is it possible for me to steam my own bread? Are there any special techniques or markers that I should take note of if I want to try?
Hejin, sure you can steam bread at home over the conventional stove like how you would steam any other things. My late grandpa used to steam his bread, then dip it in coffee. :)
steaming your own bread will make it more khieu (spongy)...I used to freeze the whole loaf...keeps longer and fresher. Then when you want to eat, steam the slices you need. Great with a slab of butter, and kaya or jam.
There is a stall in Tiong Bahru market which does steamed bread...I forget the name, but know how to find it...sorry not much more help.
btw, the etymology of the word roti: from Hindi. The Malay word is also sourced from the Hindi.
Actually roti is a word that mean flat bread in the Middle East and Africa. India also sourced that word them. Bread is actually a diet from ancient Egypt where they were made from various ingredients from a wide species of wheat but the common type is called Triticum aestivum.
You can read the history here
http://www.breadinfo.com/history.shtml
it's always interesting to see and hear comments from readers who delve into the history of food and names etc :)
Even better with homemade Kaya! Trying to get Nanyang Cafe to make steam bread by liverpool not so keen.
already not enough staff! :) can try if I can recruit a kopi maker!
I like their homemade kaya.
i've never seen a bread steam pot before.. an eye opening.. the picture taken is great with the steam as well..
I grew up eating steamed bread! My Ah-Gong (maternal grandfather) prepared it for breakfast before kindergarten class.
Would toss it a little from hand to hand (like the anoalogy of hotcakes) and loved eating it plain. The bread he buys is the rectangular sliced ones, baked in traditional bakeries, which we buy every night from an uncle in a motobike at a carpark nearby.
An occassional treat, Ah-Gong would make a Milo drink, where is cracks an egg into the cup, pours very very hot boiling water from a kettle over the stove (must be really hot he insists) and stirs vigorously till the eggs is broken up like threads in the drink.
I miss Ah-Gong..
At least you remember your Ah Gong. Both of mine passed away when I was very young.
read this entry really fast and thought the focus was on the peanut butter steamed bread.
Went there few weeks ago and tried the steamed bread. Yes very nice. Ordered a kopi.
Fwah. The kick that hits you is really really different. Yes coffeeshop kopi is different from Starbucks, Coffee Bean but this one is really different from the other coffeeshop kopi. There is really an oomph.
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