Fresh flavour for traditional buns
IPOH: A trader selling tortoise buns for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival has given a new twist to the traditional buns, flavouring them with fresh strawberries.
Sold at RM4 a pair, Lew Kok Foong, 51, sells the buns at his stall at Tow Boo Keong Temple along Jalan Tokong here.
“We started selling the strawberry-flavoured buns on Monday and it has since become our best seller.
“We use real strawberries. There are bits of the fruit in the buns,” he told The Star.
Hundreds of the buns are sold daily.
The nine-day festival, which kicked off yesterday, is dedicated to the nine sons of Dou Mu, the Goddess of the North Star, who is believed to control the Books of Life and Death.
The red coloured-buns represent prosperity while the tortoise shape symbolises a long and healthy life.
Lew said the idea to use strawberry came about during a family discussion.
“Our customers kept asking us whether we will be introducing any new flavours after we created white coffee-flavoured buns two years ago. We felt strawberries could be equally popular, especially among children,” he said.
Lew, who has been operating his business for 20 years, also sells wholemeal tortoise buns.
He said the buns were made fresh, from about 9am until midnight.
“We sell the buns until the last day of the festival.”