Thai dessert ‘luk chup’ now a hot favourite in Kota Baru
ATRADITIONAL sweetmeat from Thailand, luk chup, is a much sought after item by the local community here, providing a lucrative source of income for the sweetmeat makers. The bean-based dish is unique in that it is made in various shapes and attractive colours resembling fruits and vegetables. At first glance, they look like artificial fruits or vegetables.
“‘Luk’ means fruit, referring to the fruit or vegetable shaped sweetmeats, while ‘ch up’ means dip ,” said S akin ah Mustapha, 46, at her house in Kampung Bayam near here.
Sakinah said she quit her job as an accounts officer at a company here in 2016 to run the luk chup business full time.
“When I started the business, it only provided me an income of about RM500 a month, but now the orders I get are not only from customers in Kota Baru, but also in other districts in Kelantan, as well as in other states, such as Kedah, Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur, providing me with an income of up to RM1,500 a month.
“During the wedding season and school holidays, I don’t have enough help to meet orders, which can reach up to 2,000 pieces daily,” said Sakinah, who has two assistants to help her with making luk chup, which is sold at RM10 for 25 pieces.
She said luk chup was popular because it could be served as a dessert and also given as gifts for house guests.
Sakinah said she learnt to make luk chup when she was 15 from her aunt, Zaleha Abdul Hanan, 55, who is from Golok, Thailand.
“Not many people here can make luk chup because the process is tedious and requires skill to shape or carve the dough into fruits or vegetables.
“Making luk chup involves a long process and demands a high level of patience, especially to shape the dough into fruits or vegetable, because when the dough gets dry, it will not form properly and will start to crack,” she said, adding that her luk chup was normally in the shape of watermelon slices, bananas, mangoes, eggplants and cabbage.
A single mother with four children aged between 12 and 24, Sakinah said the ingredients needed to make the sweetmeat were yellow beans or green peas, agaragar, food colouring and jasmine water.