JOHOR BARU: For eleven months of the year, Datuk B. Balamurali is a real estate agent but he turns into a kuih bakul or “nian gao” businessman one month before the Chinese New Year.
The 46-year-old has been switching roles between the two since 1998 when he began converting his consulting office into a production centre for the festive cakes in Jalan Bakawali 52, Taman Johor Jaya.
The full-time property agent recruits about 40 part-time workers of all races to help with the making and packaging of some 3,000 pieces of the sticky cakes daily.
The father of three said he learned the ropes during his 10-year stint working at a now defunct Singaporean-owned bakery called Lau Fatt Kee after he had finished his secondary school education.
The Malacca-born businessman, who seized the opportunity to move out of his village in Jasin to Johor Baru in 1989 said that he was thankful to have found a job at the bakery where he took up baking skills from his mentor.
“When my business started 17 years ago, people were sceptical about an Indian man making and selling the Chinese traditional cakes.
“After they tasted it, a lot of my customers returned to buy more as they were impressed, saying that they reminded them of the nostalgic taste of the cakes made by their grandmothers,” he said when met at the outlet here.
The shop lot was divided into sections where workers first cut and toast banana leaves to soften them up to easily fit them into a tin mould.
A few designated ones then mix and slowly cook the batter on giant woks over fire before pouring the brown mixture into the moulds to be steamed for nine hours.
The round and brown sticky rice cakes are then cooled and packed into boxes after pasting a red sticker on each of them.
Balamurali said he was very particular about the steaming period because it affects the taste and softness of the cakes and would not taste good if they were steamed for only one or two hours.
“I have been told that my cakes taste authentic and that is probably because I stick to the traditional recipe from way back then,” he said, adding that there were no artificial colouring added into his recipe.
Along with his customer base, his production has increased from just a hundred pieces back then to churning out thousands of pieces per day with about 60% of the product exported to Singapore.
Balamurali also said he got customers who came all the way from Malacca, Batu Pahat and Kluang who wanted to sample his rice cakes.
He gets his banana leaf supply from Pontian and said it has been increasingly difficult to obtain proper and good condition leaves during the festive season as some suppliers limit the stock in the market.
Another challenge that he has to deal with is the rising cost of raw ingredients compared to previous years.
He said that the price of banana leaves had increased to RM40 from RM33 per bundle while glutinous rice flour costs RM52 per 10kg from RM44 and the price of gas had increased as well.
He added that he had maintained the price of his 300gm kuih bakul at RM8 but the 600gm ones are RM15 a piece from last year’s RM13.
He sells his cakes at the Johor Jaya Chinese New Year bazaar near the wet market as well as at the outlet with the help of his wife and eldest son.
“My son is interested in learning how to make them and hope to one day take over the business but I told him to complete his studies first,” he said of his 17-year-old.
Balamurali said that he would continue to take orders until Chap Goh Meh or the 15th day of the Lunar New Year where Chinese traditionally use the sticky rice cake as offerings to the gods.
After Chinese New Year, he resumes his real estate business.
The “nian gao” is traditionally consumed during Chinese New Year as well as used for prayers.
It can be eaten on its own or more commonly fried with sweet potato slices dipped in flour batter.
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