Yong and his wife Kong have been selling tong sui for the past 30 years in Section 17, Petaling Jaya. — Photos: SHAARI CHE MAT/The Star
MALAYSIANS, who generally have a sweet tooth, rarely miss an opportunity to indulge in desserts.
One such favourite is tong sui – a sweet soup or pudding served at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine.
Tong sui contains various types of ingredients, such as dried fungus, peach gum, beans, grass jelly, barley, yams and sweet potatoes.
It can be enjoyed warm or cold any time of the day.
For the past 30 years, Yong Thim Hong, 65, and his wife Kong Kwn Lin, 64, have been operating a tong sui stall where the sweet soup is prepared daily to ensure its freshness.
On any day, there are at least 15 types of tong sui available, with the all-time bestsellers being the classic red bean and green bean tong sui without santan.
The couple also have a “modern” bestseller that draws youngsters. It contains ingredients such as peach gum, yam and sea coconut.
Red bean tong sui is among the bestsellers.
Yong said although the younger generation appreciated classic tong sui, they preferred the more “picture-worthy” ones.
“Many youngsters also like the ones I make with sea coconut and sago.
“When we started the business, we only made bean-based tong sui.
“Now we incorporate other ingredients such as bird’s nest,” he added.
‘Peach Gum’ tong sui contains peach gum, yam and sea coconut.
In 1984, Yong first started a stall selling curry mee and pau in Section 17, Petaling Jaya. However, the business did not take off as there were too many competitors.
He then ventured into selling tong sui and soon realised that it was profitable.
“Most of our customers are students. This could be because tong sui is a cheap meal yet filling and nutritious,” said Yong.
He acknowledged that it was a painstaking process to make these desserts, and he would have eight gas burners fired up at one time.
Sliced pear and lemon tong sui.
“It takes two hours to just cut and prepare the ingredients, which is mostly done by my wife, who only sleeps at 5am daily.
“Some of my customers come all the way from Shah Alam and Kepong just to enjoy a bowl of my tong sui.
“This makes me happy. I have no plans to retire and will continue doing this for as long as I can,” he added.
The cheapest tong sui is the green bean flavour priced at RM2.50 per bowl.
Green bean tong sui.
Hong Kee tong sui stall is located at Pasar Sentosa in Jalan 17/27, Section 17, Petaling Jaya.
The stall operates from 3.30pm to 9pm, Wednesday to Sunday.
