Pusing town popular for its colourful Nyonya delicacies

THE colourful nyonya kuih sold on tricyles and makeshift stalls in Pusing town is something that visitors and locals alike find hard to resist.

According to some Perakians, the traditional delicacies from Pusing, a town located about 20km from Ipoh, are not only tasty but also bigger in size and cheaper compared to those sold in the city.

Apart from the locals, residents from nearby Batu Gajah, Tanjung Tualang and Tronoh will travel to Pusing to buy the kuih. Some travellers along the Ipoh-Lumut highway will also make a detour to Pusing just for the delicacies.

So, what makes Pusing kuih stand out from the rest?

A kuih seller who only wants to be known as Ah Mei, attributed her brisk business to the affordable price and the kuih’s freshness.

She said she and her husband would wake up at 4am daily to prepare the kuih which is made up of 13 varieties altogether.

“Anything kept overnight will not be fresh and customers will be able to tell the difference,” she noted.

Ah Mei said she took over the business and learnt the skill of making kuih from her late mother-in-law more than 20 years ago.

The fact that her mother-in-law was in the business for over 30 years prior to Ah Mei taking over, spoke volumes of the thriving family business.

On rising costs of doing business, Ah Mei said the price of sugar had gone up twice recently but the price of her kuih had remained unchanged.

“I make less profit but I get to keep my customers,” she reasoned.

All her kuih are priced at 50sen each, except for the sesame seed-coated riceballs which are priced at 80sen each. Comparatively, the same types of kuih but smaller in size and sold in coffeeshops in Ipoh city, for instance, are each priced at 80sen or more.

Ah Mei, who opens her stall at noon, usually finishes selling her kuih by evening.

On why Pusing has been singled out as the place for Nyonya kuih, Ah Mei said it was because there were many varieties to choose from and each and every one of the seven stalls in this town had its own regular crowd.