Groundnut recipe dating back three generations

FROM its humble beginning at a smokehouse in Sungai Siput (North) in 1945, Pagoda is now one of the leading “Menglembu Groundnuts” brand in the country.

Thong Thye Groundnut Factory Sdn Bhd CEO Liew Yu-Gene said the Pagoda brand has its origins in Hopoh, Guangdong, where his grandfather, Liew Kee Yin was born.

“Inspired by the pagoda built in the 19th century that had withstood flood, famine and drought through the years, my grandfather decided to use it as the trademark to symbolise strength and tenacity.”

According to Yu-Gene, Thong Thye was the first company to market Menglembu groundnuts as a snack.

The company which has a factory in Vietnam, also sold other brands like Pagoda Shandong Groundnuts and Pagoda Menglembu Salted & Dried Groundnuts.

Thong Thye has indeed come a long way.

“We used to sell groundnuts by the katis to travellers along the Ipoh-Butterworth trunk road where our factory is located. ” Yu-Gene recalled with pride.

The history of Menglembu Groundnuts has been traced to Menglembu, a town near Ipoh, in the early 1940s, where a resident named Lee discovered a unique way of processing groundnuts in shell and subsequently named it after his hometown.

Nevertheless, Yu-Gene said Pagoda Menglembu groundnuts were unique because it was also processed using a traditional recipe dating back three generations.

He said the groundnuts were washed and boiled with natural salt using a traditional processing method before undergoing either hot air drying or open air drying.

The latter method was better because the moisture in the groundnuts would be reduced, giving it a crunchier texture, he added.

Yu-Gene said the final phase saw the groundnuts undergoing a slow baking process over smouldering charcoal.

“It is under carefully controlled temperatures that the groundnuts are able to maintain their taste and crunchiness. The aroma attained during the slow baking process is unique.”