Xyn He Biscuits & Confectionery (鑫河特产专卖店) is a new local products shop that started business near KSL City Mall in November 2022. The shop unit was previously occupied by Ming Ang Confectionery (明安特产专卖店), which had moved to a corner unit at the other end of the row of shophouses along Jalan Serigala.
Xyn He carries a wide range of traditional pastries, especially Hokchew biscuits (福州饼) as one of its signature products. Another signature pastry is their buttermilk biscuits or milk cakes (奶黄酥) which comes in 3 flavours: lotus (豆蓉), red bean (红豆) and pandan-flavour emerald (翡翠). All of Xyn He's pastries are freshly baked and sold in the shop.
Several types of Hokchew biscuits are showcased in their glass shelves. The one that stands out the most is the big Hokchew wife cake (福州大礼饼 / 老婆饼) that is used as betrothal ceremonial gifts traditionally. Unlike the smaller Cantonese wife cake that uses mainly winter melon and sesame, Hokchew wife cake uses candied winter melon and grated peanuts as two of its primary filling ingredients. Unlike olden-day Hokchew wife biscuit, there is no pork in the filling.
The big wife cake has thin crust that is baked with a layer of sesame seeds and is a little chewy. The filling is fuller, soft and lightly chewy (like eating cheese) and crunchy in texture due to the grated peanuts. The crispy sesame layer enhances the fragrance and texture of the biscuit. Best of all, it is not too sweet.
Xyn He also makes Cantonese wife cakes that use different ingredients from the Hokchew wife cakes. The smaller wife cake has flaky layered crust and the winter melon filling is not too sweet too — personally, I have found a new love!
A smaller version of the Hokchew wife biscuit in Xyn He is the Cantonese gai zai beng or little chicken biscuit (鸡仔饼) — not the Kampar-style five-spiced hard biscuit although they have the same name. The fillings of the two biscuits look similar and in thin crusts but the gai zai beng has no sesame seeds on the crust. Of course, it tastes almost similar to the big biscuit without the flavour and texture of the sesame seeds.
Needless to say, I will go for their buttermilk biscuits next.
Address:
3, Jalan Serigala, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
9am to 9pm | Daily
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