JB Buy: Nyonya Sister Nyonya Kueh & Mugwort Kueh (娘惹糕.草仔粿) @ JB City Square
- Rick
- Oct 7
- 2 min read
Nyonya Sister, on Level 3 of JB City Square, is located right outside OldTown White Coffee restaurant, and next to the exit that leads to JB Sentral / JB CIQ. It is usually the first stall that most people will see after entering the shopping centre from JB Sentral.
Nyonya Sister sells a wide range of Nyonya / Chinese kuehs (bite-size snacks, desserts or pastries), nasi lemak (coconut-milk-flavoured rice), etc. The traditional snacks, especially the hot-selling items, usually sell out by early afternoon. I have patronised the stall many times to buy their kuehs for next day's breakfast, and trying something different each time.
One particular kueh at Nyonya Sister — that I like the most — is a dark-coloured round kueh. It is a little bigger than other kuehs at the stall and seems relatively unattractive — that's probably why I did not notice it until my sister suggested that I try it.
There are two look-alike dark kuehs at Nyonya Sister and about the same size. The tortoise-shape kueh with moulded pattern and a "寿" (longevity) Chinese character on its glutinous rice skin is filled with sweet mung bean paste. It is a black-coloured ang ku kueh known as orh ku kueh (黑龟粿).
The other dark-coloured, patternless kueh is mugwort kueh, or cao zai guo / 草仔粿, a traditional Hakka snack that is very popular in China and Taiwan, but seldom seen in Singapore and Malaysia. One savoury mugwort kueh and one sweet orh ku kueh makes a perfect pair.
Nyonya Sister's Mugwort Kueh (草仔粿) looks dark initially but the skin, made with glutinous rice and mugwort (艾草), is actually dark-greenish on closer look. The mild-sweet skin has savoury fillings that is a mixture of preserved sweet daikon radish (菜脯), dried shrimps, chive, etc. It is really delicious.
Before finding the mugwort kueh at Nyonya Sister, I had "草仔粿" in Taiwan's Fenqihu Old Street (奮起湖老街), near Alishan Scenic Area (阿里山), in 2022.
Aside from mugwort kueh and orh ku kueh, Nyonya Sister's other traditional kuehs are also nice to try. Their chee cheung fun (猪肠粉) are very similar to Hakka choy ban (客家菜板) except that the chive / turnip fillings are wrapped using chee cheung fun instead of choy ban skin. I have tried other types of ang ku kueh, chendol kueh, tapioca kueh, Nyonya kueh, shrimp dumplings, etc, and also yam cake with chunky cuts of yam. Their kuehs are not too sweet and no strong flavours using artificial flavourings.
There is always something different to try at Nyonya Sister and shortlist the traditional kuehs that one will like. For me, trying something different each time is better than eating the same thing every time.
Address:
JB City Square, Level 3, Lot JK-02
106-108, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
10am to 10pm | Daily
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