Putu Bambu - Past vs. Present

To my friends from Malaysia, I have a question for you, putu bambu means bamboo cake...right?

I discovered these treats while visiting the night market in Chow Kit. Funny story, apparently Chow Kit is the redlight district of Kuala Lumpur, but I had no idea. I actually didn’t find this out until the day before my scheduled return to Vietnam. Earlier that day, I took the train to Subang Jaya to buy baking supplies and then waved down a taxi afterwards to take me to the train station to go back to KL. The taxi driver, who at first thought I was a native, but later found out I wasn’t because of my “American” accent; asked where I was staying. I told him Chow Kit, and his reactions were, what? You? I asked him why he’s so surprised. It was then that he told me to be careful as Chow Kit is the hub for drugs, violence, and prostitution. He told me I was very brave. Heheheeh In Chow Kit’s defense, I stayed there for 3 days, walked around its streets at night by myself and never once did I not feel safe.

Back to the main story. I was walking around the night market which is just a few blocks from my hotel. The cakes are so unique I had to stop for a taste even though I already stuffed from eating Satay earlier (more on that later).

The cakes are made from what looks to be coarsely ground rice. Bamboo molds are stuffed half full with the rice. Palm sugar is added and then more rice.

The Cakes are steamed for a few mins.

The finished product is a soft, tender, slightly spongy cake. It’s served with grated coconut, and a spoon full of palm sugar.







It goes to show, sometimes the simplest ingredients can become the tastiest creations. So forget the dough improvers, dough softeners, and sponge gel/stabilizers, stick with tradition!...It's yummy! :p

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