Reliving childhood craving for apum lenggang during my adult years in KL #TheGoodStuff

By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright February 2023

It's always difficult to go back in time trying to search for a taste you found so magical in childhood later in your adult life.

Ever been through that?

Allow me to take you on a journey to relive that magical taste of apum lenggang that Malays, Indians and even Chinese cooks prepare to suit your own taste buds.

Growing up in Alor Setar I have been accustomed to the taste of apum lenggang, a sweet crispy pancakes made from rice flour. It's light and crispy. The edges are crunchy almost like kueh kapit but the core is thicker with sweetened coconut milk on top.

When I went away to study overseas on a cold winter's day I would often crave for hot apum lenggang. No amount of Western pancakes could satisfy that craving. Pancakes from the International House of Pancakes just could not compete with our rice pancakes.

Guess what, when I came home years later that's what I searched for as soon as I reached my hometown.

The old uncle has passed on and his son took over the business. I gobbled the apum lenggang as soon as they were dished out from the pan. The young cook asked whether I was starving. "When did you last eat?", asked the cook.

I told him I was craving for it for almost 10 years. Later, when I worked in Penang there was one shop nearby the Botanical Gardens that made fabulous apum lenggang. 

I instantly made the shop my breakfast place consuming an insane amount of apum lenggang daily washing them down with cups of Hang Tuah coffee, a locally blended brand made in Bukit Mertajam, if I am not mistaken.

Then I went away to work overseas again and upon returning to KL I kept looking for the same crispy apum. I found one old lady making it in the afternoon at Lucky Garden, Bangsar. That was shut down by DBKL during Covid days and I am not sure where she moved to since. But I found another on Lorong Maarof to replace that stall.

That was great too. The Indonesian lady who made cooking apum it into an art form, just knew how I wanted it to be.

Every weekend after my morning walk my fellow walkers would join me for our weekly fix of apum lenggang with teh tarik susu lembu. Nothing fancy just tea with fresh milk, that's what it means in English. I have problems with sweet thick condensed milk. It's bad for your health anyway.

However, after a year the shop stopped making it because the lady resigned and went home to Indonesia. I saw pots left on the stove but there was no cook to "lenggang" the apum.

I was left in the wilderness yet again.

In October 2022, Deen Bistro in Desa Sri Hartamas opened its doors. One of the dishes on offer is apum lenggang starting at 7 in the morning. It's not bad as apum goes. But it's a bit thick and not crispy enough.

However, the taste is unmistakable. The price is at RM2.80 a piece though higher than what I paid for in Alor Setar and Penang in 60s and 70s is still affordable.

Deen Bistro is at Desa Sri Hartamas next door to Souled Out restaurant.

It's newly refurbished, it's clean with bright shiny yellow finish.

They serve the best satay in West KL at night, with plenty of outdoor seats in front of a big screen for you to watch EPL matches.

Go try this good stuff it'll take you back to your childhood days.

Deen Bistro

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