白发姐妹逢年汇聚 | 狮尾新村的炭烧年饼 Charcoal-baked Chinese New Year Cookies at Kampung Simee

凌晨三时许，夜色笼罩着大地，人们大多仍沉浸在酣梦中，怡保狮尾新村（Kampung Simee）巴刹对面一幢店屋的五脚基里却灯火如昼。数名白发老妪围坐在长方炭炉前，或周旋于两列共十个圆形炭炉之间，忙着制作传统年饼。柴炭在炉内烧得火红，糕饼香气随着袅袅轻烟升起；角落里的收音机播放着音乐，偶尔被热络的交谈声掩盖。她们日出前就开始忙个不停，直到日落方停歇。

这幢双层店屋，自狮尾新村成立伊始经营着杂货店，是刘家四代的避风港，也是如今连结家人的枢纽。在第三代十名姐妹中排行第七的刘秀忠，从小对制作糕饼有着浓厚兴趣，每逢临近年节，在放学后会帮街坊邻里制作年饼。长大后，她向姐妹们提议一起制作以及贩卖年饼，没曾想这一做就逾四十载。出嫁前大家住在同一屋檐下，出嫁后每逢农历新年前两个月到除夕期间，她们特意抽空回到老家门前，展开一年一度的忙碌。

炭炉和铁铸模具从储物间里拨云见日，只为做出脍炙人口的糕加必（kuih kapit）、蛋卷和印尼饼。其中印尼饼是她们早年到印尼旅游访友时尝到，回来后自己研发推出，煎一面圆形饼皮，包花生或肉丝内馅，折成正方形。蛋卷是所有年饼中最畅销的，分别有两种，即空心的和到合艾旅游时受启发做出的肉丝蛋卷。糕加必、印尼饼和蛋卷的外表虽然看着大致相同，但面糊原料各异。刘氏姐妹沿用一贯的食材比例，不为迎合顾客口味做出调整。坚持用炭烤，无非那独特的风味深受顾客喜爱。

长方炭炉用于烘烤糕加必，几姐妹合作无间，同时操作二十个铁模，从烘烤、折叠到装罐，有条不紊地完成每一道工序，并无固定岗位，可随意轮替。圆形炭炉烘烤印尼饼或蛋卷，刘秀忠阿姨一人可同时操作五个铁模。顶着一头遗传性白发的刘氏姐妹们，在店屋与五脚基之间忙进忙出，除了炭烤年饼之外，也制作油炸的蜂巢饼，较年长的姐姐们负责制作烤箱类年饼，总共有二十多种。

制作年饼虽无深奥诀窍，但过程繁琐，尤其因年纪渐长，每天劳作后手脚酸痛。刘氏姐妹只好依体力所及承接订单，预估制作时间，在过年前一个月截单，专注完成订单后收工过年。往年她们一直忙碌到除夕，年夜饭由兄弟姐妹集资一起外出用餐。最大的盼头是大年初一，家人纷纷回到老家团聚，拍摄全家福。

年复一年制作年饼，一家大小或左邻右里相互帮忙，围坐在一起谈天论地，感情变得亲近。手工制作的传统年饼，给亲朋戚友送礼、招待登门拜年的宾客，或自家人在年节时享用，都是温馨年味的传承。

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Around 3AM, when the surroundings are enclosed in darkness, and most people are still sound asleep, the five-foot-way of a double-storey shophouse in Kampung Simee, Ipoh, is brightly lit. A few white-haired ladies are either seated in front of a rectangular charcoal stove or shuffling between two rows of round charcoal stoves (ten in total), busy making traditional Chinese New Year cookies. The aroma of cookies wafts alongside the red-hot smoldering charcoal, music plays from the radio in the corner, sometimes interrupted by lively chatter. They are busy as bees from before sunrise until sunset.

This double-storey shophouse has been around since Kampung Simee was founded, acting as a grocer and home to four generations of the Low family, where all members of the family would now gather. Ranked seventh out of ten sisters in the third generation, Low Siew Tiong sparked an interest in cookie-making from a tender age. Each year, as the festive season approached, she would help neighbours to make cookies after school. After becoming an adult, she suggested to her sisters that they all work together to make Chinese New Year cookies for sale. Unexpectedly, they kept it up for over forty years. Before getting married, they all lived under the same roof. After getting married, during the two months preceding Chinese New Year until New Year’s Eve, they would make a special effort to return to their old home, where they busied themselves with their annual cookie-making.

The charcoal stoves and cast-iron moulds resurfaced from the storeroom to make mouthwatering kuih kapit, egg rolls, and Indonesian style cookies. The inspiration for Indonesian style cookies was a local delicacy they tasted during a trip decades ago where they visited friends in Indonesia. Upon returning home, they come up with their own version: fry a thin round pancake, fill it with peanuts or meat floss, and fold it into a square. Egg rolls are the bestseller, coming in two varieties: hollow or filled with meat floss (inspired by a trip to Hatyai). Kuih kapit, Indonesian style cookies, and egg rolls may appear similar, but the makeup of each batter is different. The Low sisters stick with the same ingredients’ ratio, without making adjustments to suit consumers. They insist on using charcoal, as it instills a unique flavor which consumers love.

Kuih kapit is baked using the rectangular charcoal stove. The sisters work closely together, handling 20 moulds at the same time. From baking, folding, to packing, each step is carried out in an orderly manner. There are no fixed roles, they can swap with each other anytime. The round charcoal stoves are for Indonesian style cookies and egg rolls, which Low Siew Tiong can single-handedly take care of five at a time. The Low sisters, all of whom have genetically white hair, bustle around the shophouse and the five-foot-way. Apart from charcoal-baked cookies, they also make deep-fried honeycomb cookies, and the older sisters are in charge of oven-baked cookies, totalling up to over twenty types.

The making of cookies is not sophisticated, but the process is gruelling, especially as they get older, they endure sore limbs after work. The Low sisters could only accept orders according to their physical capacity, estimate the production time, and close orders one month before the Chinese New Year, focus on completing orders, then wrap up work to enjoy the holidays. In previous years, they used to work right up to New Year’s Eve, and the siblings pooled money to dine out together for the reunion dinner. What they look forward to the most is on the first day of the Chinese New Year, all members of the family gather at their old home and take family photos.

(full article: https://uniness.gallery/charcoal-bake...)

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