Penang Almond Cream

Almond cream, shown here, shown here with eu char koay (right) and hum chin peng (top left) (right) and hum chin peng (top left) (8 December 2012)


Almond Cream or Hai-En Cha is a local specialty sweet dessert. It has been sold by the roadside along Kimberley Street by a stall for at least three decades, as I have had it since I was small. The stall has since grown to buy up the shophouse behind it, resulting in the opening of Restoran Traditional Home of Dessert. It has also opened a branch at Farlim. In addition to these two places, almond cream is also sold by the dessert stall at New Lane. If I am not mistaken, the proprietor of that stall is also related to the proprietor of the stall at Kimberley Street.

Almond Cream is something of an acquired taste. Many have described it as having the smell of cockcroaches, and a bitter aftertaste. But once you get used to it, almond cream tastes great, particularly when taken with eu char koay, or in my case, I like to have it with hum chin peng, which you can buy from the Hum Chin Peng Stall on Cintra Street.

Almond cream with eu char koay (8 December 2012)

Updates

13 December, 2013: This was our most recent visit to the stall selling almond cream along Kimberley Street. I have to say that I come away disappointed. I feel the quality of the almond cream has dropped. I could detect that they have added or even increased the amount of rice in the broth, while the amount of almond has been reduced. I could hardly taste or smell the almond, whereas the taste of rice is quite apparent. This is such a pity, as this stall had been my favorite since I was small. I don't think I will be back any time soon.


It's now incredibly easy to locate places where you can enjoy almond cream in Penang. The map below points out all the outlets selling this dessert.


View Almond Cream Stalls in Penang in a larger map

List of outlets where Almond Cream is available