My first Tou Foo man was the guy who sold tou foo near Chung Cheng School Sibu. It was so long ago that I cannot remember his name or even his face. My mother cannot recall his name either.
I continue to remember the man who sold tou foo on a three wheeler but with traffic becoming very thick in Sibu I supposed he gave up doing that business and upgraded to a van. So he disappeared from the scene.
In Sibu we had a few tou foo makers who were famous in the Central Market of the olden days. Mr. Lee for example was fairly special because he was tall and he rode a bicycle with his two tins hanging from the sides of his tall 22" bicycle!! His son was naturally nicknamed Tou Hoo Chiong. Siew Chiong is now a big tycoon in KL.
Now that mum and my sisters have moved to Kuching they have their own tou foo man ...this is the guy! And I do love his special wooden tub for his toufoo fah....
A good morning here is better than the greeting+ buying+ goodbye. It is the nice smile and the nice conversation of a few minutes which really add value to the tou foo fah! This is what I call a gentleman hawker at its best.
And you do not have to guess - his tou foo fah sells like well hot tou foo fah!!
He is very clean as you can see how he covers his famous wooden tub with a lovely and soft piece of enviable muslin. This is a precious piece of family heirloom. And I think the wealth brought by this tub must be equivalent to a few houses in Kuching!!
2 comments:
making this wooden hub must need good kung fu i think. seems no leak,just like they apply resin when making sailing boats in the olden time. i love toufu fa,especially just taken out from the refrigerator. the one sold at Petaling Street in KL uses alloy hub. oh ya,gua bay cai mana ala jual lo GI roti lah
-Ah Ngao
Yes!! Ah Ngao...this kind of wooden tub is hard to make and the skill is dying actually.
Most people use tupperware or a nice cooking pot. I think people in the past would all use the wooden tub..the only known thing. I really think this old man is keeping Chinese tradition alive!! People should appreciate him more.
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