Story Of Kueh Bangkit

During the annual Lunar Chinese New Year festival, Singaporeans are very fond of eating the kueh bangkit cookies as Chinese New Year goodies. They love them for their easy chewability for it melts inside their mouths so easily like ice cream. Moreover, the aromatic fragrance of coconut and pandan emanate out of the bites. But kueh bangkit has a story behind its origin for its popularity that has spanned across generations of Chinese in Singapore, and also as a reputation as a popular CNY goodie.

Historically, the origin of kueh bangkit comes from the Peranakan and Malay community in old Malaya. Often a misconception that it is a CNY goodie, kueh bangkit is also a traditional Malay cookie that is favoured during Hari Raya among the Southeast Asian community, with the bulk of it in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The kueh bangkit name derives from the fact that the cookies rise during the baking process. In fact, the word 'bangkit' means 'rise' in Malay.

But there are some who believe that this CNY goodie comes from China as they would be used as worshipping offerings to ancestors at the altars. Typically, the kueh bangkit cookies are baked into shapes that would resemble money. Common shapes used in baking kueh bangkit are chrysanthemum and goldfish. Both have some attached meanings of wealth in household beliefs. Traditional superstitious Chinese also believe that taking these cookies would help them to surmount any obstacles faced in life in the coming year. Sometimes, sesame seeds would be sprinkled on the kueh bangkit cookies to symoblise fertility in their households.

Recipes and ingredients involved in the baking process include the common tapioca flour and coconut milk. The latter would make you think of it as Peranakan originated as it is more of a Nyonya used item in food. Tapioca would typically result in the common kueh bangkit colour of white. The white kueh bangkit is the most popular in Singapore. In the Singapore community, gula melaka is also another recipe used to make the kueh bangkit sweeter in taste.

During the period leading up to the actual holiday, in this festive period, women would indulge in baking these cookies to prepare for visiting relatives and friends. Some women treat them as small scale businesses by selling the kueh bangkit to others who are too busy and do not have time or even the passion to bake or even shop for them.

Kueh bangkit is indeed a favourite among the CNY cookies. People would munch them or simply just place them inside their mouths to let them melt naturally like chocolate bars. Think of these kueh bangkit as fragile and soluble coconut cream cookies made from tapioca flour. Even little children like to treat them like candy bars. It would also be good for the older generation who have lost their tooth to munch on them every festive period precious to them.

Read more about kueh bangkit - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kue_bangkit