Once upon a time before phones and texting existed, Peranakan girls who didn’t have a chaperone were forbidden from meeting boys their age.

But determined for their hearts to be heard – the girls got creative and hid romantic messages in the delicate folds of handmade kuih kapit.

A stealthy way for their love letters to be delivered, these golden envelopes and evidence of it could be destroyed in a single bite.

Secret messages or not, these delicate coconut milk wafers with intricate designs stamped on them, are still passed around today with great relish.

Instead of love-struck Peranakan girls, the work station at a little store called Eng Seng Kuih Kapit is fuelled on family love and smouldering charcoal.

Customers call months in advance to reserve their tins of kuih kapit for Chinese New Year, some even as early as November in order to guarantee the tins arrive in time for the festive season.

Every Chinese New Year, there is a long list of customers awaiting their orders and it’s not uncommon for this store to produce between 1,000, sometimes even 2,000 tins on demand.

According to older folks, Eng Seng’s love letters are authentic and just one bite is enough to remind them of their youth.

Upon approaching Lebuh Presgrave and its cluster of heritage houses, the aroma of cooking batter and charcoal fill the air, whilst sounds of clanking metal grow louder and louder.

On closer inspection, you’ll see two women face the heat in the storefront and whilst handling more moulds than one can count, their gloved fingers working swiftly and dancing with the flames as the metal moulds are flipped quickly in an orderly line over charcoal.

“The fire is the most important part and the trick is in the timing,” 60-year-old Saik Wai Fong tells FMT.

Wife to Quah Eng Seng, the owner of the shop, Saik says the recipe is her mother’s, and is over 40 years old. The husband and wife started the business back in 2003.

“Taking care of the fire is the hardest as you have to follow the fire’s pace and when the fire rises quickly, you have to work even faster,” said Saik.

“If the timing is not accurate the wafers can easily burn and unfortunately become a rejected love letter.”

Enjoying love letters ever since she was a little girl, Saik tells FMT that it was always a family activity that brought everyone together and from the looks of it, it still does.

“I wouldn’t be able to run the shop if they all weren’t helping out,” says Saik and by “they” Saik means her two daughters, her son’s wife and a worker who’s been with her for ages.

“They’ve all been helping me for over 10 years and my youngest daughter has been making the wafers ever since she was 10 years old,” she says.

As quick as batter-filled moulds are flipped on one end of the line, fresh batter is ladled into an empty mould at the other end and clamped in a flash.

With a single blink, you could easily lose track of the freshly filled mould among the sea of already heated ones as the silver disk is immediately slotted back onto the charcoal line.

Keeping a watchful eye on the moulds in front of them, once any edge turns a shade of gold – with the flick of a wrist, the mould is opened to reveal a perfect golden circle and once peeled away from the scaling mould, the wafers are flung like golden frisbees onto the next table.

Then, it’s a race against time as nimble fingers quickly fold the delicate discs into quarters before it cools down and turns crisp.

Behind every fold lies perfect precision and years of experience to form the beautiful curve and point of a love letter.

“Every time we make the love letters together, we end up laughing and laughing and when my goddaughter comes we laugh even more as we laugh over her failed love letters,” Saik says, letting out another big laugh.

“When we make these love letters, it’s filled with joy and we’re always happy.”

Although Chinese New Year this year may be socially distant for most, at least kuih kapit still offers you a means of communicating with loved ones.

Eng Seng Kuih Kapit
30, Gat Lebuh Presgrave
3rd Road, 10300 George Town
Pulau Pinang

Operating Hours:
9am – 7pm (Monday – Saturday)
1pm – 7pm (Sunday)