Ng Teng Kei Cold Cake + Red Bean Cake

When the Autumn time arrived in October each year, my mother queen at home always crave for sweet stuff at home and ask me get some cold cakes from Rua Manduco.

Ng Teng Kei has been in business for nearly 70 years, mainly making Cold Cakes and Red Bean Cakes. Cold cakes originated from Chao-zhou, and it is very rare to find such desserts that knows the scecret recipes. It is crispy from the outside, soft on the inside; sprinkled with sugar, crushed peanuts and sesame on the top layered, round-shape cake, then folded into halves that makes the cake outlook, which tastes fragrant. Each cold cakes plate portion needs to finish all instantly right from the pan – all fillings easily went melted. The best time making those desserts is best preferrably in cold days. Most customers preferences love to eat the edges part, when baked the sticking out edges turned golden crispy and delicious. No exaggeration, but I often introduce the making claimed as “Macau’s long lost unique Cold Cake ever.”

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When to buy

Cold cakes best served during autumn and winter seasons, from October to May period. In the summer, Ng Teng Kei also sell jelly, assrted fruit juices and trendy mix drinks; Red Bean Cakes are available all year round, including other Chinese pastries and snacks, in wide range of varieties in stock.

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The Red bean Cake making

Speaking of red bean cakes, you might recall back the old hawker stall place that pushing in small green cart, selling in a fix location at Rua da Palha. In fact, Ng Teng Kei that time was selling similar products at Rua Manduco. It has moved from small hawker place to permanent food stalls located in the Manduco market top floor, also recently renovated recently a re-branded retail store with new packagings, and injected in some new product launch strategic long term plans.

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Customers visit them non-stop. Cold cakes and red bean cakes cooked on the spot, fragrant tastes with distinctive smell; each product has its own guests. When the Red Bean Cake freshly made on the frying pan, the dough wrapped with stuffed red bean paste, all fried until golden brown. It is so fragrant and sweet. Similar like eating mochi, crispy from the outside and soft inside. The red bean paste melted like quicksand, taste not greasy at all.

After finishing the whole piece, the leftover paper-bag has no trace of remaining oil sticking behind; that proved the high-quality healthy oil used deep-fried. From the wok, the red bean cake hanged air dried on the rack for few minutes, and the dried oil absorbed in its layer, placed into the paper bag for customers carefully.

Other quality products

Other products such as custard and custard dairy golden sugar pastry, chicken biscuits, walnut cakes, egg rolls, apricot crackers, sesame biscuits, egg biscuits, seaweed and minced meat rolls, cow ear biscuits all in stock throughout the year. The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, Ng Teng Kei also offer a variety of special moon cake choices; if interested in making moon cakes at home, black and white sesame lotus paste can also considered as fillings. As for drinks, the best-selling Ice red bean, Mango nectar dessert, and summer time soda drinks are also worth trying.

The ancient taste of Macau

Founded in 1949, Ng Teng Kei – In 1954 it took root in Macau’s Rua Manduco. All neighbourhood call the second generation owner “Non-stop Uncle”, the famous Mr. Diligence; Prepare flouring making, step by step in early mornings, non stopped 365 days full year round; ensuring the product produced in excellence and timely – as a consolation to all neighbourhoods and local foodies; can eat their products every day.

In the early days, Mr Ng previously used “Hanging Stalls” and “Trolley Stalls” to sell in Toi San, Red Market, Rua da Palha and Ponte e Horta in Macau. He even set up charcoal fire on the ground making various Chaozhou and Cantonese cakes – and sell them on the spot. Among them, “Cold Cake” and “Red Bean Cake” are the most popular items among all. Shops on the streets of Rua Manduco and Market Food Center on the top floor are still operating to serve the public.

Diversification strategy

Not many tourists manage to come to Rua Manduco to buy such special snacks. At present, the competition is quite intense, having considered rentals are fairly expensive too; and customer expectations are gradually uprising; Many similar shops can provide similar specialised snacks into the market, diversified in a wide variety of ways. It takes a lot of thoughtful and creativity enabling to maintain the beauty of the third-generation family business operations.

Ng Teng Kei’s third-generation successor spent a lot of time this year optimising new packaging and promotion strategies; hence lately introducing diversified, innovative series of new product line for sale. They also started to introduce a variety of new and old products posted online; hoping to continue the small business on the go. Particularly after the epidemic, ensuring to win on its own terms again; determined introduce local and travel in-depth customers with a new image re-branded, experience the seventy-year old traditional cuisine of Macau.