At Singabites we always like to champion our younger generation of Singapore hawkers. One such business that has been in the spotlight in recent times is Haig road Putu Piring.
Haig road putu piring was established in 1985 but the actual recipe used has been passed through 4 generations.
What is Putu Piring?
Putu piring is a steamed rice cake with a gula melaka centre. On top of the rice cake is shaved coconut and a bit of pandan leaf. The dish can be found all over south east Asia and is eaten as a dessert.
Family business becomes an empire
Haig Road Putu Piring is run by Aisha Hashim and her family. Aisha’s story is quite humbling. As a young girl she always had a dream of becoming a pastry chef. She was able to accomplish this so much so that she was educated and worked in USA for a few years. One day her mum called her up and told her that the family business was having some trouble. Aisha decided that she needed to put her dream on hold and return to Singapore to lend a hand.
Since then there’s been no looking back. Aisha and her husband took over the business from her parents. They have transformed the way that the ingredients are prepared. This has allowed them to expand their empire across Singapore. In 2019 they appeared on the Netflix show Streetfood. It was Aisha’s commitment to her family’s business and the amazing things that they’ve acheived that captivated viewers.
They have still kept to many traditional ways. Take a visit to any of their hawker stalls or shops and you will still see the ladies in white. These hard workers steam the cakes and wrap them in brown paper parcels for the waiting patrons. In fact on our food tours the putu piring ladies are one of the most photographed stops.
If you’d like to get your putu piring fix during lockdown you can find more details here.
Singabites will be hosting small group food tours when it is safe to do so. If you’d like to reconnect with your working from home team whilst supporting Singapore’s food heroes email info@singabites.com
