Caution! This Ipoh Bak Kwa Mooncake Is So Good It Can Cause Addiction!

The Mid-Autumn Festival will be upon us in a month or so, and you know what that means. Annual mooncake galore! As it is, mooncakes come in several different types, ranging from traditional, snow skin and the Teochew variety being some of the most well-known ones. And where better to get some quality mooncakes than Ipoh? When Mid-Autumn Festival rolls around, people will make a special trip to Ipoh just to get some mooncakes, and there can be long queues at certain shops! 😯

But this time, we’re going to introduce you to a lil’ something different to add to your mooncake shopping list: a bak kwa mooncake! Just like mooncakes, bak kwa is a must-have food item for the Chinese, especially during Chinese New Year. Well, now you can enjoy bak kwa in your mooncake for Mid-Autumn Festival!

Before you say “but I like my savoury food savoury and my sweet food sweet and I really don’t think they should be mixed”, we think so too. But let us assure you that this combination isn’t one to ruin your appetite – it’s in fact surprisingly good because we admit we weren’t convinced as well at first. 🤤

 

Thanks to Ching Han Guan, we tried out some of their mooncakes, and we are now addicted to their bak kwa mooncake (Barbecue Meat Lotus mooncake) – one piece will never be enough. 🤤❤ (Our team members were seen fighting over who should have the very last piece as the author of this article sadly retreated to get work done.)

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CHG Ching Han Guan Biscuits 鍾漢元餅舖

CHG Ching Han Guan Biscuits 鍾漢元餅舖 is a traditional biscuit shop, and they sell a variety of biscuits. Currently, to prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival, their other products are put on hold to focus on mooncake production, but here’s a little about their history. CHG was founded by Elder Ching from Chaoyang, China. When he came over to Malaya, he brought along recipes passed down from generation to generation within the family, a long-standing tradition which is still applicable even today. 👍

In 1949, CHG was officially established, and they believe in using only high quality ingredients and putting in a healthy dose of passion into crafting their handmade biscuits. Once the Mid-Autumn Festival is over, biscuit production will resume. ☺ Read more about CHG Biscuits HERE!

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CHG Ching Han Guan Mooncakes

Before we go into what makes their Barbecue Meat Lotus mooncake so mouth-wateringly delicious, let’s take a look at a list of CHG’s available mooncakes first. After all, we did say mooncake galore! 😍

• King of Mooncake
• Mixed Nut Roasted Ham
• Mixed Nut
• Lotus
• Lotus (Single Egg Yolk)
• Lotus (Double Egg Yolk)
• Pandan Lotus
• Pandan Lotus (Single Egg Yolk)
• Red Bean
• Walnut Lotus
• Barbecue Meat Lotus
• Barbecue Meat Lotus (Egg Yolk)
• Teochew Lah-Bia
• Teochew Walnut Lotus
• Hokkien Mooncake
• Shanghai Mooncake

OMG, how to choose? There’s so many of them! We want to get one of each! ❤

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Barbecue Meat Lotus Mooncake (Bak Kwa Mooncake)

As aforementioned, CHG’s Barbecue Meat Lotus mooncake is their signature product, and also one of their best-sellers (there’s another best-seller coming up soon, so keep reading!). Just like any other traditional mooncake, the mooncake skin is golden brown, and stamped with different designs. And here’s where it differs from other mooncakes: the lotus paste within is mixed with a healthy portion of bak kwa! 😍

 Editor’s Review: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The lotus paste isn’t overwhelming as to create some space for the bak kwa, and the bak kwa is cut into small pieces which mesh well with the lotus paste. In our opinion, the lotus paste actually helps bind all the ingredients together, and it doesn’t have a very strong flavour either, which allows the bak kwa to take centrestage. 🤤💕

The portion of bak kwa is generous, and what you get in each bite is a gentle breakdown of the mooncake skin which gives way to a meaty aroma, with just a hint of lotus paste. The best of both worlds in every bite, even one of our editors who doesn’t eat bak kwa couldn’t get enough of it and ate half the mooncake in one go! The barbecue meat lotus mooncake can either be with or without yolks, but we liked both varieties nevertheless! 👍

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Teochew Walnut Lotus Mooncake

The Teochew mooncake resembles a siew pow more than anything, but it is no average pastry, especially with CHG’s walnut lotus concotion. Baked to perfection, the outermost layer is crisp and firm. The walnut lotus paste filling is generous, with a rich lotus taste and chunks of walnut providing a different texture when you enjoy the Teochew mooncake. 👍

 Editor’s Review: 4.9/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As the walnut lotus paste is quite filling, we highly recommend washing it down with several cups of Chinese tea, with or without enjoying the view of the moon. A smooth yet rocky texture greets you with bite, and your tongue will be awash with sensations of velvet and crunch as the lotus paste and walnuts mingle. 🤤

A different style of pastry from the traditional mooncake altogether, no wonder the Teochew Walnut Lotus mooncake is the other best-seller of CHG! In fact, we’re already craving to have another one. Oh, lotus paste. Oh, crunchy walnuts. Why are you such a perfect combination?! 😍

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👑 King of Mooncake

Okay the name may be a giveaway, but this is definitely our first time seeing such a big mooncake, and we bet it’s your first time too! 😏 Introducing you to King of Mooncake, which actually requires hardly any explanation when you view the image below.

Best for gatherings and large crowds, the King of Mooncake is perfect to feed many hungry mouths, and it makes an excellent Instagram post as well. How many of you can actually say you’ve had some King of Mooncake? Not even us yet!

And King of Mooncake flavours are not just limited to one; CHG has prepared four different fillings to cater for a wide variety of preferences. The four different fillings are: lotus paste, walnut, melon seeds, and 12 egg yolks. Egg yolk lovers especially, you will think that you’ve died and gone to egg yolk heaven. The King of Mooncake is indeed impressive, and if you have a large family or are planning to host a Mid-Autumn Festival gathering, this will be the best choice for you! (Side note: better prepare several pots of tea too!) 👍❤

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What’s So Special About The CHG Mooncakes?

You’ve read a little about CHG’s history, where the founder brought over some recipes. Besides the recipes, all their products including the mooncakes are all freshly handmade, so you won’t have to worry about the mooncakes lying around for too long before they get to you. Even their lotus paste is cooked by themselves, so basically it’s all made form scratch. Only premium quality ingredients are sourced to produce their products, so what you get in the end is a fresh, handmade, scrumptious, premium quality mooncake perfect for sharing, or just eating alone (because sometimes it’s just too good to be shared – don’t eat my mooncake). 😎

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How Can I Get My Hands On Some CHG Mooncakes? 

Ah, this is the real question, isn’t it? At CHG, you won’t actually have to queue up in the hot sun just to get your mooncakes. 😀 CHG has a booking system in place if you decide to drop by on the spot – CHG staff will tell you exactly when you can come and pick up your mooncakes. They will tell you a later time to return, or if it’s late, perhaps the next day. The bottomline is, you will never have to wait in line for hours. Yayy! 👏

Besides that, you can also pre-order up to one week beforehand, but the only thing is that you will have to collect your order on-site at their shop; CHG does not deliver to ensure the quality and presentation of the mooncakes. You know exactly when to collect your mooncakes, so you can even make it a one-day trip to Ipoh at the same time! 👍 And yes, the Mid-Autumn Festival is still a little ways down the road, but CHG’s mooncakes are already available, both for walk-in and pre-order! They will remain available till the Mid-Autumn Festival, so no, it’s not too early to get your CHG mooncakes, and yes, buy all you want! 😀

🌞🌞 To Pre-Order:

📞 Phone Number (Call/WhatsApp): +605-254 5126

🌐 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChingHanGuan

 

🌞🌞 For More Info:

🌐 Website: https://www.chg.my/

🌐 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chinghanguan/

📩 Email Address: contact@chg.my

📍 Address: 145, Jalan Sultan Iskandar (Hugh Low Street), 30000 Ipoh, Perak.

⏰ Operation Hours: Closed on Tuesdays, Sundays 9:30 am – 6 pm, Other Days 9:30 am – 6:30 pm

Note: To cater for mooncakes and the Mid-Autumn Festival, CHG will remain OPEN on Tuesdays starting from 20th August till the Mid-Autumn Festival itself! 😍

 

Thanks to CHG, Mid-Autumn Festival came early for us! We can’t really decide if we like the bak kwa mooncake or the Teochew mooncake more, as they’re both different and special in their own way. Why don’t you try them and let us know which you prefer? Or maybe you have another specific mooncake you’d like to try? Let us know what you think in the comments below! 😁💕