Kueh Pie Tee: A Detective Story

Kueh pie tee is not a pie that goes with tea. So where did the name (and dish) come from? Award-winning cookbook author Christopher Tan combs through old newspapers and cookbooks, in search of the origins of the dish.PS: Dates back to 1570!Christopher Tan is an award-winning writer, cooking instructor and photographer. His articles, columns, recipes and photographs have appeared in many publications, including Singapore's Sunday Times and Straits Times, The Peak magazine, and America's Saveur magazine. He has authored and co-authored many cookbooks, most recently Nerdbaker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies (Epigram Books, 2024). He loves making meaning with words, images and food.What Christopher Talked About02:11 – The origins of the dish kueh pie tee11:43 – Why make kueh pie tee shells when they can be bought13:29 – Christopher's tips for deep-frying13:54 – What's special about Susie Hing's 1956 cookbook In a Malayan Kitchen 16:39 – How Christopher connected with Hing's family18:03 – Hing's background18:55 – Different influences in Hing's recipes21:36 – Why Christopher shares old recipes and cookbooks on his Instagram account23:48 – The value of local vintage cookbooks25:20 – Christopher's latest cookbook, Nerdbaker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies29:07 – Why toddy (fermented palm sap) is used in baking35:50 – Christopher's dream filling for kueh pie tee36:57 – The dish Christopher wishes he can master38:21 – How Christopher tests his recipes38:58 – What Christopher would rather buy than make on his own40:23 – Food is...Transcript and ResourcesRead the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-kueh-pie-tee/Watch Christopher make kueh pie tee: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/videos-kueh-pie-tee/Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Christopher for coming on the show.Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.