Learn How To Make Traditional Hainanese Kueh Yi Bua For Special Occasions

Home cook Ho Soo Pong shares her traditional recipe on Hainanese Yi Bua

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Avid home cook Madam Ho Soo Pong started her YouTube channel to showcase a mix of original content and food videos. The 65-year-old Hainanese retiree who's a former senior associate engineer in the technical planning department of a telecommunications company, says: "I picked up video editing from my colleague. After I retired in 2009, I attended a video-editing course. It was quite easy for me to pick up the skills because I already had some background knowledge."

Madam Ho learnt the recipe for yi bua from a relative and has tweaked it over the years after attending several cooking classes.

For example, she recommends adding 1½ tbsps of plain flour to the coconut filling so that it is easier to mould and work with. However, she says, once a home cook becomes more familiar with the filling's texture, the flour can be left out.

Madam Ho, who is married to Mr Lim Ah Foo, 72, a retired air traffic controller with whom she has two grown-up daughters, started baking and cooking when she was in secondary school. Now that she is retired, besides looking after her four grandchildren, aged from five months to 11 years old, and activities such as practising yoga and playing the ukulele, she spends her days in the kitchen.

Madam Ho's specialities include pandan chiffon cake, various types of Nonya and Hainanese kueh, mooncakes and festive cookies. For her, sharing home-cooked food with others gives her a sense of satisfaction. She says: "When people eat my food and enjoy it, it makes me proud, happy. And that's all that matters."

Go to the next page for the full recipe and how-to video on making Hainanese Yi Bua.

Click the video above to follow Madam Ho's step-by-step instructions on how to make Hainanese Yi Bua.

Click here for the full Hainanese Yi Bua recipe.

Text: Rebecca Lynne Tan/The Straits Times

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