For this Penang-style muah chee — a variation on mochi, beloved in Malaysia and throughout the Southern Chinese diaspora — hand-rolled glutinous rice flour is liberally coated with crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, and sugar. Served warm. Four toothpicks suggest that you share — share safely!
Previously: a bowl of pan mee, flush with hand-torn chewy noodles swimming in anchovy broth; minced chicken wrapped in (and flavored by) pandan leaves; a dessert course of sweet sticky rice, pandan-coconut jam, and thousand-layer butter cake with cinnamon; and teh tarik (Tay ta-Reek; literally "pulled tea"; comped). This traditional Malaysian milk tea is frothed by being poured repeatedly from container to container, which offers the fringe benefit of cooling the tea just a tad to optimum drinking temperature. The wider the "pulls," the greater the showmanship and the frothier the tea.
Kopitiam
151 East Broadway (Pike-Rutgers Sts.), Manhattan
646-894-7081
www.KopitiamNYC.com
Closed Wednesday
